The system is definitely still a motor. As opposed to using a rotating shaft and spur gears to push a rod like older designs it instead uses 2 linear actuators (surrounded by a spring) that has a motor that spins a screw gear. If its far enough out of alignment it can bind and cause what your describing. When the door is shut, is the door visibly out of alignment (body lines not lining up)?

 

Other people have mentioned issues (in previous versions) after closing the hatch manually. Do you guys do that to your vehicle? Just curious, not blaming!

Clint

 

I can't see any obvious misalignment in the panels. Its hard to reproduce because it can work normally for multiple cycles and then start acting up. No manual closures until it did it the first time when my wife was at the store. She had no choice to get it closed to drive home.

We managed to get it on video and sent it to the service manager. Hopefully we can get some traction now.

 

Its back at the dealer now. Service manager said the video was enough to send to Toyota. They are working with them to see if they can figure out the problem. Lets hope they fix it this time.

It now will freeze on opening...push the button and it opens about 4 inches then stops. Press again...another 4 inches and stops....

weird

 

Is there anything that Toyota allows their dealers to do on their own? Seems Toyota wants to get involved in anything related to warranty, and not allow the dealer to make decisions on their own. I thought my other vehicle had crappy dealers, but I would take them any day over Toyota service. I even had fresh brewed Starbucks at my last dealer.

 

Thanks for keeping us updated on this. These forums are great for bitching and bragging but I think the best thing about them is the sharing of information on issues like this.

FWIW, my father-in-law and I were going over my 2015 Ltd over the weekend and we both agreed the rear liftgate is way more complicated than it needs to be. The manual liftgate on my 02 Grand Cherokee always worked fine; after ten years I replaced the gas struts at $20.00 each and five minutes of work, and it functioned like it came out of the showroom. I have doubts that I will be saying the same thing about the HL ten years from now.

 

Space..at least you know it'll get fixed, but how long? Could end up with 2 new power lift arms (spindles)?

BradGT...my toyo dealer has while not s.bucks, fresh brewed (kurig) various flavors. Comfy lounge chairs, several big screen TVs, current paper, magazines. :wink:

 

I don't mean to sound like "Captain Obvious", but could it be the perimeter sensor? If you approach the hatch while it's opening or closing the perimeter sensor may be tripped and stop the movement of the hatch.


I know early on I spent 10 minutes trying to get the rear hatch open and it wouldn't because I was standing too close...

 

Supposedly the sensors on are on the side of the hatch, not back or bottom...which makes the safety stop hard to implement when most kids/adults would be behind or under the door when it is closing. It almost closed on my wife, with her thinking it would stop when she tried to quickly shove something back under it. It didn't stop at all...

 

Dental..don't know what perimeter sensor is? Can only say my p. hatch will open/close with me standing next to it. So far hasen't shut off by itself.

 

The only problem I have with my tailgate is that I occasionally hit my forehead on it. I have to keep it programmed to open a little lower than full height because it would hit my garage door when the door it open.


Presently, I have a nice cut on the front of my forehead since yesterday. Sorry, no pics for those who demand proof.:laugh:

 

Sorry, no pics for those who demand proof.:laugh:

If the Toyota were to be the new vehicle for SyHunter, maybe we can add a blade to the edge of the rear hatch. Synthetic oil slick from a Futuba valve, Chromatech v2.0 wheels will pop out a foot with hinged design to convert to spikes. The side mirror lights can switch to jet packs to have short bursts of air time. The halogen headlights can be fired up with high optic glass for melting tungsten, The interior seats that fold down have wheels and can be slipped out the back yet anchored to the car to use for towing other gear /60cal machine guns or rocket launchers(ammo in center console of course). The large Pano roof now has a step for easier access to a helicopter rope rescue.

So the car is very capable. Its just has issues with grocery shopping and taking the kids to and from school.

 

Space..curious, still having issues with your rear power hatch ?

