Rear hatch issues

[builds4christ]

Hey all. My rear auto door is doing something weird.

It's had the chafing wiring issue addressed already.

But what it does is on the way down it begins to make a sound like skipping gears and gives up and goes back up.

If you put pressure on it with your had, gently pushing downward, it closes ok.

Anyone know what would cause this? Weak motor?

I replaced the struts and I wonder if they're too strong lol. Dang Amazon aftermarket.

 

[mikez71]

There is some clutch mechanism on the motor drive gear. Sounds like your motor is strong enough, but the clutch maybe slipping.
I haven't heard of anyone fixing one yet, but there's a screenshot from here..

In that video, the clutch wasn't his issue, so he doesn't dissasemble any further than this on the liftgate motor.
He also shows a clockspring in the video, but it sounds like it's a helper spring for opening the liftgate.

 

[builds4christ]

There is some clutch mechanism on the motor drive gear. Sounds like your motor is strong enough, but the clutch maybe slipping.
I haven't heard of anyone fixing one yet, but there's a screenshot from here..

In that video, the clutch wasn't his issue, so he doesn't dissasemble any further than this on the liftgate motor.
He also shows a clockspring in the video, but it sounds like it's a helper spring for opening the liftgate.
View attachment 490516

Thanks for the leads brother!

I'm thinking I may just need to buy another unit. I've seen that clutch for an exorbitant amount of money.

But it's weird, it's not encountering any obstacles, and it's on the way down. Hmmm, on second thought, maybe something is causing it to bind that I can't see. I'm going to dig into it at work on my lunch.

 

[mikez71]

I agree, it does seem like a replacement motor would be easier/faster than messing with the unit.
Only resistance coming down would be the struts I would think..

 

[PG01]

Honestly really sounds like the rear struts for the hatch are too strong.
You can remove 1 and put 1 old on on if you still have and see how it closes. I would help it along until its fixed completely before the motor takes a complete dump

 

[builds4christ]

Honestly really sounds like the rear struts for the hatch are too strong.
You can remove 1 and put 1 old on on if you still have and see how it closes. I would help it along until its fixed completely before the motor takes a complete dump

Yeah man I was thinking the same thing! I'm kicking my ass that I threw them away, but who could've known?

What led me to believe that's what it was was that it began doing it after a few hours of the rear hatch sitting in direct Texas sunlight. The ambient temp out here is 105. But after sitting in the shade, it almost didn't do it at all.

Like the struts were getting hot and the gas inside expanded, creating more upward force.

@mikez71 yeah brother. I want to grab a new one, but they're like $300.

It may be time to just open and close it manually, but that sucks. It was a nice feature for the wife.

Alternately I could try some other shocks.

Edit: ok I purchased some Stabilus W0133-1990342 shocks.

Apparently they're really good for smooth tracking with slightly less resistance on the compression stroke.

The shocks maximum rating for the hatch is supposed to be 244lbs of force. These are 237. I'll get back to you guys!

 

[PG01]

Yeah man I was thinking the same thing! I'm kicking my ass that I threw them away, but who could've known?

What led me to believe that's what it was was that it began doing it after a few hours of the rear hatch sitting in direct Texas sunlight. The ambient temp out here is 105. But after sitting in the shade, it almost didn't do it at all.

Like the struts were getting hot and the gas inside expanded, creating more upward force.

@mikez71 yeah brother. I want to grab a new one, but they're like $300.

It may be time to just open and close it manually, but that sucks. It was a nice feature for the wife.

Alternately I could try some other shocks.

Strong arm used to be a good brand… or go to rockauto and see if the have oem gm replacements