Rear hatch operability

[davidilan]

My remote rear hatch opening function -- where you stick your foot under the bumper on either side of the tow hitch -- is out of commission. I have a feeling it's related to the fact that I Plasti-Dipped the fascia cover in black. Anyone have knowledge on how this works? I do not see any optical sensors underneath, but did notice two small boxes mounted to the inside of the lower edge of the bumper. But these would have to sense "through" the bumper....

Thanks.

 

[Garrett]

Mine works but not all the time. Very long delay when it does work.

 

[st381183]

That foot sensor is finicky and mostly a gimmick. When my arms are full and my balance is, shall we say iffy, the darn thing will not work. Kick, kick, kick, nearly fall, kick, kick, drop something, curse, curse, open with the handle.

My kids enjoy trying to trigger the sensor but I think it’s a
solution looking for a problem. Quicker and easier to open in the conventional way.

 

[Randy_270]

Maybe you guys aren't as dumb as me but I found out, after multiple times of trying to open the hatch by kicking, that you need to have the key with you when you open it with the kicking method. No key, no kicky-open. After I found that out, it works for me almost all the time.

 

[dlcorbett]

Not for me or my spouse. Maybe its my battery in the fobs, mines sometimes wont unlock the doors or ill try to turn it on and it says no key when its in the cupholder. For the hatch, mines wont open, but will close using the kick.

 

[shane_th_ee]

The only time my sensors reliably and consistently open the rear hatch is whenever I'm trying to hook up the trailer's safety chains. I swear I'm going to have to start wearing a hard hat...

 

[Adieu]

Wash the dang thing.

And remove any gunk or plastidip on wherever the sensor is

 

[dlcorbett]

I kno thats not mines problem, shes bathed once a wk, sometimes more.

 

[Uturn]

No sensor, There is actually a antenna wire that runs along the inner lip of the fascia. It plugs into a receiver box with a plastic cover that is attached to the fascia just inside the driver side frame rail. Even though the antenna wire is connected using a weatherpac connector it may have moisture in it. There is a specific procedure to open the rear hatch in the owners manual. Key fob within three feet and one sweep of the foot straight in and out, not side to side.

 

[Garrett]

Key operator: sometimes.

 

[Rotorhead451]

This is one feature I absolutely hate. If I could permanently disable it, I would . . .

 

[rumline]

After being hit in the face several times while hitching up and having it open against my closed garage door, I finally had a positive experience with this damn liftgate today. I came up to my car with arms full of stuff. Remembering what I'd read in this thread, I kicked my foot in and out off to one side of the tow hitch, and it actually worked! This is the first time I got it to open (when actually desired) on the first try.

 

[Uturn]

This is one feature I absolutely hate. If I could permanently disable it, I would . . .

You can. Go under the rear valance on the driver side just inside the frame rail. Remove the plastic cover over the receiver and unplug the antenna wire. Suggest you use a rubber cap to cover the pigtail and plug after unplugging.
The single wire you see is the antenna lead that plugs into the receiver. Mine is unplugged since the vehicle stays in the garage.

 

[Rotorhead451]

Mission accomplished,and thanks for the picture . . .

 

[scottdm]

I also need to add it to my list to disable this feature. I have been hit in the back of the head as the tailgate closes unexpectedly while I've been loading items into the cargo area. Terrible design!

 

[Rotorhead451]

Just dew it!! 5 minutes with a flashlight and a screwdriver. Locate the small box on the driver's side, use the screwdriver to pop the cover back, see the plastic connector, and use the screwdriver point to pry the connector loose

 

[twernst]

You can. Go under the rear valance on the driver side just inside the frame rail. Remove the plastic cover over the receiver and unplug the antenna wire. Suggest you use a rubber cap to cover the pigtail and plug after unplugging.View attachment 27912
The single wire you see is the antenna lead that plugs into the receiver. Mine is unplugged since the vehicle stays in the garage.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!! I kept getting hit on my head. I just removed the entire antenna and covered open port with some gorilla tape. Would be surprised if Ford actually “plugged” port with some thing on other trim models.

 

[Bigfishfin]

Somehow it gives me comfort to realize that folks would rather do things the old fashioned way (manually)!...I wonder how much non essential (crap) could be eliminated from modern transportation contrivances before most folks would even care?..."Gee wizz" stuff may have short term fascination value, but quickly become boring and are in a practice sense expensive and little used...Kinda like cheap toys for the kids at Christmas time...Please forgive me for the rambling...

 

[rob4092xx]

I didn't see the antenna wire or the box. I did see a 8 pin connector which I unplugged. Is this right or does this connector go to something else?

 

[gray_ghost]

The Hands-Free Liftgate Module under the rear bumper has three connectors. The bottom one is for the Hands-Free Liftgate Actuation Lower Sensor which runs along the bottom of the bumper (it is the small wire shown in your picture). The top one is for the Hands-Free Liftgate Actuation Upper Sensor (not shown) which runs along the top of the bumper. When you disabled the Hands-Free feature, did you disconnect only the connector for the Lower Sensor?