2010 Escape, Rear liftgate won't open ? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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2010 Escape, Rear liftgate won't open ?

Joined
July 24, 2012
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City, State
RI
Year, Model & Trim Level
2008 Explorer,4.0 LTD 4x4
Just a heads up if this happens to you. On my wifes 2010 Escape, I could not open rear liftgate, I locked and unlocked it several times, still would not open. Rear glass would open fine, but not the liftgate.

I called dealer and made service appt. Searched around and found someone who said he put the key back in the ignition and turned it on and then it worked.

So I restarted the vehicle and sure enough the liftgate now works fine. This all happened when my wife returned from the store and I went to open the liftgate as she shut off the vehicle, the doors where still unlocked, the liftgate clicked once but that was it. It must have tried to lock itself when the vehicle was shut down and would not reset till I restarted it. Some sort of glitch.

Just thought I would mention it and maybe help someone if this happens to you.

Ed
 



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Liftgate not working again

Just a heads up if this happens to you. On my wifes 2010 Escape, I could not open rear liftgate, I locked and unlocked it several times, still would not open. Rear glass would open fine, but not the liftgate.

I called dealer and made service appt. Searched around and found someone who said he put the key back in the ignition and turned it on and then it worked.

So I restarted the vehicle and sure enough the liftgate now works fine. This all happened when my wife returned from the store and I went to open the liftgate as she shut off the vehicle, the doors where still unlocked, the liftgate clicked once but that was it. It must have tried to lock itself when the vehicle was shut down and would not reset till I restarted it. Some sort of glitch.

Well I was wrong on this one, the liftgate quit working again. It seems to work maybe once for no reason, but will not work all the time.

So I recalled the dealer and it's going in Monday.
I'll post any results

Ed
 






Sounds to me (I could be totally wrong) like a latch needs replaced... For whatever reason, door latches in my Ford vehicles seem to get replaced more than just about any other part, and I don't think I've owned a single Ford truck or SUV (except my current Escape, knock on wood) that I haven't had to replace at least one latch. Usually the issue is you can open the door but it won't allow you to shut it again, but I could also see it not unlatching correctly.
 






Rear Liftgate, 2010 Escape

All is well again, Ford dealer replaced the latch assembly, still under warranty so no cost. The part # is 9L8Z-7843150 B. It's listed on ebay for about $100.
Ford dealer with discount about $90.00.
 






2010 escape rear door latch fix.

I was able to take apart latch assembly and exposed the motor that was failing. The motor reminded me of a motor inside of a hobbiest RC race car I had as a kid. The switch sends a quick 12 volt burst to the motor which uses a gear to pull an arm to release the latch. All I did was lubricate the ends of each side with hobbiest motor oil or 3 in 1 oil will work also. I applied a constant 12 volts to allow the motor to spin to work the oil into the motor ends. This fixed my problem for now. The door latch opens everytime.
 






George


I have a 2010 Ford Escape with the same problem you are having, it just started yesterday 7/31/2013. Could you let me know what the Dealer Says about the problem and a Solution. Thank You...:salute:
 






I have a 2010 Ford Escape with the same problem you are having, it just started yesterday 7/31/2013. Could you let me know what the Dealer Says about the problem and a Solution. Thank You...:salute:



The part # is 9L8Z-7843150 B. It's listed on ebay for about $100.
Ford dealer with discount about $90.00.
 






Replaced motor.

If your tech savy, you can replace the part yourself as
2008explorer4x4 listed the entire latch essembly. My vehicle was short of 1000 miles of warranty work. I though am always curious why this part failed and my oiling procedure worked for about a week but then failed again. Found out that the motor inside needed replace but was manufacturered in Germany. The motor only cost $3.00 but they require a minimum $200 dollar order. Then on another forum someone said you could find the motor on ebay for around $6.00 with shipping but you need to press off the gear from existing motor and press on to new motor. It now works like new. I will include the url for this motor.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mabuchi-FC-...r-280PC-22125-Repair-High-Speed-/160650312326

Good luck!
 






This just happened to my Escape the other day. Checked all fuses, verified they're good. The glass lift gate will open, but not the door itself. When I hit the button, I can hear it click, just not disengage. Any tips on how to open the lift gate from the interior? I don't even know how to get the plastic off, and I can't figure out if it's even possible to release the latch without it.

From what I've described, does it sound like the $6 motor/actuator is the culprit? If so, if I can figure out how to get in there, I think I could pull off this repair.
 






Yes. You definitely have the same problem. I was able to access the inside by opening the window and carefully pulled the plastic away. It seems a little difficult but you'll need to pull pretty hard and the snaps should pull away but be carefull because the bottom of the door which you cannot access until you get the door open is attached by 4 screws. Then you can reach down and pull up on the door latch to open. I actually tied a small rope to the door latch and had it hang out the inside of window until I received the motor.
 






Yes. You definitely have the same problem. I was able to access the inside by opening the window and carefully pulled the plastic away. It seems a little difficult but you'll need to pull pretty hard and the snaps should pull away but be carefull because the bottom of the door which you cannot access until you get the door open is attached by 4 screws. Then you can reach down and pull up on the door latch to open. I actually tied a small rope to the door latch and had it hang out the inside of window until I received the motor.

Hmmm. And how to I get the plastic casing open that houses this little motor?! The case made by Kiekert labeled PA6 GF30.
 






Hmmm. And how to I get the plastic casing open that houses this little motor?! The case made by Kiekert labeled PA6 GF30.

