Hi,

The tailgate on my 2015 Lexus RX 350 with 88K would close 3/4 of the way beeps once and opens back up.
Tried lubricating the hinges to no avail. The struts are still fine. Nothing is blocking it.

The weird thing is after trial and error I noticed that when it's hot outside it does this issue. In the evening or if it's cloudy or the car underground no issue at all. Maybe when it's 70 plus Fahrenheit.

I am thinking either some metal is contracting and expanding or maybe the motor is malfunctioning when hot.

I am due for the 90k maintenance In a month or so at the dealership. It will be interesting to hear their diagnosis.

The SUV is still under certified lexus warranty so I guess this should be covered, at least that's what it says in the warranty booklet.

Your thoughts and ideas are most welcomed.
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Have a nice day.

 

I recall someone posting about some sensors that are built into or near the weatherstrip on the tailgate opening. That they can become compromised and affect tailgate operation.
See this old thread https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...y-closing.html

How does it open and close manually?

 

​​​​​Thanks for the link. That was informative. I cleaned the sensors and will see what happens.
Manually there are no issues. Open and close as normal. And struts still strong. When opening half way they take over and push the tailgate all the way up.

Will keep you updated.

 

The rear hatch struts need to be replaced every 4 years, even if they seem fine. The motor senses that the rear hatch is heavier than it should be when the struts lose some pressure. I ended up replacing my hatch struts, and the power motor as well, as my old one would often start to close when I told it to, reach almost all the way closed, beep, and re-open.

 

Just use better struts when the factory ones begin to fail. I like the ones from StrongArm. I installed their hood struts on my wife's 2015 RX in October 2019. Much more robust than OEM.

 

Hello everyone.

I wanted to give you an update. So I took the car to the dealership since it's under certified warranty and after keeping it for a week they discovered the car had previous rear damage in 2015 (not accident and no airbags deployed). They think it needs body work to align the tailgate. They said it should be covered by warranty. The struts, sensors and motor are fine according to the service manager.
They wanted me to contact the sales person I bought the car from in the same dealership which I did. He referred me to his manager. Two voicemails and one email later still no reply.

Let's see where this will lead. Apparently the service manager said this could run then down 2k and a week worth of the body shop time.

To be honest I am not convinced by their diagnosis since the tailgate works fine when not under direct sunlight or the car is not hot. It power opens normally always and closes manually with no issues.

Let's see where this will lead.

Thanks.

 

Hi all. My 2010 liftgate is giving me issues now too. Every 3rd or 4th time it starts to close (after I have hit either the interior dash button or the button on the gate itself), gets really close to the closed position, and then suddenly reverses itself and re-opens. I have to then try it again, which seems to do it. NOthing in the way physically or sticking out of the bay to make it do this. I thought it was b/c I was already seated and pushed on the brake, getting ready to start the car, but I kept track and that doesn't seem to be a factor. Sometimes I'm leaving the car and I have to stop, wait, verify, lock, and then walk away.

Any thoughts?

 

If yours beeps (I can't recall if its a long beep or a series of beep) right when it reverses (and it's nearly closed), then yours is doing exactly what mine did. I replaced my struts which didn't fix the issue, but I believe weak struts cause the issue. I then replaced my rear hatch motor and that solved the issue. I now replace my struts every 4-5 years. See my post above.

 

yeah, I get the long beep when it self-reverses. How much did the motor run you? Dealer did it?

 

If they are failing I guess it makes sense that the door reverses....the supports can maintain the weight of the hatch until right before it rests at closed, but by that time the support is at maximum retraction (almost fully collapsed within the shaft) and the gas has no power left. So the motor senses its just free weight, and takes corrective action?

 

I replaced mine back in 2019, before all the craziness started. I bought mine from a wrecking yard somewhere in another state, and it cost me $120. I used Car-Part.com. I replaced it myself. I only recommend this if you have some skills. It's easy to ruin the headliner.

 

As a side note, there is a thread somewhere on CL, where someone else had the same issue. He figured out it's the relays that are part of the PCBA of the hatch motor. He replaced the relays and got it functioning again. I didn't want to get into soldering, and I was pressed for time, so I had the replacement motor on-hand before I took my old one out.

 

New Strongarm supports ordered. Be here in a couple days. Will see if this fixes it (it just started doing it about....3 days ago and doesn't do it every time...yet!) and report back. Maybe the motor hasn't failed yet.

 

What's the issue with ruining the headliner? You mean...tearing it or something?

 

Just put an inquiry on a replacement motor from a 2012 model with less than 60k on it (according to the site) for $95. Never hurts to plan ahead...