Help please - rear lift & tail gate won’t unlock

[Amacfly]

hey guys, I’m completely stuck, I have tried ever idea to open the rear of the FJ80 but nothing I try from inside or out will allow me to open the back tailgate.

Any helpful suggestions or ideas most welcome, was just getting ready for a trip, and now can’t open the back!

 

[Desert Dino]

you tried the key? sorry about the stupid question?

 

[bajaphile]

What exactly happens? The latches don't move, or they move but it doesn't do anything? Is the rear indicator switch up?

 

[Manona]

Not had issues with my 80 series, but with my Toyota Sequoia. Sounds like the lever stuck or there's no travel in the cable that pulls the mechanism when you pull the handle. You may have to go inside and remove the back panel to get to it... a pain in the butt, for sure. You'll be able to see the cable and give it a tug and see if that opens it. If so, I just added a few lock washers to the tail end to take up the slack and it continued to work well for a year until I sold it. I also had issues with it sticking because of all the dirt that had built up in the lever mechanism, causing it to move slow and not snapping back, so it would stick open or shut. I sprayed the heck out of it repeatedly with WD40 then would let it drip out, or swab it with a cotton swabs; it was crazy how much grime was in there! it finally got it's spring back after that. I hope it's something as simple as mine (it happened while my son's youth group took it on a camping trip, so I get it!)... Good luck!

 

[Amacfly]

I was thinking that, tried the key from the outside, it lifts the 'stick' inside, but the latch just doesn't engage, from inside it just never feels like it catches, locked or unlocked feels the same.

 

[shermantank55]

It is probably the dreaded plastic piece. About $.85.
Rear upper hatch won't open.....
Happened to me in the middle of nowhere.
I bought these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040D0L02/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[LINUS]

Do you have compressed air to use some WD & blast it a bit (don’t make a slick, just a few shots both air/thin lube)?

Do you have any extra copies of keys to try?

 

[Amacfly]

Tried all that, and the still nothing. The keys lift and lower the lock stick on the inside, but nothing else.

 

[Jamahone]

You may have broken the door rod clip.

 

[WY 72 FJ40]

This just happened to my 94 80 series and I ended up buying the clips that Shermantank 55 linked to on Amazon above (Thank you!). I am following up to confirm that they fit and got my hatch all working properly again.

Once I took the panel off, you can pull one of the rods to open the hatch from the inside and then can begin to see the problem. This small yellow plastic piece goes on the rod that connects to the handle on the outside and then snaps through the hole further up in the hatch that connects to the main mechanism. I found that if you pull the outside handle, it will give you a little extra play with the rod to snap the yellow piece back on. Once it is on that rod, then push it through the small hole in the main mechanism (that took some force), but then you should be good. Picture below of my broken yellow clip, with rod detached from the main mechanism. You can see I had tried a ziptie first, which didn't work.