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Powered liftgate open fast stops, no close

P

pbaker1019

New Member
Joined
March 10, 2021
Messages
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City, State
Flint, MI
Year, Model & Trim Level
2020 Explorer ST
When opening the powered liftgate will jolt open fast opening only about 1/3rd. and stop. Pressing the open again opens more. It takes a couple cycles to get the liftgate all the way open. If I open the liftgate manually (it can stay open) and use the button to lower, it looks like the liftgate attempts to open more instead of lowering. I have tried a reset procedure found online by disconnecting the battery for at least 20 seconds. The symptoms are the same regardless of using the tailgate release, key fob, or dash liftgate button. The quick opening action seems the same as when a large object stops and reverses the closing liftgate. Could this be the side pinch sensors? Are there any other sensors that may be causing this? Any help is much appreciated.
 



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Welcome to the Forum. :wave:
Have you tried opening it all the way manually and then pressing the button to set the height? There should be a tone once programmed.

Peter
 






peterk9 said:
Welcome to the Forum. :wave:
Have you tried opening it all the way manually and then pressing the button to set the height? There should be a tone once programmed.

Peter
Click to expand...
I did try that, usually holding for a couple seconds will sound the tone and set the height. Now I can press and hold as long as I want without a tone.
 






One other thing you could try if you want is to disconnect the negative battery cab;e for a few minutes. Reconnect and see if that helped. You will likely lose some saved memory settings do that. Do you get the 3 tones when it attempts to close or does it just try to open more and not close at all? Wondering if it may be the liftgate motor that is the cause.

Peter
 






peterk9 said:
One other thing you could try if you want is to disconnect the negative battery cab;e for a few minutes. Reconnect and see if that helped. You will likely lose some saved memory settings do that. Do you get the 3 tones when it attempts to close or does it just try to open more and not close at all? Wondering if it may be the liftgate motor that is the cause.

Peter
Click to expand...
I have disconnected the battery cable for a couple minutes two times. Once with the lift gate closed and once with it open. I do get the three tones when when I press the button but it only tries to go up.
 






pbaker1019 said:
I have disconnected the battery cable for a couple minutes two times. Once with the lift gate closed and once with it open. I do get the three tones when when I press the button but it only tries to go up.
Click to expand...
pbaker1019 said:
When opening the powered liftgate will jolt open fast opening only about 1/3rd. and stop. Pressing the open again opens more. It takes a couple cycles to get the liftgate all the way open. If I open the liftgate manually (it can stay open) and use the button to lower, it looks like the liftgate attempts to open more instead of lowering. I have tried a reset procedure found online by disconnecting the battery for at least 20 seconds. The symptoms are the same regardless of using the tailgate release, key fob, or dash liftgate button. The quick opening action seems the same as when a large object stops and reverses the closing liftgate. Could this be the side pinch sensors? Are there any other sensors that may be causing this? Any help is much appreciated.
Click to expand...
 






Well you got the tones back but not the closing part. The only thing I can think of is the liftgate motor as that is what controls the open/closing feature. There is also a liftgate module. Liftgate for 2017 Ford Explorer | Auto Nation Ford White Bear Lake
I'm afraid other than those items, I'm out of ideas. I don't know if this issue actually may set a trouble code or not.

Peter
 






SOLUTION: New powered liftgate motor actuator and support cylinder resolved this problem. I purchased my parts from tascaparts.com. Local Ford dealers did not return my email or phone call messages requesting parts.

Actuator: GB5Z14B351A
Support Cylinder - Passenger side (RH): GB5Z78406A10A
 






pbaker1019 said:
SOLUTION: New powered liftgate motor actuator and support cylinder resolved this problem. I purchased my parts from tascaparts.com. Local Ford dealers did not return my email or phone call messages requesting parts.

Actuator: GB5Z14B351A
Support Cylinder - Passenger side (RH): GB5Z78406A10A
Click to expand...
It's a good thing they didn't return your calls. By getting the parts from Tasca, you save almost $50 on the actuator alone when compared to the Ford parts site. The support cylinder would have been about $40 more.
Thanks for reporting back. :thumbsup:

Peter
 






Hi Everybody, a few months ago my tailgate would just randomly open when I was walking away from it. This happened quite a bit and then the other day I pushed button to open it and it just shot up so fast and stopped right before it fully opened, then I hit buttoned to close it but instead of going down, it went up the rest of the way. Hit button again to close and it just moves a hair. I now have to manually close it, for it to close. When it shuts it does still latch. That's good.. My book says that its not good to manually shut tailgate? Not sure if this is correct? So now it's been over a week and still the same. Does anybody have any advice for me. I really dont want to take it to dealer, but I do want it fixed..
 






Welcome to the Forum Quin. :wave:
It could be the liftgate motor is bad. Closing it manually is not recommended but I don't think it would hurt anything doing so. Especially if you have no choice. Have you ever used the Liftgate Height setting? I don't see that as being the issue here though.

Peter
 






Here is link from the 5th gen explorer. It sounds a lot like your issue. It might help you.

Powered liftgate open fast stops, no close

When opening the powered liftgate will jolt open fast opening only about 1/3rd. and stop. Pressing the open again opens more. It takes a couple cycles to get the liftgate all the way open. If I open the liftgate manually (it can stay open) and use the button to lower, it looks like the liftgate...
www.explorerforum.com www.explorerforum.com
 






Thanks for that post Dale. I was kind of busy and forgot to do a Search. :(
The thread has now been merged with this one that you posted. Thanks for the help. :thumbsup:

Peter
 






pbaker1019 said:
SOLUTION: New powered liftgate motor actuator and support cylinder resolved this problem. I purchased my parts from tascaparts.com. Local Ford dealers did not return my email or phone call messages requesting parts.

Actuator: GB5Z14B351A
Support Cylinder - Passenger side (RH): GB5Z78406A10A
Click to expand...
Thanks for the links. I had a problem with my '17 (from new I imagine) where if I opened lift gate with the engine off, then started the engine with the lift gate still open, it wouldn't close with any of the buttons.

It just started doing what you described, at our yard waste site. I closed the lift gate but it was really windy and it blew the end of the tarp I had protecting the cargo area into the latch. It popped back up and is now doing exactly what you described.

Were you able to figure out which actuator failed or did you just by two and replace both actuators?
 






BAJ1 said:
Thanks for the links. I had a problem with my '17 (from new I imagine) where if I opened lift gate with the engine off, then started the engine with the lift gate still open, it wouldn't close with any of the buttons.

It just started doing what you described, at our yard waste site. I closed the lift gate but it was really windy and it blew the end of the tarp I had protecting the cargo area into the latch. It popped back up and is now doing exactly what you described.

Were you able to figure out which actuator failed or did you just by two and replace both actuators?
Click to expand...
The member you quoted was last seen here on March 6, 2023, so likely is no longer following.
There is only one actuator which is the motor, the other is just for support.
I believe your first sentence indicates an issue. There is no reason that the liftgate should not close whether it was opened with or without the engine running. I don't see how the obstacle (tarp) detection feature would cause the motor to fail.
Have a look at this https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...usg=AOvVaw0lusnE0tn0ZGNHFHzMrDDw&opi=89978449
It is one of the methods found here; 2017 explorer liftgate reset - Google Search
Good luck.

Peter
 






While I don't have that fancy stuff, if I did and it broke, I'd take out the motorized parts and return it to manual liftgate...you don't need it.
 






mountaineer2004 said:
While I don't have that fancy stuff, if I did and it broke, I'd take out the motorized parts and return it to manual liftgate...you don't need it.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing that will result in several warning messages that you may or may not be able to clear permanently.

Peter
 






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