Power Back Door (Tailgate) not working on 2010 (Series 3) RX450h

[Herbie]

Just sent you a PM now Kate, hope it helps.

[red4]

Hi All, I have a RX450 hF sport 2013 with a tailgate that will not open I have done all the tests with the remote and inside of the car it will not open manually, it will lock and unlock the doors when trying to open the tailgate, Help please 

[Herbie]

1 hour ago, red4 said:

Hi All, I have a RX450 hF sport 2013 with a tailgate that will not open I have done all the tests with the remote and inside of the car it will not open manually, it will lock and unlock the doors when trying to open the tailgate, Help please 

Just sent you some info by PM that might help John.

[tjbasser]

my issue is a little different. On my 2010 rx350 the lift gate works fine with the key fab, the dash button and the button on under side of door. however the button on the outside of the door under the license plate will only unlock the doors. it will not engage door lift. Any ideas?

[Herbie]

2 hours ago, tjbasser said:

my issue is a little different. On my 2010 rx350 the lift gate works fine with the key fab, the dash button and the button on under side of door. however the button on the outside of the door under the license plate will only unlock the doors. it will not engage door lift. Any ideas?

That's the 'manual' button. You use that if there's a problem with the electrics and use good old elbow grease to lift and lower the tailgate yourself.

[fezman]

On 2/9/2021 at 7:20 PM, Herbie said:

Just sent you some info by PM that might help John.

could you send that info my way Herbie? Same issue as described above, RX450h 2013

thanks

Ian

 

[fezman]

Scratch that Herbie, just did the manual reset with the lever inside the door and it is now working. Think this was probably a low charge Battery issue

[Herbie]

16 minutes ago, fezman said:

Scratch that Herbie, just did the manual reset with the lever inside the door and it is now working. Think this was probably a low charge battery issue

Just sent it anyway Ian as you may find it useful for future reference.

[Richp1974]

Hi Herbie,iam having problems opening my tailgate the same as Nick,it sounds like you may have the solution. Would you be kind enough to share share.

Cheers Richard

[Herbie]

32 minutes ago, Richp1974 said:

Hi Herbie,iam having problems opening my tailgate the same as Nick,it sounds like you may have the solution. Would you be kind enough to share share.

Cheers Richard

It's not the actual solution but may help you get there - just sent it now Richard.

[Asnad]

Hi all I have the same problem

Drove 1 hour parked up and the boot opened. 6 hours later tried again no noise not even the 2 beep sound. Drove for 30 minutes parked up and the boot opened. Everything else works on the car. Can anyone help? 

[George Phillips]

On my Lexus RX 450h service yesterday, I was informed that the tailgate motor had failed. I can not open my tailgate with any of the manuals instructions, even with the manual lock inside the tailgate. I was informed that I can not open the tailgate unless the motor is replaced (quoted £1226.92)

Question is:- Is this quote excessive? If I can not open the tailgate, how can Lexus open it to replace the motor?

Prior to my service I had a flat Battery situation, could this have contributed to the defect?

Regards

George

[fezman]

well its back again today.

service and new brakes all round tomorrow. I've also got the extended warranty, so we will see if it covered under that. 

[Herbie]

2 hours ago, George Phillips said:

On my Lexus RX 450h service yesterday, I was informed that the tailgate motor had failed. I can not open my tailgate with any of the manuals instructions, even with the manual lock inside the tailgate. I was informed that I can not open the tailgate unless the motor is replaced (quoted £1226.92)

Question is:- Is this quote excessive? If I can not open the tailgate, how can Lexus open it to replace the motor?

Prior to my service I had a flat battery situation, could this have contributed to the defect?

Regards

George

Hi George,

See my reply to your other post and I've also sent you some info by private message that may be of use to you.

[Patrick 450]

Hi Herbie, I am having problems opening my tailgate with a similar background to Nick. It sounds like you may have the solution. Would you be kind enough to share with me.

Thank you

Patrick

[Herbie]

40 minutes ago, Patrick 450 said:

Hi Herbie, I am having problems opening my tailgate with a similar background to Nick. It sounds like you may have the solution. Would you be kind enough to share with me.

Thank you

Patrick

It's not exactly the solution Patrick but it may help you get there. I've just sent it to you now.

[KenMavor]

18 minutes ago, Herbie said:

It's not exactly the solution Patrick but it may help you get there. I've just sent it to you now.

Herbie,

I think you should charge a tenner for the information ..............:-0

 

[Herbie]

31 minutes ago, KenMavor said:

Herbie,

I think you should charge a tenner for the information ..............:-0

 

Not a bad suggestion Ken 

[steveledzep]

37 minutes ago, Herbie said:

Not a bad suggestion Ken 

My cheque is in the post Herbs 😉

[alitech]

Hi guys

I have just experienced this tonight for the first time after getting in the car after 2 weeks. Obvs lockdown means we dont get to use this too much. My tailgate is not opening with either the tailgate button on the dash, key and even the button above the license plates. Its all a bit strange. There are no beeps either. The button above the rear license plate does unlock the car though, but otherwise its pretty dead, does not do anything at all. I have a bit of an emergency situation now where I have to carry a load for 100 miles and no access to the boot. I could always push the seats down and use the door, but that is less than ideal and will damage the merchandise. 