SLand...Haven't hit my head yet, but I let my hatch go all way up. Can fullly open mine once inside my garage. Later backing out heard very slight noise & immediately stopped. Yeah, big dummy me left hatch up & it just barely touched top of g.door opeining. Got lucky cause no damage. If u need any stiches, I know how . :wink:

 

Yeah I stand right behind mine when I am using the button opening under that little sill and it never seems to hesitate to open as if I am too close or something. I may have to try to lean in a bit more to see if that would happen.

 

I did the lean in and it still opened without hesitating.

 

I don't know, I like to be in control of the trunk. The automatic tailgate and trunk using a remote doesn't work it for me .

 

status

So...its been at the dealer for a week now. They are still trying to diagnose but did send our videos to Toyota. Toyota's first recommendation was to replace the struts. Parts ordered...arrived with two passenger side struts. When they called to get a replacement, no one has the driver side strut. They are now trying to get one direct from the Kentucky assy plant but no luck so far.

Dealer seems to be trying to resolve..they did give us a loaner and are keeping us informed on part status.

 

Space....FWIW... I checked my power hatch to see if it would stop if movement obstructed when closing. Hatch up, I leaned over inside & had hatch come down. It did stop when it just started to push on my back & didn't feel really uncomfortable. Sensor you refer to must be pressure sensitive, but just a guess? Tks. for update & hopefully yours gets fixed "soon".

 

I wonder if there's any harm in just turning it off and leaving off (I.e., opening and closing manually all the time). Sometimes devices work manually but you get the feeling you are "fighting" the machinery by doing so.

I tried to get used to the power lift gate but I just hate it. Plus I feel like an idiot standing in parking lots waiting for it to go up and down, and I'm not going to turn my back and walk away and assume it's going to fully close and lock itself.

 

Opening and closing the hatch manually will do no harm except for possibly getting your hand(s) a little dirty in foul weather.

However, if the power door mechanism(s) fail there may be a great deal of harm done to your wallet. I have read on a few posts here and elsewhere that R&R can run CDN$3000-CDN$4000 if the power door fails. For that reason alone, the day the bumper to bumper warranty ran out on my 2012 I disabled the power feature (glove box switch) and only open and close the rear door manually.

 

Space..If possible, anymore info. u can get on sensor i.e how it works/where is it etc? would be interesting. Tnx.



Mele...Was thinking same recently in parking lot & how slow p.hatch works. Assume its a safety thing? I'm slooooowly getting use to how it works & timing opening so I'm not standing there waiting. Closing, catch myself looking back after walking away. lol! Even smart key (keyless ign.) for me takes some getting use to. Twice I forgot to turn off ign., but grabs my attention after getting out. lol! Assume all same, but noticed eng. idle noise inside is really quiet.

 

Space..If possible, anymore info. u can get on sensor i.e how it works/where is it etc? would be interesting. Tnx.

No updates. Almost two weeks the dealer has had it. They don't know the root cause but just plan to replace the struts to start with. Problem is they can't get the parts from anyone, including the assy plant.

 

Yet you still have people posting on this forum that Toyota reliability is bulletproof. Two weeks is unacceptable. Check on your state's lemon law, as some states let you lemon if vehicle is out of service for more then 30 days.

Also it's completely unacceptable to have to disable an expensive feature that you paid for because you're afraid it will fail out of warranty.

There are very few problems with other manufacturers' power rear doors.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

Yet you still have people posting on this forum that Toyota reliability is bulletproof. Two weeks is unacceptable. Check on your state's lemon law, as some states let you lemon if vehicle is out of service for more then 30 days.

Also it's completely unacceptable to have to disable an expensive feature that you paid for because you're afraid it will fail out of warranty.

There are very few problems with other manufacturers' power rear doors.

We had an 08 sequoia before this one with no problems. But it seems they have had issues with highlander hatches for some time.

We got a gently used camry to drive. Better than nothing but not as good as when I had an infiniti and always got a newer infiniti to drive.

Parts are now supposed to be on the way from the Ky assy plant. My concern is they are still shooting in the dark with these parts. We should have something to post by end of week.

