I've had my 2009 GX 470 for almost a year now. The rear door stopper below the latch that contacts with the light switch had a metal cap on it that looked odd but everything worked fine so I left it at that. That cap fell off at some point yesterday and the stopper was no longer contacting the switch. I had to tape some pennies over the stopper to make it tall enough to contact the switch so I could lock my car last night. The door shuts just fine and feels like it latches tight. Is there a door adjustment that someone chose not to do and instead extended this stopper to make the switch work? The switch spring seems to be just fine. There is no known accident history but something seems a little off here.

 

Was it in an accident? Mine does not have any seam sealer on the body below the taillight like yours does.
When you shut it, how are the gaps?

Chip H.

 

X2, that seam sealer looks non-OEM, I'm guessing it's taken a hit and been repaired, and the switch was out of adjustment so the cap was added as a stop-gap.

The sensor is the same as the doors, you can try swapping them around and see if a new switch would resolve your issue, or if you're still going to need to find a way of adding some height to the switch.

 

Thank you. I always thought that sealer didn't look right. I will look into adding some height to the switch if possible. The gaps seem fine when the door is closed and there aren't any rattles.

Bryan

 

I used a piece of 1/8" thick black plastic to make a shim to fit behind the switch. This brings it out to make contact with the bumper on the door.

 

Make sure you have a good seal against water intrusion with your shim. Water from the roof runs down in that area.

Chip H.