Back Lift Gate Motor Not Working

Hello. The back lift gate on my 2007 Tahoe recently stopped working. Whenever I try to close or open the gate, you can hear the motor trying to do something, but the gate never actually lifts up or closes down. I can manually lift the gate open, and it will stay in the "up" position, but I have to manually close it too.

Any ideas on how to fix this? Thanks!

When you lift the gate, does it feel "lighter" than it used to feel such that maybe the linkage is disconnected from the motor?

wjburken said:

When you lift the gate, does it feel "lighter" than it used to feel such that maybe the linkage is disconnected from the motor?

Click to expand...

For added context, the hydraulics on the gate were recently replaced. Before I replaced those it was very difficult to open the gate (very heavy), and it wouldn't stay open on it's own. After the hydraulics were replaced, everything worked fine for a few weeks, then all the sudden the gate wouldn't automatically open. It's almost like the gate thinks it's still locked, so it doesn't even try to open.

ugadawgs311 said:

For added context, the hydraulics on the gate were recently replaced. Before I replaced those it was very difficult to open the gate (very heavy), and it wouldn't stay open on it's own. After the hydraulics were replaced, everything worked fine for a few weeks, then all the sudden the gate wouldn't automatically open. It's almost like the gate thinks it's still locked, so it doesn't even try to open.

Click to expand...

It could be a couple of things.

Your first post stated that you can hear the motor running but no action so that eliminates the possibility that your liftgate switch is turned off and it indicates that you are getting power to your motor, or so one would assume if you're hearing it.

The linkage could have come loose which you can try and check by grabbing the lift rod and seeing how much play you have.

I believe there is a clutch on the motor and those sometimes fail.
There are also a gear train that can strip out and if your gas springs failed, it could have overloaded the gear drive and stripped a gear.


Here is a video that discusses how to get to the motor. There is a couple things the guy covers at first but around 2:45 he gets into the lift motor.

Thanks for the info and the video! It looks like I may have the same problem that the guy had in the video. I guess I'll probably have to order a new latch so the gate can open on its own.