Lower Tailgate Not Working (1 Viewer)

[GH1291]

Hello all,

I just added a 2011 LX570 to my fleet to accompany my LX470. I like some things about it more, but there are some aspects of it that I don’t love. One of those being the power tailgate.

I don’t have issues with with the top portion of the tailgate, it functions as it should. My problem lies with the bottom gate. I am having trouble with trying to make it open. It will open and close fine after disconnecting the battery. As soon as I close the top gate, it will no longer function and I have to reset the ECU.

I have tried removing and replacing all connectors without success. I have also followed the initialization instructions after disconnecting the battery.

Am I missing something? Has anyone tried converting to the LCs manual release? Any other ideas?

Thanks in advance.

 

[tbisaacs]

My 2008 LX lower tailgate is manual. Are you talking about the soft open / close?

 

[GH1291]

Negative, my 2011 has an electronic release. The pull handle does not operate cables, it operates a switch that sends signal to the latches on either side. I have tested the switch, it functions like it should.

 

[Docboy]

Interesting. My 2009 LX's lower tailgate has a manual release, 2 cables on both sides of the lower tailgate.

 

[GH1291]

It appears to be related to the pressure of the upper gate closing. If I reset the ECU by disconnecting the battery the lower gate will function fine until I push on it when it is closed, or I lower the upper gate.

Bad actuators? Do they have a built in pressure sensor that needs to be bypassed?

I pulled up the rear door on techstream, but none of the info is helpful and there is no active test option for the lower gate release.

I feel like I am getting closer, but I’m not sure where to go from here. I’ll try moving the strikers a bit and see if that helps.

 

[Sandroad]

It appears to be related to the pressure of the upper gate closing. If I reset the ECU by disconnecting the battery the lower gate will function fine until I push on it when it is closed, or I lower the upper gate.

Bad actuators? Do they have a built in pressure sensor that needs to be bypassed?

I pulled up the rear door on techstream, but none of the info is helpful and there is no active test option for the lower gate release.

I feel like I am getting closer, but I’m not sure where to go from here. I’ll try moving the strikers a bit and see if that helps.

Do the actuators even try to release the latches? Have you tried lubrication of the latches? It does seem like moving the strikers so the lower gate can’t close as much would help.

 

[GH1291]

Do the actuators even try to release the latches? Have you tried lubrication of the latches? It does seem like moving the strikers so the lower gate can’t close as much would help.

The actuators do not try to release after the upper door closes. It does nothing at all, like the release switch is totally dead. There must be a safety that cuts power somewhere, but I can’t seem to find it in any diagrams.

If I manually open and close the upper gate, the lower gate will work.

Again, the lower gate won’t work at all after I put pressure on it manually, or allow the upper gate to close automatically.

I extended the bumpers on the striker, no change. Moved the strikers, no change. Removed some bumpers on the upper hatch, no change. I’ll try removing more bumpers tomorrow.

My upper hatch motor sounds like it is on its last leg, I wonder if it is related.

I’m about to throw this electronic stuff away and buy a manual release out of a LC.

 

[GH1291]

Do the actuators even try to release the latches? Have you tried lubrication of the latches? It does seem like moving the strikers so the lower gate can’t close as much would help.

I have removed, inspected, cleaned, and lubed both actuators.

 

[TeCKis300]

I would suspect a closure or object sensor in the upper hatch. The tailgate is likely designed to not open/actuate when the upper hatch is logically closed. So something is probably not sensing the open state of the upper hatch.

 

[GH1291]

I would suspect a closure or object sensor in the upper hatch. The tailgate is likely designed to not open/actuate when the upper hatch is logically closed. So something is probably not sensing the open state of the upper hatch.

The issue happens independently of the top hatch being closed. If I close only the lower gate, then press on it after the locks have cycled and secured themselves, it will no longer work.

 

[GH1291]

Update. I ordered a manual setup from a LC.

 

[TeCKis300]

Ah, sorry to hear.

I can't seem to find it but it sounds like the ECU needs to be reinitialized to the right state of the lock after a battery reset. So it thinks it's in a locked state when up and won't respond.

I can't find the procedure ATM...hopefully someone else can.

 

[TeCKis300]

Probably too late but perhaps for the next person