Anyways, long store short. I have just learned from this thread that there is an on/off switch in the glove compartment. Does anyone have a picture of this switch? I cannot find it in mine. I have a 2010 RX450H to give you context. 

I have never deal with the aux Battery in the trunk and have no idea on what I need to do to charge it. I am wondering if there are further diagnostics that can be done to validate if the aux Battery indeed is the culprit? Apart from the power tailgate, what other electronics use this aux Battery? Perhaps I could check those as well to see if it is indeed the aux Battery.

 

A couple of things here for me to investigate with your help. 

 

1. A picture of this on/off switch in the glove compartment. 

2. What other things use the aux Battery to see if they are still working

 

Many thanks and appreciate your help guys. Coming here was most useful.

Ali

 

[Herbie]

The button isn't actually in the glove box but sort of around the right-hand front edge. Open the glove box and it's on the right edge.

As for the 12V Battery, think of it as an ordinary car. It does the same in the hybrid as it would do in any conventional car, so if you open the door and the interior lights come on, they're being powered from the 12V Battery. If you press the power button without pressing the brake pedal you'll put the car into accessory mode, where you can see if the radio is working, maybe the lights too. This is like turning the ignition on in a conventional car, but don't leave it like that too long as the Battery is being drained, not charged.

In order to check it properly though, you'll need a multimeter. Check the standing voltage at the Battery terminals against the chart below and then check it again with the car in READY mode, when it should be around 14.5V if the DC/DC converter is charging it correctly. If you want to connect a charger, just lift the boot floor to access the Battery and lift the big red cover with the '+' sign on it, then connect the charger's red lead to that terminal. Connect the charger's black lead to either the Battery negative '-' terminal or to any unpainted, exposed, metal/bracket/screw/nut/bolt.

This is what you'll see when you look under the boot floor (but without the extra red/black wires) and you'll connect the multimeter or charger red to red and black to black:

 

[alitech]

Hi Herbie

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I highly appreciate it. I found the little switch in the glove box and took a picture. It was in the On position. I turned it on and off a few times, gave it a few taps but no joy. It still does not open. 

As you have described that the aux Battery in the boot powers all the electrics in the car just like a normal Battery does. I can report that all other electrics are working fine. I wonder what the bigger Battery in the front engine bay powers now.. 

Anyway, it is still not working and I am unable to open with the button on the tailgate, the switch on the dash and the key fob. All fail. No beeps either. 

I can still unlock the car with the tailgate button though, that is what I find most strange. 

Is there anything else I should be checking?

Much appreciated.

[Herbie]

3 hours ago, alitech said:

Anyway, it is still not working and I am unable to open with the button on the tailgate, the switch on the dash and the key fob.

All three of those are electrical so if none of them are working it would suggest an electrical problem, maybe a fuse?

You need to do more diagnostic testing now. When you press any of the buttons can you hear a click as though power is getting to the lock/latch assembly but it's mechanically not releasing? If you can't hear any click then it may be that power isn't getting there so you need to test for 12V on the latch/lock/motor assembly connector.

 

3 hours ago, alitech said:

I wonder what the bigger battery in the front engine bay powers now.. 

I mean no offence here Ali but are you sure there's a Battery in the engine bay? I thought all these cars had the 12V Battery under the boot floor and I've never heard of one that has one in the engine bay - even the workshop manuals I have don't show a Battery at the front.

I'm off to bed now but will check back tomorrow.

[Greisingel]

Tail gate electric opening a bit of a lottery on the RX400H. I notice mine often starts, rises a couple of inches bleeps once and gives up. If I turn the engine off it seems more likely to open. I’ve greased the hinges. I’ve lubed the motor opening. I wonder if the two pistons are knackered. Anyone got a result on this problem? Apols if this topic done to death elsewhere. Ta

[Herbie]

35 minutes ago, Greisingel said:

Tail gate electric opening a bit of a lottery on the RX400H. I notice mine often starts, rises a couple of inches bleeps once and gives up. If I turn the engine off it seems more likely to open. I’ve greased the hinges. I’ve lubed the motor opening. I wonder if the two pistons are knackered. Anyone got a result on this problem? Apols if this topic done to death elsewhere. Ta

I'm 90% sure that this'll be the gas struts but before spending any money, check the alignment of the tailgate and make sure the hinges and/or fixing brackets are tight. The tailgate needs to rise straight up, if anything is kocking it out of alignment that could be the problem.