Liftgate randomly opens when doors are closed

[BobT2k]

Ok... so I’ve had the st for 2.5 months and 6k miles... never had this happen till today (though the guy in the Minivan behind me was laughing and said his doors open randomly as well...) so I got to thinking... what’s different... well last night I turned off the rain sensing and auto-high beams.... so I turned them back on... and so far the lift gate hasn’t moved....

go figure

 

[Deleted member 348855]

Happened again yesterday. This time it was after I closed the rear passenger door and started to walk along the passenger side towards the back of the explorer. As soon as my foot passed by the rear the rear tire the lift gate opened. Going to schedule an appointment to have the sensors replaced.

 

[peterk9]

Happened again yesterday. This time it was after I closed the rear passenger door and started to walk along the passenger side towards the back of the explorer. As soon as my foot passed by the rear the rear tire the lift gate opened. Going to schedule an appointment to have the sensors replaced.

Check and see if there is a way to adjust the sensitivity of the module.

Peter

 

[Rapid Red]

This thread scared the heck out of me. When I was at the car wash wand washing the vehicle the hatch opened on its own a few times when I was spraying the rear side panels.

So when I was driving home today with my summer tires in the back I was terrified the lift might open on its own and the tires would come flying out into traffic.

Totally irrational but given that the car is two weeks old and has been in the shop with electrical issues for one of them (found to be due to a faulty ground wire) who knows for sure.

 

[blwnsmoke]

This thread scared the heck out of me. When I was at the car wash wand washing the vehicle the hatch opened on its own a few times when I was spraying the rear side panels.

So when I was driving home today with my summer tires in the back I was terrified the lift might open on its own and the tires would come flying out into traffic.

Totally irrational but given that the car is two weeks old and has been in the shop with electrical issues for one of them (found to be due to a faulty ground wire) who knows for sure.

I think what you experienced is no different then when we spray the door handles or the touch keypad they all activate and lock/unlock the doors. I have had the tailgate happen too when spraying the back end but I think the back side was because it registered a kick.

 

[STwannaB]

Sooo.. did anyone get this figured out? I have a 2021 platinum that I’ve owned for 3 weeks. I don’t want to think it, but I may be having the same issue. It’s happened at least 4-5 times to me while closing one of the rear doors after putting one of my 3 children in their car seats and closing the door… the lift gate has magically opened. The first couple times I thought I hit the button on the fob in my pocket.. but now I’m starting to think I’m not crazy. And today I hit unlock on my fob more than once and the lift gate opened again, yes I’m sure I hit unlock bc I replicated it again right after.

 

[hbalek]

Sooo.. did anyone get this figured out? I have a 2021 platinum that I’ve owned for 3 weeks. I don’t want to think it, but I may be having the same issue. It’s happened at least 4-5 times to me while closing one of the rear doors after putting one of my 3 children in their car seats and closing the door… the lift gate has magically opened. The first couple times I thought I hit the button on the fob in my pocket.. but now I’m starting to think I’m not crazy. And today I hit unlock on my fob more than once and the lift gate opened again, yes I’m sure I hit unlock bc I replicated it again right after.

This happened to me a few times over a year ago and hasn't happened since. But I still get the unwanted liftgate open when I walk to close to the back bumper activating the motion sensor.

 

[quickfix]

While reading this thread I had visions of Maxwell Smart's apartment in the late 60's show.
The defensive "features" would be activated for almost no reason at all, generally to the dismay and horror of the occupants.
Sorry. I know that's no help at all.

 

[Spacey]

Our 2020 ST did this the other day while parked in the garage. The rising hatch scraped against hardware on the garage door and now has a long scratch on it. Of course we couldn't tell this when entering the garage from the house so pushed the garage door up button which made things even worse. After two years of ownership I still find something new to dislike about this car almost every day...

 

[peterk9]

I wonder why the liftgate obstacle detection wouldn't have closed it again? I also open/close the garage door from inside the house.
I just checked mine by using the unlock button on the 'gate' and then blocking the opening partway and it did not reverse. Just produced a lot of alarm tones.

Peter

 

[Spacey]

No idea. If it can't figure out when it's supposed to be closed, why should I expect it to do other intelligent things? There are only a few inches between the hatch and the garaged door when closed so perhaps not enough motion to detect the problem. Certainly enough motion to screw up the paint work.

