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Intermittent Rear Lift Hatch

4K views 12 replies 4 participants last post by  pekklenky 
#1 ·
Sometimes on my 2015 QX60 when I push the rear lift hatch button (whether on the fob or on the dash), the rear liftgate pops open, travels a few inches and stops. It's all manual on my part to muscle it all the way open and to muscle it back to the shut position where the rear latch motor then properly grabs it and sucks it into the car closing it.

Other times it works perfectly.

Any ideas? I am thinking the Automatic Back Door Control Module has got a short in the printed circuit board meaning I am on borrowed time before it totally goes out.
 
#2 ·
The rear hatch is supposed to "remember" the last open position, a feature in case your garage ceiling is low. Are you saying it won't automatically close when the door is fully opened?

If it's not closing from any open position, there is an issue with the motor and needs to be serviced.
 
#3 · (Edited)
The rear hatch is supposed to "remember" the last open position, a feature in case your garage ceiling is low. Are you saying it won't automatically close when the door is fully opened?

If it's not closing from any open position, there is an issue with the motor and needs to be serviced.
Not exactly. When I attempt to open the door, I hear the beep, beep, beep as normal, the door pops open but goes no further. I have to manually lift the gate from there to open it and then manually lower it to the point where the latch motor grabs the door and pulls it in. Other times it works perfectly with the lift motor doing its thing without strain. I have tried adjusting the “remember” position as you have mentioned and this has no effect on the situation.

The reason I think it is the control module, I have seen heat cracks in printed circuit boards act like this depending on the tempture at the time. Thanks for your thoughts.
 
#4 ·
It turns out that the motorized tear door struts needed replacing. The pair of OEM units are around $900. The Amazon Chinese knockoffs are about half of OEM.
 
#5 ·
Ouch, $900 is a ton of money. Bolts are easy to access if you want to buy OEM online (typically cheaper than what's quoted at the dealership) and replace yourself. Then again, you can buy a few Chinese knockoffs and plan to replace them more frequently.

My 2013's are still working great and there aren't any comments on this site so I'm assuming your experience isn't typical.
 
#10 · (Edited)
My 2015 QX60 shows the exact same intermittent behavior. By rear strut, do you mean this part? I wonder how easy or difficult to replace this by myself
View attachment 6733
We normal folks call it a shock absorber, those pesky engineers call them struts. The answer to your question is yes.🤠 Make sure the part works with your 2015, you displayed a 2016/2017 part. I bought/replaced two because I didn’t know which was bad plus if I did know and only replaced one, the old one may fail soon anyway.

I bought from Amazon. A-Premium Rear Left or Right Power Hatch Lift Support Compatible with Infiniti QX60 2014-2017 JX35 2013 Sport Utility https://a.co/d/5yyebEC

Use a panel popper to remove a few of the upper panel clips just enough to get your hand in there to get at the strut harness. The struts come right off (10mm?) nuts. When it all works the OBDII codes need to be reset by you or your mechanic. The code reset is not a big deal whether you do it or not.
 
#11 ·
Thank so much for your reply and link, humvet. I will go for a part from Amazon too.

We only need to replace the strut, not the bracket, correct? since I saw a youtuber saying it is better to replace the whole thing including brackets.

Thanks for the tip on panel popper (is the one below what you meant?).

Resetting OBDII code sounds daunting, but I will try to find how to do it. Any tip will be appreciated!
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#12 ·
Thank so much for your reply and link, humvet. I will go for a part from Amazon too.

We only need to replace the strut, not the bracket, correct? since I saw a youtuber saying it is better to replace the whole thing including brackets.

Thanks for the tip on panel popper (is the one below what you meant?).

Resetting OBDII code sounds daunting, but I will try to find how to do it. Any tip will be appreciated!
View attachment 6734
I did not change the brackets. If they look really warn I would watch to see how they perform after the strut swap.

Those indeed are panel poppers. Like all car repairs it always seems harder then you think but being persistent will pay off.

Reading OBDII codes requires a OBDII reader and in my case a smart phone. You plug it in just under the dash below the steering wheel. This one is mine: BlueDriver Bluetooth Pro OBDII Scan Tool for iPhone & Android https://a.co/d/9YqGVEV

You can spend anywhere from $20 up for these. Google OBDII readers. Usually the first thing a mechanic does is “read your codes” to see what the car’s computer has noticed going wrong with the car. Like I said you don’t have to clear the code(s), they will just be logged into the car computer until someone clears them. It is a fun gadget,I plug it in every six months or so to see if there are codes that might require me to take action. 🤠
 
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#13 ·
I bought two of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Y61QG13?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
Installing was mostly straightforward. Only difficult part was to open the panel (be careful. A pin can drop inside if you don't open it slowly and right point. Some youtubes helped), and hold it open while trying to put the male connector into the female connector inside.
Once done, it works like a charm. Thanks for all helps!
 
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