Power hatch malfunction
My 2014 Highlander Limited's power hatch seems to have malfunctioned and I was wondering if anyone else had a similar experience and what solutions were found. Here's what happened: I activated the hatch from the door itself and it only went up 2 feet before stopping. Pressed the switch again and it went down 2" and stopped. Pressed again and it went up 2" and stopped. Tried it with the fob and dash switches with the same results. Turned off the engine, restarted, same results. Checked to see if the rear wiper/washer worked (it did), and after that, pressed the hatch switch on the dash and the hatch went down and stayed closed. I also had an instance where the hatch went up on its own while in the garage - hit the garage door and stopped. At the same time this was going on, the back up camera is very fuzzy and I almost hit a garage door backing up (no warning sounds). Here in Minnesota, it's been a typical winter with lots of road salt, which has coated the vehicle including the rear hatch area. My suspicion is the salt/chemicals used somehow affected the hatch, but I don't know for certain. Will be taking it in to my Toyota dealer. Anyone have ideas? Thanks. (Yes, I will wash it but wanted to have the dealer look at it first).
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At 38,000 miles my Highlander now has the bent hinge problem. To say we are disappointed that this is, apparently a well known problem, and Toyota is just ignoring it, is contrary to what we thought was the "Toyota way."
Keep in mind, this is a garaged kept vehicle driven by two 70 plus seniors and the hinge must have been ruined by trips to the grocery store, where the hatch was opened and closed automatically. We don't really think this would be considered "rough service".
In any event, if Toyota won't repair a well known defect, it makes one wonder what they do actually guarantee.
Honda Pilot may be on the horizon, although I thought we were Highlander for life owners.
Brian
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Here's a video I found about a 2010 Highlander door warning light coming on. Interesting to watch the diagnostic process. Came down to the back door lock switch, which sounds a lot like your problem. The liftgate latch assembly (and the switch it contains) is the gremlin.
Did I say thanks! Hope you have a great day.
2016 Highlander
The pre 2016 Highlanders had some problems witb these failing. Also check Toyotanation for some other hints on how to fix problems much more cheaply.