2014 durango RT. When the car is off the liftgate motor randomly actuates, as of it's pulling the gate shut. The gate remains closed. The guage cluster lights will come on for a second with the noise and go back off.

Its not a real problem, but the little motoring noise is annoying as hell! And id image the constant running of that actuator is going to cause premature burnout. Not to mention possible dead battery if this car sits for an extended period... In the time its taken me to type this, its happened 5 times....

Anyone else experience this or have ideas? Out of warranty

 

Sounds like you need to replace the strut with the motor in it. I had to replace the other one, which is gas, because as soon as the gate would open, it closed immediately. Good Luck.

 

The problem isn't that the gate doesn't open when requested to, but instead it seems to try to close and latch when not requested and when the liftgate is already closed, correct?

If so, the first thing I'd recommend checking is the liftgate ajar switch. The switch is built in to the latch. You should also inspect the wires at the top of the liftgate for any signs there may be broken wires under the wire insulation.

-Rod

 

Rod, you're thinking the same thing I did. I went for the latch first, but that didnt fix it. Heres the story for anyone who has this issue. The dealer tech said my symptom is the first he's seen of it, but the cause is actually kind of common...

Well, i finally brought it in. I totally forgot i had purchased the extended warranty, and after a year of sporatic electrical issues, this lift gate latch was a consistant symptom i could show a mechanic.... All the other issues i was having would appear and disappear before i could bring it in, ruining any chance for troubleshooting.

I was having electrical issues any time it rained really hard. Once the lights wouldnt come on. Another time the rear liftgate wanted to open on its own. Another time the horn would honk nonstop until i shut the truck off!!! It was crazy, but i couldnt duplicate the issue for the techs...until this liftgate issue!

First they reflashed the hard drives. Then they replaces the liftgate actuator, like rob suggested. Then they replaced the module that controls the liftgate. Then, at the suggestion of the dodge engineers (yes, they were so stumped they had to make some phone calls) they replaced the battery. Then they hang tested a new liftgate motor, another latch, and some other things... All to no avail.

The tech was apparently so frustrated, he just took what i said about it faulting when i rained, and took a garden hose to it! Thats when he found that the drain line for the sunroof was cracked and leaking water onto the wiring right after the module! This had caused some major wire corrosion.

Funny thing is, the clerk Brandi at Dodge Country (shout out if she ever sees this!) had suggested a clogged sunroof drainline early in the troubleshooting, saying she had seen it cause crazy things like blackout dashes and faulty windows and door locks.

Moral of the story is, if your having electrical issues and have a sunroof, check the drain line for clogs or cracks. And buy the extended warranty! These hightech cars are just asking for issues that require hours of troubleshooting and expensive electronic components... Really really glad i didnt have to foot this 2 week maintance bill!

 

That's great information, thank you for the follow-up!

They didn't happen to recommend a way of cleaning the sunroof drains did they? Blow air from underneath and risk them coming disconnected or stick a wire down from above and risk lodging the junk tighter?

-Rod

 

No they didnt. I asked some questions, but they didnt delve too deep into it. Trade secrets i guess