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Jiggled door handle and lift gate opened


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We had some freezing rain last night so this morning the car was encased in a thin sheet of ice.  I lifted the drivers door handle and the door unlocked as usual.  The door was iced shut so I needed to jiggle the door handle and push and pull on the door to get it free.  As I was doing this the lift gate opened.  My key fob was in my pocket.  I don't think there was anyway that the lift gate part of the fob was depressed twice.  So why did the lift gate open?

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Helpful hint for those of us who have to deal with frozen car doors every winter:

 

The Hoppy-brand Sub Zero Bear Claw 10" ice scraper has a tapered wedge on the 'handle' end. It easily fits in the door gap and works perfectly for prying a frozen door open without damaging the door.

post-1940-0-80564500-1421297785_thumb.jpg

A quick search shows many places sell them.

Link to manufacturer's page, Hopkins Manufacturing

http://www.hopkinsmfg.com/aftermarket-ineractive-catalog-2014/#59/z

Edited by kostby
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I have the exact opposite problem in cold weather...the liftgate latch will click but the gate will not pop open, no matter how much upward force I apply. Last cold spell (with no ice on hatch) I had to pull about 7 times and the gate finally opened. Does not seem to matter if I use FOB or gate latch to try and open. Has anyone had this problem with liftgate in cold weather?

Edited by Zathrus
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I have the exact opposite problem in cold weather...the liftgate latch will click but the gate will not pop open, no matter how much upward force I apply. Last cold spell (with no ice on hatch) I had to pull about 7 times and the gate finally opened. Does not seem to matter if I use FOB or gate latch to try and open. Has anyone had this problem with liftgate in cold weather?

I have had some issues not being able to open the liftgate at first...it is sometimes a struggle.  The dealer could not replicate..it started this past fall, but can't honestly say it is because of cold weather.  I actually thought it might have to do with salt..trying to keep the back clean is continuous.  Until it fails consistently, I guess the dealer won't do anything.

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I have the exact opposite problem in cold weather...the liftgate latch will click but the gate will not pop open, no matter how much upward force I apply. Last cold spell (with no ice on hatch) I had to pull about 7 times and the gate finally opened. Does not seem to matter if I use FOB or gate latch to try and open. Has anyone had this problem with liftgate in cold weather?

I did have an issue where the latch would pop but not completely and you could not open the liftgate.  After a few seconds you would hear the latch pop again and everything was good.  Did this for a few weeks, then it was fine.  Asked the dealer about this when it was in for service thinking they would check the adjustment.  They just said it was working fine.  I don't think they checked anything other than it opened.  But I guess if it is working then leave it alone. 

 

Not sure if this is what you see? 

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I have had some issues not being able to open the liftgate at first...it is sometimes a struggle.  The dealer could not replicate..it started this past fall, but can't honestly say it is because of cold weather.  I actually thought it might have to do with salt..trying to keep the back clean is continuous.  Until it fails consistently, I guess the dealer won't do anything.

 

I did have an issue where the latch would pop but not completely and you could not open the liftgate.  After a few seconds you would hear the latch pop again and everything was good.  Did this for a few weeks, then it was fine.  Asked the dealer about this when it was in for service thinking they would check the adjustment.  They just said it was working fine.  I don't think they checked anything other than it opened.  But I guess if it is working then leave it alone. 

 

Not sure if this is what you see? 

 

Dealer looked at my hatch issue. Fortunately, the latch did not open for him until the 5th try. They determined no adjustment was needed. However, they did fix it by lubricating the latch. It has been working much better (works every time now on first try). 

 

Tech report on invoice stated:

 

Latch dry, confirmed stuck, Lubed, Rechecked OK.

 

You might want to try lubricating latch...hopefully that will work for you as well. Not sure what they used.

Edited by Zathrus
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