The power liftgate on my 04 decided to stop working today. I switched remotes, tried opening from inside using the button near the steering wheel, made sure the button in the glove compartment was off, and switched the no. 4 fuse under the hood. It's still not working. I have to manually open and close.

I will be bringing the car to the dealer in a few weeks for service so I will have them check it. Fortunately I have another year on the extended warranty. Still, I have to ask, am I overlooking something? My baby turns 6 in a few days.

 

Go out and open it manually and close it manually. Then see if the remote works.

 

Jim, I did this a few times. It sounds like the motor (?) is shot but I'm not exactly familiar with the liftgate innards.

 

When I had this happen it just worked again after a few open & closings. Once the cargo mat was too far out & jamed it up.

 

Do you guys think, just like pinch protection for the windows/sun-roof, there is safety cutout for the power-door and that needs to be reprogrammed? Any body read the manual on this?

Note: My RX is '99 and does not have that feature.

Salim

 

anything is possible... when you shut the door manually, a motor still runs anyway and moves the door ever so slightly up then down to lock it.... can you confirm that is still happening? if you dont hear that motor then i would say its shot... unless its a totally different motor that controls that lock mechanism

 

The liftgate still latches but the sound is barely audible compared to normal. So there is probably a second motor that operates the lifting/closing. Maybe that one's gone. I made an appointment with the dealer for 10/16. Hmm, maybe I can get them to vacuum out the bugs in the taillights for me while they're back there.

Salim, I had the latch assembly replaced on my 99. When I tried to open it, the release point was barely there, kind of like a bad clutch. Lexus uses remanufactured parts. That failed too and had to be replaced. Luckily I found out before I left the lot and was provided with a loaner for a few days while they ordered a second one. Didn't cost me a penny Hope yours is working OK.

Thanks to all for your help.

 

did you get the motor replaced?? or were there any other problems with the motor.. my tailegate opens a bit and then closes right away.. and never opens again..

 

I'm interested to hear the resolution for this issue. I try not to use the power gate on mine unless my hands are full. I'm hoping to avoid having to replace it.

 

My bad for not updating. The button inside the glove compartment was finicky. After pressing it a few times, the tail gate started working again. But I only had the 330 for a few more months before trading it in for the 450h. So I can't say it definitively resolved the issue.

 

my '05 had a similar problem but it started working again. The auto hudraulic lift does not work manually though.

 

i went to a mechanic he said i have to change the motor.. but reading all the posts here i see that there could be something else that's not working. the switch in the glove box.. when i pressed it down (then can't even hear any sound,) but when i press that back i could at least hear some sound.. but the door doesn't open at all .. only open manually.

 

Idk if this will help but try it...

same thing happened to me. I freaked. I did the following and it worked.

Closes all the doors
Locked the doors with the remote
opened the doors with the remote
started the car
turned the car off
locked the door
opened the doors
opened the truck and it opened and closed automatically


Sounds strange and it may have nothing to do with anything but it worked for me!

Let me know what happens

 

The valet switch inside glove box disables rear power back door if pushed in. People accidentally hit it all the time.

 

My liftgate does not work at all on 2007 rx400h. I was told I need the trunk lid tailgate hatch motor mechanism. Any ideas where I can get one other than the dealer, which is outrageously expensive. Also anyone know the part number for this mechanism? I would appreciate your help!!