Liftgate Hydraulic Lift

3259 Views 15 Replies 4 Participants Last post by dirtraven1, May 10, 2009

dirtraven1

Discussion Starter · Apr 21, 2009

My rear driver side hydraulic lifts has developed a squeak when you open the rear gate and when I close it a loud snapping sound (like snapping a hard piece of plastic in half) occurs. Anyone else has had this happened too?

I just think it's a bad lift and gonna bring it to Toyota on Saturday.

1 - 16 of 16 Posts

highguy

· #2 · Apr 21, 2009

TWICE in the last week, seriously. it is the same one, driver side, and it makes a loud "snap" when i close the gate. the first time it happened i dismissed it as nothing, the second time it happened, i did a double take and thought, "what the heck was that?" anyone else?

evoman

· #3 · Apr 21, 2009

is this on the rear glass or the entire rear gate?

dirtraven1

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 21, 2009

This is the lift for the entire gate.

dirtraven1

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 21, 2009 (Edited)

highguy said:
TWICE in the last week, seriously. it is the same one, driver side, and it makes a loud "snap" when i close the gate. the first time it happened i dismissed it as nothing, the second time it happened, i did a double take and thought, "what the heck was that?" anyone else?

Just out of curiosity, did it rain out by you when you notice the problem? Mine seemed to have gone away now that the lift has dried.

evoman

· #6 · Apr 22, 2009

please report back from dealer about this....my curiosity is aroused...

highguy

· #7 · Apr 22, 2009

mine is also the lift for the entire liftgate, not just the glass, and yes it rained when i heard both snaps. I was in Chicago over the weekend and it poured for a day+, and then back here in Indiana it has rained until today. after a day of "drying" out, I'll see if it makes that noise later today... Dirtraven, i take it you're not heading to the dealer now? may be no point if it's not making the noise now...

dirtraven1

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 22, 2009

highguy said:
mine is also the lift for the entire liftgate, not just the glass, and yes it rained when i heard both snaps. I was in Chicago over the weekend and it poured for a day+, and then back here in Indiana it has rained until today. after a day of "drying" out, I'll see if it makes that noise later today... Dirtraven, i take it you're not heading to the dealer now? may be no point if it's not making the noise now...

Now that the lift is all dried (poured in NY the last 2 days) the sound has went away for me as well. I opened and closed the rear about a dozen times this morning and no snap/cracking sound. So no point for me to go to Service now since I can't reproduce the problem unless I bring a few buckets of water with me and pour it down the rear and hope the sounds comes back. :disappoin

evoman

· #9 · Apr 22, 2009

If you heard a snap, most likely that sound is from one of the struts gas pressure leaking out.
However, i dont know how rain could cause this.....mabey water got between the seals of the gas struts and made that pop/snap noise you heard and the struts are fine after it dried out?

Also if one of your struts failed....they are filled with compressed gas by the way

....then the lift gate would have trouble opening properly cos it would be a uneven lift...ie heavy to open and easy to close if you dont use the power option.

How about you take some soapy water and spray it on the strut...if you see air bubbles then there might be a leak.

dirtraven1

Discussion Starter · #10 · Apr 22, 2009

evoman said:
If you heard a snap, most likely that sound is from one of the struts gas pressure leaking out.
However, i dont know how rain could cause this.....mabey water got between the seals of the gas struts and made that pop/snap noise you heard and the struts are fine after it dried out?

Also if one of your struts failed....they are filled with compressed gas by the way ....then the lift gate would have trouble opening properly cos it would be a uneven lift...ie heavy to open and easy to close if you dont use the power option.

How about you take some soapy water and spray it on the strut...if you see air bubbles then there might be a leak.

That's the curious part, the rear seems to lift and close fine. Just no more sound FOR now.

evoman

· #11 · Apr 23, 2009

good luck

dirtraven1 said:
That's the curious part, the rear seems to lift and close fine. Just no more sound FOR now.

Lets cross our fingers then...hahaha...i hate going to the dealer too :ugh3:

highguy

· #12 · Apr 24, 2009

I think I'm going to leave it alone too, if it happens again I will make sure to see if it's somehow weather related...

dirtraven1

Discussion Starter · #13 · Apr 24, 2009

I'll see what happens during the next big rain storm. I don't feel like having the HL at the dealer all day just for them to tell me they don't hear anything. :headbang:

dirtraven1

Discussion Starter · #14 · May 6, 2009

Now that it has been raining all week, the lift is acting up again, so I'm definitely bringing my HL in on Saturday. Gonna leave it out all night on Friday since it is suppose to rain anyways.

TrailDust

· #15 · May 8, 2009

Keep us up-to-date. I'm curious to find out what's causing the problem.

dirtraven1

Discussion Starter · #16 · May 10, 2009

Back from the Dealer

According to them, my driver side lower bracket was loose which caused the popping. They removed all bolts on both sides and retorqued to spec according to my service invoice. One thing I did notice is that my rear lift 'feels' smoother open and closing now. I'll see what happens when it rains again on Tuesday.

At least my Toyota service center was done with my HL in 45mins. on a Saturday. :clap:

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