Liftgate Arm Popping off and Rattling Sound

[steph230]

I have not seen this issue posted anywhere so if I missed it, please let me know. I have a Denali 2015i SWB with all options other than the upgraded wheels. About 3 weeks ago when closing the liftgate with the push button, we heard a loud pop and discovered that the arm on the left side of the liftgate had popped off. We were able to pop it back on but I knew I needed it looked at. It happened again last week and again yesterday. Around this time, I started hearing a rattle when driving on an open stretch of road. It's not constant but it's pretty loud. It's hard to explain but I can hear it and also feel it. Thought I was crazy at first but rear passengers can hear it and we have discovered it's coming from the back. Could it be something related to the arm popping off? Anyone else have either of these issues? I have an appointment for Monday and the dealer says the arm issue means I need new shocks on the liftgate. He said the rattling could be related but of course won't know until I bring it in. My concern is that they won't be able to hear the rattling since it's not consistent during city driving. I've tried looking up both of these issues and maybe I'm not looking up the right terminology but I can't find anything other than the liftgate not opening. That's not the case with us (well, when the arm is detached it doesn't open but once we pop it back on it opens fine). When it does detach, it is so loud it sounds like a gunshot. I jumped clear across my garage last week when it happened!
Not too thrilled that a vehicle with this price tag is already having issues and I just got it 2 months ago!

 

[Cmicasa the Great XvX]

Went to the dealer yesterday for Oil/Tire Rotations and the service adviser came back to me and said that there was a recall on something in the liftgate... He said "while we have it I wanna have it taken care of... Will take an extra 20 minutes " so I said cool.. I had not had any issues at all with the liftgate though.. but let them handle it anyway.

 

[TheAgency]

I haven't had any "Arms" popping off, but I do have that slight intermittent rattle from time to time that you are referring to.

I actually thought it was some cargo back there at first, than thought it could be the rear floor storage box so I temporarily took that out. Finally made my wife drive around while I sat back there and narrowed it down to inside the liftgate toward the lower driver's side corner.

Haven't had the time to look into it, but I would assume its a loose bundle of wires or something. I'll have the dealer look at it on the next oil change.

I know myself and others would appreciate a follow up post if you find anything out in the meantime!

 

[Tahoe14]

I can confirm that there is a recall. Just had it performed at my chevy dealer on my 2015 Tahoe. Document ID# 4042119, Recall# 14300, "Power Liftgate Inoperable". It addresses the liftgate actuator assembly.

 

[steph230]

Hopefully that recall will address my issue. I wish I could find one other instance of the arms popping off. I can't find anything like it on any forum. I'll update after my Monday appointment.

 

[steph230]

Wanted to update after my appointment yesterday. The arm that was popping off was due to a very loose bracket. It was tightened and supposedly that's the fix. I guess I'll know over the next couple of weeks as I open and close the liftgate. So far, so good but it only happened about once a week. They felt confident that was the problem and that I won't see it happen again. As for the rattle, there was a harness for the liftgate that was loose (in the headliner) so that was tightened and rattle disappeared. I believe the 2 issues must have been related b/c the rattle started around the time the arm started popping off and I noticed that along with the rattle, it just seemed noisier in the cabin while driving over the past 3 weeks. Once that was tightened, the cabin is once again quiet with no rattling at all. Hoping that was a one time deal and I won't run into either issue again.

 

[pa-yukon]

This is good to know. My Denali XL has had a problem for the last 10+ days with the liftgate - first it started out that it wouldn't open (it would go up about 12 inches, beep, and shut). Now it is not closing. I've realized there is an issue with the rightside arm - it gets stuck either in up or down position, causing it to do these funny things. It's going in this week to get fixed.

 

[steph230]

Well, looks like the "fix" applied last week didn't work. The arm popped off again yesterday when I closed the liftgate. Back to the dealer it goes.....

 

[hosseface]

Its so amazing that these dealers can't fix a thing!

I'd lose my business if I worked like that.

 

[humer101]

I have not seen this issue posted anywhere so if I missed it, please let me know. I have a Denali 2015i SWB with all options other than the upgraded wheels. About 3 weeks ago when closing the liftgate with the push button, we heard a loud pop and discovered that the arm on the left side of the liftgate had popped off. We were able to pop it back on but I knew I needed it looked at. It happened again last week and again yesterday. Around this time, I started hearing a rattle when driving on an open stretch of road. It's not constant but it's pretty loud. It's hard to explain but I can hear it and also feel it. Thought I was crazy at first but rear passengers can hear it and we have discovered it's coming from the back. Could it be something related to the arm popping off? Anyone else have either of these issues? I have an appointment for Monday and the dealer says the arm issue means I need new shocks on the liftgate. He said the rattling could be related but of course won't know until I bring it in. My concern is that they won't be able to hear the rattling since it's not consistent during city driving. I've tried looking up both of these issues and maybe I'm not looking up the right terminology but I can't find anything other than the liftgate not opening. That's not the case with us (well, when the arm is detached it doesn't open but once we pop it back on it opens fine). When it does detach, it is so loud it sounds like a gunshot. I jumped clear across my garage last week when it happened!
Not too thrilled that a vehicle with this price tag is already having issues and I just got it 2 months ago!

I have post all this recalls are available weeks ago.



---------- Post added at 06:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:08 PM ----------

Its so amazing that these dealers can't fix a thing!

I'd lose my business if I worked like that.

Agree with you will be lost already wow.

 

[steph230]

I have post all this recalls are available weeks ago.




I tried to find where you posted the recalls but couldn't. Last week the dealer said my VIN had no recalls on it. I find that a little hard to believe. I knew specifically about "#14300 - Liftgate Inoperable" and showed that to them but they said they ran it and it didn't affect my vehicle. If you can link me to the recall list, that would be great! I'm taking it back in tomorrow morning.

Thanks!

 

[humer101]

I have post all this recalls are available weeks ago.




I tried to find where you posted the recalls but couldn't. Last week the dealer said my VIN had no recalls on it. I find that a little hard to believe. I knew specifically about "#14300 - Liftgate Inoperable" and showed that to them but they said they ran it and it didn't affect my vehicle. If you can link me to the recall list, that would be great! I'm taking it back in tomorrow morning.

Thanks!

 

[steph230]

Well, they replaced the liftgate actuator and they are "sure" this will solve the problem.

Funny, last week that's what I told them to replace due to the recall and they said that recall didn't affect my vehicle and mine didn't need to be replaced. Still not 100% sure that will solve it but I guess we'll see what happens. Too bad they didn't listen to me then.

I also was getting a "Service Rear Camera" message every once in a while and had them check it. They said they saw an error code for that and reprogrammed it.