Great post. Funny as I was just repairing mine yesterday. Similar symptoms to yours. Though I chalk up part of my issues related to crappy 3rd party lift struts that I had on mine: 1) 3rd party replacements that lasted only 3 yrs causing additional load on the lift motor 2) 3rd party replacements to the replacements that were far too strong (they prob shipped me the unpowered hatch struts) that again created undue closing load for the lift gate motor.
Replacement Struts
Do yourself a favor and get OEM lift struts. Yes, they are a bit more than twice the price. But they provide value in being higher quality with a level of smoothness and quality light-years ahead of the aftermarket stuff. I didn't notice this until I had working units of both aftermarket and OEM, back to back. They last much longer (original set lasted ~7 yrs). Also the lift and damping quality works like butter, whereas the aftermarket stuff would fling the hatch open, then stutter step in the last few inches of travel.
| Part Number | Part Name | Price | Quantity | Total |
|---|
| 68950-69215 | Right Hatch Lift Support (with power liftgate) | $50.83 | 1 | $50.83 |
| 68960-69165 | Left Hatch Lift Support (with power liftgate) | $50.83 | 1 | $50.83 |
Lift Support Depot brand above vs OEM bottom. Note diameter and quality is much higher on OEM unit
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Actuator Repair
I opted to try and repair. Suspected a worn motor - similar to some other worn motors on my 2009 LX570, like the Center Diff Lock Actuator, Transfer Case Actuator, and Folding Mirror. All these exhibited similar loss of torque and sluggish behavior, so I was pretty confident this was a similar issue.
Follow
@Bryanmc for removal. I opted to remove the lift strut on the hatch side ball stud which wasn't too bad.
There's additional work to get to the motor itself, requiring taking apart the lift actuator completely. Including the geartrain plate, geartrain assembly from the motor assembly, electronics board, and finally the motor housing. It's not too bad. Just lots of screws, some only exposed by taking apart the geartrain, and electronics. Philips screwdriver (helps to have an impact driver), and a c-clip.
Nothing particularly sensitive or hard, just take it apart methodically. No clocking to preserve.
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