Pistolero
Well-Known Member
My 4Runner rear hatch latch is electrically closed, something I never understood the need for, but there it is.
Today, picking up some cable from a friend, couldn't get the door to close, it would electrically
cycle, but still be unlatched. After it opening while driving on his gravel road three times, I
was worried about getting home.
Finally it held, and when I got home it came right apart. It had done this a couple of times at
Oshkosh, but hasn't given trouble since then, until now.
Pulled the overly complex latch assembly, cleaned out some dirt, lubed it, cycled the motor
as per shop manual. Checked that limit switch was working correctly, and latch position
rotary switch was working correctly, too. Reinstalled and......dead as a hammer. Nothing.
Not even trying. Pulled it and checked again, running perfectly on the bench, hot wired.
Reinstall, nothing, won't run. Pull apart, start checking wire continuity, and looking closely
at the connector.
Connector looked perfect, wires not broken........What the heck? Mechanism works smoothly
on the bench, won't even power up on the car.
Looking at the net for a wiring diagram, couldn't find one. Did a check on "fixing 4Runner
rear latch"... ran across a youtube video, but it was only a couple of minutes, seemed way
short, but I looked at it.
The guy, apparently a commercial shop, said "We had installed a backup camera on this
4Runner, and then the latch wouldn't work. We had disconnected this plug (pointing to the
latch plug that I had to pull to remove the latch) and after we put it back it wouldn't cycle the
latch. So we pulled these three plugs (pointing to the controller box inside the hatch, with
three plugs about 20,20 and 40 pins!) and then disconnected the battery for about 20 seconds,
reconnect the plugs, then the battery and it all worked fine."
Damn. Reboot the darned thing. I went out and unplugged the door controller box, pulled
the ground on the battery for 30 sec, replugged the controller, reconnected the battery, and it
worked perfectly
Good grief. A pull cable would be fine, really. Too many computers in a car, IMO.
But, keep that in mind, a simple cleaning and lube of something as lowly as a door latch can require
a system reboot to get it work.
You can learn something every day, if you'll pay attention.
Bill
Today, picking up some cable from a friend, couldn't get the door to close, it would electrically
cycle, but still be unlatched. After it opening while driving on his gravel road three times, I
was worried about getting home.
Finally it held, and when I got home it came right apart. It had done this a couple of times at
Oshkosh, but hasn't given trouble since then, until now.
Pulled the overly complex latch assembly, cleaned out some dirt, lubed it, cycled the motor
as per shop manual. Checked that limit switch was working correctly, and latch position
rotary switch was working correctly, too. Reinstalled and......dead as a hammer. Nothing.
Not even trying. Pulled it and checked again, running perfectly on the bench, hot wired.
Reinstall, nothing, won't run. Pull apart, start checking wire continuity, and looking closely
at the connector.
Connector looked perfect, wires not broken........What the heck? Mechanism works smoothly
on the bench, won't even power up on the car.
Looking at the net for a wiring diagram, couldn't find one. Did a check on "fixing 4Runner
rear latch"... ran across a youtube video, but it was only a couple of minutes, seemed way
short, but I looked at it.
The guy, apparently a commercial shop, said "We had installed a backup camera on this
4Runner, and then the latch wouldn't work. We had disconnected this plug (pointing to the
latch plug that I had to pull to remove the latch) and after we put it back it wouldn't cycle the
latch. So we pulled these three plugs (pointing to the controller box inside the hatch, with
three plugs about 20,20 and 40 pins!) and then disconnected the battery for about 20 seconds,
reconnect the plugs, then the battery and it all worked fine."
Damn. Reboot the darned thing. I went out and unplugged the door controller box, pulled
the ground on the battery for 30 sec, replugged the controller, reconnected the battery, and it
worked perfectly
Good grief. A pull cable would be fine, really. Too many computers in a car, IMO.
But, keep that in mind, a simple cleaning and lube of something as lowly as a door latch can require
a system reboot to get it work.
You can learn something every day, if you'll pay attention.
Bill
Last edited: