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Rear hatch won’t stay closed

Discussion in '4th Gen 4Runners (2003-2009)' started by RutRunner86, Oct 9, 2017.

  1. Oct 9, 2017 at 1:20 PM
    #1
    RutRunner86

    RutRunner86 [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2016
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    Gender:
    Female
    First Name:
    Malyssa
    Vehicle:
    2004 4Runner SR5
    Not sure if this has been covered, but I didn’t find anything :notsure:

    So the hatch on my 4th gen keeps partially opening while driving. It’s happened 3-4 time over the past couple months. All the doors will be locked and I’ll hit a bump (slight or hard bump doesn’t matter) and the hatch will slightly open and the door ajar light will come on.

    Once I stop and check it, it will be slightly ajar and I can’t fully open the hatch unless I unlock the doors. When I open and close it, it will fully close with the assist (where the door gets pulled securely closed...) and it stays closed. I’ll lock the doors and pull on the hatch handle to make sure it won’t open and it won’t so everything seems normal. But for some reason while driving it will open slightly. Never fully open, so that’s good. Anyone have any ideas??
     
  2. Oct 10, 2017 at 4:20 AM
    #2
    RonT4R

    RonT4R New Member

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    Ron
    Virginia Beach
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    2007 4runner SR5 4WD
    Hi again Malyssa, wow.....never heard of this one. My guess is that there might be something inside your rear hatch latch mechanism that is keeping it from staying fully closed. Have you tried maybe spraying lithium grease or something is case it's just sticking?
     
  3. Oct 10, 2017 at 5:41 AM
    #3
    RutRunner86

    RutRunner86 [OP] New Member

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    Messages:
    62
    Gender:
    Female
    First Name:
    Malyssa
    Vehicle:
    2004 4Runner SR5
    @RonT4R when I looked at it, it looked pretty clean. I’ll try hitting it with some wd40 and some grease just in case and see how that works. Thanks for the suggestion.
     
  4. Oct 11, 2017 at 4:26 AM
    #4
    RonT4R

    RonT4R New Member

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    Virginia Beach
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    2007 4runner SR5 4WD
    only other thing I can think of is the alignment of the latch to the locking mechanism.....
     
  5. Oct 11, 2017 at 8:26 AM
    #5
    RutRunner86

    RutRunner86 [OP] New Member

    Joined:
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    Messages:
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    Gender:
    Female
    First Name:
    Malyssa
    Vehicle:
    2004 4Runner SR5
    @RonT4R I don’t think it’s that since it works normally 99% of the time.
     

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