Rear lift gate actuator

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EMTPete

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The rear lift gate on my 2015i Yukon seems to be having some issues. It’s a little slow when raising and comes down hard when closing. The dealer near me wants over $800 (parts and labor) to replace the actuator and the other support on it. This seems ridiculously high to me. Has anyone else had this problem and replaced the actuator and support on their own? It looks like it’s only about $200 in parts if ordered online. The service advisor I spoke to said i replace them on my own that they won’t work as the “computer” would have to be programmed/updated for the new actuator. This sound like BS to me…does anyone have any first hand knowledge to confirm my suspicions?
 

zbad55

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Ya the dealer is giving you a bunch of BS, my 16 Tahoe just had the same thing going on. I just ordered the part last night from Rockauto, $162.00 delivered. I will be doing the job myself, I did ask the dealer for a price and they said $460.00 for just the L.H. There is not any programming needed for changing the liftgate actuator.
 
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EMTPete

EMTPete

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Ya the dealer is giving you a bunch of BS, my 16 Tahoe just had the same thing going on. I just ordered the part last night from Rockauto, $162.00 delivered. I will be doing the job myself, I did ask the dealer for a price and they said $460.00 for just the L.H. There is not any programming needed for changing the liftgate actuator.
Thanks for the info. I figured as much, but it’s always nice to confirm. I’ll be ordering the part and try installing it myself. It doesn’t look too bad to do.
 

Tahoe14

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There is probably a Youtube floating around that may show you or at least a description, try a Google search.
 

zbad55

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OK, received my part from Rock Auto on Saturday and it was a 15 minute job to replace. The worst part was removing the molding and trying to get it back on. The clips needed to slide out instead of being pulled out. The nice thing is the new part already had the spring clips attached so all you have to do is pop it back on and it locks in place. Saved over $300.00 dollars for 15 minutes of my time.

As far as the TSB I believe that is for a locked up actuator, there was no pre-load on this and the new part came already set for the installed length. There was no need to drill a hole and insert a screw.
 
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EMTPete

EMTPete

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OK, received my part from Rock Auto on Saturday and it was a 15 minute job to replace. The worst part was removing the molding and trying to get it back on. The clips needed to slide out instead of being pulled out. The nice thing is the new part already had the spring clips attached so all you have to do is pop it back on and it locks in place. Saved over $300.00 dollars for 15 minutes of my time.

As far as the TSB I believe that is for a locked up actuator, there was no pre-load on this and the new part came already set for the installed length. There was no need to drill a hole and insert a screw.
I’m glad you were able to go it without any big issues. I’ll be ordering the parts to do mine soon. My local dealer wanted over $830 so I will be saving a big chunk of change.
 

zbad55

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I’m glad you were able to go it without any big issues. I’ll be ordering the parts to do mine soon. My local dealer wanted over $830 so I will be saving a big chunk of change.

WOW $830.00 dollars that's crazy, they must be wanting to do both sides, I only changed the left side that is powered. I didn't see any reason to change the RH side, and it is working fine now.
 

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