2014 Suburban LTZ - Liftgate Will Not Open

[creekdaze]

Hi Folks,

My liftgate will not open. When I press the interior roof liftgate switch or the key fob button, I get a single flash of the brake lights and I hear a click in the fuse box in the engine compartment. I've checked the 15 amp fuse and it's fine. The only thing I can think of is that we went camping and left our liftgate open for a while. It ended up closing on it's own and then we could no longer open it.

The manual says the following: "If the liftgate is opened using power operation and the liftgate supports struts have lost pressure, the turn signals flash and a chime will sound. The liftgate stays open temporaritly, and then slowly closes. See dealer for service before using the liftgate."

I'm willing to bet the struts just need replace, but I cannot even get the liftgate open, even after turning off the automatic liftgate feature with the interior button. Is it possible to liftgate relay has failed and will not allow the actuator to open the latch even in manual mode?

I'm at a loss and could use an assist. Thoughts?

 

[zora]

If the struts lost pressure based on what you said the motor should be able to at least engage and then shutdown when it sensed the excess load.
Owners manual should list location of relay. Temporarily swap it with another one with same markings to test for a bad relay.

 

[G-429969]

Great thoughts and suggestions. I ended up manually releasing the latch by drilling a hole in the back interior cover. After troubleshooting, I found that if I disconnect the "Close Tailgate" button on the underside of the tailgate, the key fob and interior front button operate the tailgate like normal. I have a new button on order, so when I get that installed I'll plug it in and let you all know if it did or did not fix the issue.