 

[RickyG]

Setting the Liftgate Open Height

1. Open the liftgate.
2. Stop the liftgate movement by pressing the control button on the liftgate when it reaches the desired height.

Note: Once the liftgate has stopped moving, you can also manually move it to the desired height.

1. Press and hold the liftgate control button on the liftgate until you hear a tone, indicating programming is complete.

Note: You can only use the liftgate control button to program the height.
Note: You cannot program the height if the liftgate position is too low.
The new open liftgate height is recalled when the power liftgate is opened. To change the programmed height, repeat the above procedure. Once you open the power liftgate, you can manually move it to a different height.
Note: The system recalls the new programmed height until you reprogram it, even if you disconnect the battery.
When operating the power liftgate after you have programmed a lower height than fully open, you can fully open the liftgate by manually pushing it upward to the maximum open position.
Obstacle Detection
Note: Entering your vehicle while the liftgate is closing can cause your vehicle to bounce and activate obstacle detection. To prevent this, let the power liftgate close completely before you enter your vehicle. Before driving off, check the instrument cluster for a liftgate or door ajar message or warning indicator. Failure to do this could result in unintentionally leaving the liftgate open while driving.
When Closing
The system stops when it detects an obstacle. A tone sounds and the system reverses to open.Once you remove the obstacle, you can power close the liftgate.
When Opening
The system stops when it detects an obstacle and a tone sounds. Once you remove the obstacle, you can continue to operate the liftgate.
Switching the Power Liftgate On or Off
You can switch the power liftgate on or off through the vehicle settings on your touchscreen.
When switched off, the liftgate only unlatches and will not power open or close.
Hands-Free Feature
Make sure you have the passive key within 3 ft (1 m) of the liftgate.

1. Stand behind your vehicle, and face the liftgate.
2. Move your foot, in a single-kick motion, without pausing, under and away from the rear bumper detection area.

 

[peterk9]

Thanks Ricky, but setting the height is not the issue here but thank you for posting the clarification that the obstacle detection system only reverses when the liftgate is closing. That would explain why it didn't automatically close when it detected an obstacle when opening.

Peter

 

[peterk9]

No idea. If it can't figure out when it's supposed to be closed, why should I expect it to do other intelligent things? There are only a few inches between the hatch and the garaged door when closed so perhaps not enough motion to detect the problem. Certainly enough motion to screw up the paint work.

I guess backing in isn't an option.

 

[Spacey]

Backing in would only result in the hatch being damaged by stuff in the front of the garage when it opened inadvertently, along with all the things we would hit trying to back into a very tight space.

I took the vehicle to a body shop to have them look at the scratch and the rep told me it is a common that Ford attempted to address by replacing a harness. That fix didn't work and currently the only "solution" is disabling the liftgate. He also said the F series pickups had the same issue with tailgates opening and a different shop had a customer whose tailgate opened and slammed down on the hitch of the trailer he was towing. Seems like something the NHTSA would be interested in.

 

[peterk9]

Thanks for the reply. Have you spoken to the dealer about possible warranty coverage for the damage? It may not make a difference but you can ask them to at least record the incident. I'm guessing that the amount it opens is too low to use the Set Height feature.

Peter

 

[Spacey]

The car is going in for routine service and recalls next week. I'll let the dealer know and am absolutely certain I will get the "Can't reproduce the issue, no codes found" standard response for anything that goes wrong with the car. In any case they wouldn't take responsibility for consequential damages. The body shop said there was no way to spot paint the area as it would show up in a few months, so either use touch up paint on the scratch which they offered to do gratis, or paint the entire hatch which I don't have any interest in doing. I am going to disable the power hatch opening as I can just envision it opening on its own while I'm driving down the road and dumping my dogs into traffic. What a pain.

 

[peterk9]

Are you certain that there was no way that the fob may have been accidentally been triggered while it was in the house?

Peter

 

[Spacey]

The fob was sitting on a counter in my kitchen. It requires two presses of the button on the fob in quick succession to operate the liftgate. It is not possible.

 

[peterk9]

The fob was sitting on a counter in my kitchen. It requires two presses of the button on the fob in quick succession to operate the liftgate. It is not possible.

Both of them?