 

Fixed (we think)

Dealer finally got parts from the Ky assembly plant. Replaced both struts. So far it's working. I'll keep you posted.

And if you are waiting for a highlander from the plant, check the hatch. I may have your parts. :grin:

 

My 2014 HL is starting to have this problem. I'll record a video and show to the dealer incase they test it and it works fine. Those that had their struts replaced, how has it been working since?

 

UGH!! I am having this problem and it is infuriating. It seems to work for a while, then decides to only go up a few inches, sometimes won't close. Doesn't always work with the button on the dash. 2014 Platinum.

What was your final resolution from the dealer? I am heading down that road now.

 

 

Couple of questions -

Is anyone experiencing this on a 2015? Skimming through the 3 pages of this thread it only seems like 14's are affected.

How soon after purchasing did this occur?

How often is the hatch door used?

 

We have a 2015 and we had the same problem on our one-week new HL a couple of days ago. We are thinking about buying toyota extended warranty right now:frown:

 

My 2014 HL has this exact problem, and was at the dealer all day today. They were not able to reproduce the problem, so didn't do anything.

Stating it to add to the chorus with specifics:
* Starting approx 2-3 months into ownership, the tailgate intermittently failed to open or close. In most cases it would get a few inches, ranging from about 4 to 12, and then grind to a halt. There was a clear grinding/friction noise as it stopped. It rapidly got worse until failing 100% of the time.

My advice to others:
(1) Take video and show it when you drop it off, so they can't blow it off as "works now".
(2) Keep a good paper trail. I emailed the problem to the dealer, and they have paperwork stating it as well.
(3) Try to bring the HL in when this is happening. It seems in my case that powering-down the door and going through an up/down full motion (manually) resets the problem, at least for a while. Next time, I won't do this - only did so to take things out of the trunk before bringing it in.

 

Good advice...it wasn't until we took the video and emailed it to the service managers that it got some attention. They supposedly emailed the video to toyota directly to get help in diagnosing it. So far mine has been working correctly with the new lift arms but it does move slower now for some reason.

Ours started about 6 months after delivery. It was a little warmer but haven't noticed any correlation to temperature. Our dealer thought it could be something with the safety system bugging up thinking a kids arm was in the way and it overrides.

 

My 2014 HL is also experiencing this issue. I've been to the dealer twice and all they have done so far is "reset" the system. This seems to fix the problem for a handful of opening/closing, but then the problem returns. As the previous poster mentions, the door will move anywhere from a few inches to about a foot before coming to a halt and beeping twice. This happens either opening or closing. I've found I can help the issue somewhat by applying slight pressure in the direction the hatch is travelling, so I'm not sure if its just getting bound up somehow and the motor isn't powerful enough to compensate. Taking it in to the dealer again tomorrow and looking for a response other than "resetting the system".

 

How did they reset the system

 

Noah42..just curious. You say your power lift finally failed 100% of time. Apparently it worked ok for tech hence "nothing done" at that time. Which leads to my next Q. for....

DavidS..Any idea what "reset system" is suppose to do ? Apparently temp. fix. Kinda reminds me of pc reboot, but even that can't fix a "mechanical issue" I'm aware of. Anyhow, don't give up cause there is an answer & could end up like OP fix ?

 

Couple observations:


Twice now, I was unable to 'open' or 'close' my rear hatch.... I didn't know what the issue was.... until I accidentally discovered that if 'someone' (ahem..... wife and a co-worker) pushes the button on the liftgate to open JUST the glass access.... but doesn't shut the glass panel securely.... the rear hatch by default won't open or close until you do shut the glass.


Also: You think you're having fun with the hatch not operating correctly? Wait until you park in a situation where your front wheels are *mildly* on a different plane than your back wheels.... I did this on my summer vacation and the hatch opened.... but when I tried to close it, the vehicle body had flexed enough in that unlevel state that the hatch clunked hard on one side and wouldn't shut. I had to jack the hatch over by hand and let it finish closing.....

Nice work Toyota - good to know that our Highlanders have the structural rigidity of a wet shoe box.