Tailgate closing problems

[Farnham Dave]

Hi everybody.

I'm having problems closing the tailgate (automatically). Sometimes, it gets half way down then stops, goes CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK, and opens again.

Didn't happen till hot weather

The struts are new, and are the correct ones.

The sound sounds like a knackered cog or something... I might try and investigate, but would like to hear if anyone else has had the same problem.

2006 RX400h

[Herbie]

The grease/lube may have dried out and the cogs are slipping or, as you say, completely knackered.

I've had a look in the workshop manual but most of the troubleshooting and other info is to do with the electrical operation rather than mechanical. These two pages may or may not help:

[Farnham Dave]

Thanks.

I will do some searches for "... Drive unit", and see if I get anything new. I tried motor and a few other things before.

[Farnham Dave]

Ok, judging by the picture in the manual page you sent me, it's one of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEXUS-RX-400H-TAILGATE-AUTO-CLOSE-MECHANISM-427107-10030-/123731641179

I wasn't sure earlier

[Herbie]

Yep, that does indeed look like the beast.

[Farnham Dave]

Yes, quite a chunk of stuff. It doesn't look like it can be taken apart or serviced/lubricated. I'm going to have a tentative look sometime, see if the unit is accessible... I've seen a YouTube video where someone lifts the edge of the roof liner to take a look... Whatever I do, I don't want to do any damage in the process, though... Would rather hit a dead end than end up with mangled trim.

[plastic orange]

My wife's RX starting doing this a few years ago, so I bought replacement struts from SGS, but these were too strong and tailgate kept doing this. After a bit of negotiation I got ones from them that were lower rated and these work fine until we get a hot day and it happens again. We've learned to live with it as it's not too problematic, and how many really hot days do we get.

 

Pete

[Farnham Dave]

It did happen on a hot day. When cooler, it creaks and hesitates.