Carefully open each clip on all four sides and it should open. A few of mine snapped but i just used electrical tape to hold unit together.
 






ptepe, all advise above was great. I popped out the actuator motor and noticed that its gear was fixed onto a smooth "stem", whereas the motor i bought had a stem with threads which could apparently accept a gear. couldn't get the gear off the old motor easily; can't imagine it would fit anyhow. online i couldn't find any little motors with gears. do you have any help? thanks.
 






Yes it is difficult to get the gear off the old motor but I just put it in a vise and was able to pry it off and then carefully pressed the gear onto the new motor which also had the threads. Just be careful not to damage the new motor and the gear off the old motor.
 






Liftgate Latch motor replacement

Replacement motor from ebay link worked great! The original motor had a very weak magnetic field, compared to the new one. 2009 Ford Escape is less than five years old.
 






Wow I'm impress

Wow this work just perfect 2 weeks waiting for the motor and 1 hour repair time ! thanks alot you saved me $$$$$
If your tech savy, you can replace the part yourself as
2008explorer4x4 listed the entire latch essembly. My vehicle was short of 1000 miles of warranty work. I though am always curious why this part failed and my oiling procedure worked for about a week but then failed again. Found out that the motor inside needed replace but was manufacturered in Germany. The motor only cost $3.00 but they require a minimum $200 dollar order. Then on another forum someone said you could find the motor on ebay for around $6.00 with shipping but you need to press off the gear from existing motor and press on to new motor. It now works like new. I will include the url for this motor.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mabuchi-FC-...r-280PC-22125-Repair-High-Speed-/160650312326

Good luck!
 






Thanks guys!

Just wanted to pop in and express my gratitude to you guys. This thread basically saved me $300. I bought the motor mentioned previous for about $5 on eBay and it did the trick. I'm a pretty handy guy and I have to say that it was more difficult than I first anticipated. Heres more tips on how to get it done.

Here's what you'll need to replace the motor:

1 set of torx (star) wrenches
1 phillips screwdriver
new motor
small flathead screwdrivers (for prying open actuator)
vise
lubricant (if needed)

Step by step (from what I can remembered)

Precursor:
Check the fuse (consult manual for exact fuse location) under in the front hood to see if it is good before you go on this wild ride. I did that as well verified the rear-latch actuator was getting power before I replaced it.

1.) manually open the door
---------------------------
Open the rear window if you can, and get inside the car. Pop off the plastic door panel covering the inside of the lift-door (from the top down). You won't be able to remove it all the way because the panel has screws that can only be exposed when the lift-door is open. Just expose it enough so that you can reach your hand inside. Go outside the car and reach your hand inside the opening of the panel and lift up on the latch assembly lever (Its a silver 'L shaped' lever which you may have to feel around for).

2.) complete taking off the panel
-------------------------------
Once you have the door open, you'll see 4 phillip head screws keeping the panel in place. Unscrew these and remove the door panel.

3.) Take off the rear latch assembly
-----------------------------------
Carefully remove the two electronic connectors. Then, using a hex wrench, unscrew the bolts to take off the latch assembly.

4.) Remove and open the actuator
---------------------------------
Unscrew the two silver hex bolts, and carefully remove the actuator from the latch assembly. It is very difficult to open the black box part. I did so by prying with a small screw driver for a good while. Once you get the case open, be sure you also remove the electrical connector pins (L shaped black plastic thing with 2 metal prongs sticking out) before you attempt to take out the motor. This also quite difficult to remove

5.) Take out motor
------------------
Once the box is open and the L connector is off, wedge a small screw driver in a pry out the old motor.

The hardest part (as mentioned) was getting the gear off the old motor and onto the new one. To accomplish this (not recommending this - it just so happened to work for me) I just put the old motor in the vice and crushed the plastic part until it started pushing out the gear. I am really surprised that worked, due to how difficult of a time I was having originally.

To put it on the new motor, I used a vice to press it most of the way, then used a small nut on the end of the gear to press it on even further for a proper fit.

6.) Reassemble and test
--------------------------
I put the new motor in, supplied some lubricant to the plastic (up and down) part. Closed it all up and put everything back together and it was good to go. Make sure you open the lift-door window when you put the panel back on for easy access.

Note for the weary: If you are worried that is may be too hard for you, you can buy the entire latch assembly for $68 on Ebay at the moment or about $100 from amazon. The part number is 9L8Z-7843150-B and will be much easier to replace. Basically just steps 1-3 (10 minutes) and easy swap out.

Hope this helps someone! :)
 






Hi all. New member here. Joined today. I noticed months ago I have this exact same problem in my 09 Escape. Problem was intermittent up until a few days ago. Now the liftgate simply won't open anymore at all. Made an appointment w/ my local Ford dealer yesterday and then came across this forum. The info is so valuable, I ordered the latch assembly and the motor on eBay ($73 total), canceled my appointment and am going to attempt the repair myself. Will post here the results one way or the other. THANX GUYS!!!
 






Hotdogcity,

The latch assembly arrived yesterday. This afternoon, I followed your instructions line for line and SUCCESS!! My liftgate opens again like new money. 15 mins of work saved me hundreds of dollars in dealer fees + a rental car! Can not thank you and everyone else on this forum enough for the valuable info posted here. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
 



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2009 Ford Escape.
Got the new motor installed. Liftgate still not working, no clicks or sound from it. I checked the 2 fuses and they are OK. Is there anything else that I can check or reset?

Edit: Never mind, switch contacts were dirty. Got repair done thanks to this thread :)
 






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