Rear Lift Gate Didn't Open for 1 Day

[tphford]

Weird problem. A few days ago I tried to open the rear lift gate and it wouldn't open. It wouldn't open using the button on the dash, the button on the rear of the lift gate or the button in the rear interior of the vehicle. Didn't matter if the vehicle was on or off. Just seemed completely dead. I checked the fuse(s) and they were fine. Then the next day I tried it again and randomly it started working and I haven't had the issue again?

I was in the dealer having them work on my keypad and I mentioned it to them. I said it was working fine now. The service manager asked me if it was cold out and I said yes it was. He mentioned that the vehicle will not allow it to open if the temperature was below some number. I had never heard that. Plus I've never experienced that. Has anyone every heard of that?

 

[trjc3rd]

I’ve never heard of that either. But I have a story similar to yours. My lift gate was doing the same thing yours was. I too checked the fuses and both were good. I was about to order a new actuator and push rod figuring it had to be that.

I checked the prices Ford wanted for the parts. That was discouraging to say the least. I was just going to go without until I saved up enough to buy them. A month or so passed and the rainy season was upon us. I needed new wiper blades, so I thought, what the heck I might as well get one for the rear window while I’m at.

I installed the front ones, then went to do the rear. I was all set, just need to give them a test run to make sure everything worked. Somehow I bumped the dashboard lift gate button and low and behold the damn thing worked. I didn’t do any repair to it as I said. The only ting I did was change the wiper blade.

Needless to say I was happy as hell that it started working again. I don’t know to this day why it stopped working or why it started to again. I guess miracles do happen after all. By the way, I live in San Diego, CA it never gets colder than the mid 40’s here so I doubt it was the temputare thingy.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

Weird problem. A few days ago I tried to open the rear lift gate and it wouldn't open. It wouldn't open using the button on the dash, the button on the rear of the lift gate or the button in the rear interior of the vehicle. Didn't matter if the vehicle was on or off. Just seemed completely dead. I checked the fuse(s) and they were fine. Then the next day I tried it again and randomly it started working and I haven't had the issue again?

I was in the dealer having them work on my keypad and I mentioned it to them. I said it was working fine now. The service manager asked me if it was cold out and I said yes it was. He mentioned that the vehicle will not allow it to open if the temperature was below some number. I had never heard that. Plus I've never experienced that. Has anyone every heard of that?

BS.

Read your vehicle owner’s manual.

 

[Modelcarguy]

Interesting. Had a similar problem with our 3rd gen. Turns out a sloppy gear shift lock out was the problem. In fact, it was an indicator that the plastic shift lever needed to be replaced completely. (Are you experiencing a stiff shifting or jerky getting into park? Might be time to jump in and replace)

Good luck, and happy motoring!

 

[tphford]

No, I haven't experienced any jerky shifting. Everything works perfectly fine including the lifgate now! Weird.

 

[REG1]

Yes! About a month ago on a cold morning, but by far not the coldest weather the truck has been in. Came out with groceries and hit the button on the hatch and nothing. Went to open the driver side door and the automatic door handle unlock feature didn't work either. Dug out the FOB and used that to open the back hatch and unlock the driver side door. Drove home and pulled into the garage, the hatch button still didn't work, but the dash button lifted the hatch like normal. Got the groceries out and closed up both the truck and the garage. It sat for a couple of hours in the garage. After that, everything worked like normal. As stated, never had the problem before, or after this one time.

 

[Motorcity muscle]

My '07 has had the same problem with liftgate couple times now. Gate will not operate at all with remote, outside handle and dash switch. Tried pulling fuses and in the end disconnected the battery and reconnected and it worked. This last time I pushed the dash switch to close it and put it in gear and was moving as it closed. Not 100% sure if it was the movement before closing that caused the problem but no issue's since.