Power liftgate unresponsive, requires manual effort to operate

Hey all – I've experienced an issue with a recently purchased 2023 4Runner (new) involving the rear hatch and wondering if anyone could assist in troubleshooting.

I understand the back door should open automatically via power liftgate on any recent 4Runner model. However, the automatic open / close has been unresponsive and the trunk can only be opened or shut with manual lifting or pulling down, which is met with significant resistance (presumably from the power liftgate).

I'm not sure if something needs to be programmed beforehand (key fob or otherwise?), would expect this feature to be immediately functional.

Any advice appreciated!

 

Runners don't have power liftgates. Even new there isn't one.

 

Power lift gate? The only thing that's powered on mine is the window.

 

Ah, so all manual open and closing?

 

Yes. There are aftermarket power lift gates, but I haven't seen much description of user experience with them.

 

Man I almost thought you had something special there.

Hope that wasn't one of the selling points.

 

Yes. But you get a heated wheel and a too much information screen.

 

Thanks all. All good here. Appreciate the input.

 

My wife's Grand Cherokee has a powered hatch and I am glad that I do not. Takes long to open and close, and is just another expensive item to go wrong. You're not missing much IMO.

Don't feel silly OP. I thought my rear power window failed and was stuck open the first night I had it. Turned out I mistakenly bumped the window lock button that also locks this window.

 

Completely manual with hatch opening and closing.

 

The up side is that you won't accidentally open your tailgate with your garage door closed.

The downside is that the struts are powerful enough that if you open it, walk away, and realize that you don't have enough room for it to open fully, you will get to test your reaction time. Mine's pretty damn good, thankfully.

 

That's why I padded key portions of my garage door. I did it for my Outback, but it works just as well for the 4R.

 

Why would you need a power liftgate, when you have all that power under the hood??

 

Yup! Enjoy your brand new 2010 vehicle

 

Next they'll wonder why their automatic headlights arent working lol

 

Had a Nissan Murano Platinum AWD before the 4Runner and the lift gate automatic sensor went bad. Everything still worked however the alarm kept alerting me the tailgate was open whether it was closed or not. That cost me $750 for the part plus a couple of hundred for labor. So about $1100 to fix this problem out of warranty. I’m so glad my 4 runner has none of these items and is exactly why I specifically wanted a 4 runner prior to 2020 for less of these problems.

 

I helped a friend "fix" this problem on his Nissan, too..................I removed the little piezo tweeter/speaker that was emitting the warning beep! $0 repair.

 

I won't lie, I am so used to automatic headlights that when I test drove the 4Runner it was nighttime and I was wondering why the headlights weren't coming on. The salesperson I had thought the 4Runner had automatic headlights as well. I didn't purchase it from that dealership however, lol, but that was for a different reason.

 

Yeah, my 97 Grand Cherokee had them, as does my 2007 Volvo.

Not having them is not the end of the world of course, but they've become such a ubiquitous feature that it's a surprise when a vehicle doesn't have them.

 

Isn't there a way to retrofit them with the headlight stalk and the dash sensor?

 

The thread title made me click. Seriously, I'm good with no power liftgate and no auto headlights. As far as headlights go, I feel like auto headlights make us complacent on when we need to turn on our lights. Foggy days are the worst.

 

Have you tried wine, lots of wine? That usually helps me get the back door open.

 

...and RAIN sensing wipers!!

 

Don’t think for a second I didn’t immediately crawl under the vehicle with a side cutter then had second thoughts. I figured I would get it fixed properly and thought it wouldn’t cost more than a couple of hundred. Was I wrong. That piece of shit gave me nothing but problems as soon as the warranty ended. That wasn’t a cheap vehicle either and was disappointing spending so much money after warranty on a vehicle with only 80,000 miles. Spent over 4 grand in a year on one thing after another.

 

I once purchased a new Range Rover Sport Supercharged and drove it all the way from Omaha to Kansas City (Approx 200 miles) and the Check Engine light did not come on at all.

When I got back to Omaha, I took it to the dealer and it was lemon lawed in less than a week. They had never heard of this on such a long trip and something major was obviously wrong.

 

Yeah, the non-automatic headlights and manual lift gate were the two things that surprised me most, followed closely by lack of backup alarms. On the other hand, there are so many other things about it that I really love.

 

We used to call the check engine light the sell car soon light.

 

My problem with leaving the headlights on is that it also leaves the display in night mode, which I dislike during the day. I have to do the light sensor upgrade soon.

 

There is a fix for that, the scroll wheel to the left of the steering wheel (to brighten the dash lights), turn it up, past the click. Then you're head unit will show up with the white background, not black.

I've done this, but I have to remember to turn it back when it's actually night time. That white screen is BRIGHT as fuck.

 

So, where did you get the information of having a powered lift gate on your 23 T4R?