Rear Gate only opens when the car is on...

Good afternoon everyone! I’m a newbie, I just bought an 05 sports edition as a second vehicle. I love it so far but the rear gate will only
open when the car is on. I was thinking that it could be the motor, but it does work, just not when the car is running. I’m wondering if I just need to normalize it, though I’m not having any issues with the windows. I apologize if this question has been asked before, but I didn’t see a post with this specific issue. Does any have any advise?

 

Please provide more diagnostic information.

What do you mean by "open"? The 4th gen does not have a powered liftgate.

With the engine off and the key removed, and the vehicle unlocked, can you open the liftgate?

Go through many scenarios of engine on/off, locked/unlocked using the fob and the door buttons, and tell us what you find.

 

Newbie here. I have the same issue as the original post. 2006 4Runner 4x4 V6 SR5. Here are the symptoms: The liftgate won't open while car is unlocked. To open (or close) the liftgate, the car needs to be turned on first and door switched to unlock position. Interestingly, I can't also bring down the rear window using the car key fob. To bring rear window down, I have to hit the switch on the dashboard itself. My mechanic is stumped cause he can't figure out what's wrong. He tested the rear door switch, motorized door lock and ECU module. All seems to work. It's quite frustrating since in order to open (or close) the liftgate, I have to turn on the car first and fumble with the door switches. I have tried resetting the ECU by removing the fuse, also tried disconnecting car battery and playing with door switches, etc. to no avail. (My mechanic also did some internet searches and couldn't find a fix.) He thinks it might be the ECU and wants to try swapping it with another used one. Does anybody out there know what's going on?