Tailgate, 2018 Limited

I just bought this truck?, SUV? What do we call these things here anyhow?

Anyways, I found out this thing must have been driven to a construction site in it's previous life as the tailgate was full of muck, sand, dirt.
I heard rattling while lifting it up and down.
I took a hose to the innards and got a lump of rusty steel out of it and stopped the rattling. A few days later, more rattling.
I found this weird lump of chunk with only one wire on it.

No clue what it is.
My lights don't come on when I lift the gate, and this morning, no defrost. The indicator light on the dash doesn't indicate when I push the button.

Am I in some deep do do with this gate?

 

Oh no.

I just went out and the back glass was down 8" one side and 3" on the other.
I pushed it up like there's nothing holding it up at all.
Gotta tape it up...........Gawdddd.............

 

Welcome. Its definitely a little hard to define what this is! Technically, its an SUV but its also sorta a truck (especially the older generations, like the 1st and 2nd gen) and I often refer to my 2nd gen as a truck. I think both terms are correct and work for the 4Runner. Me personally, when I'm talking 4Runner and hear 'truck', I typically think of the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd gen and I think of 'SUV' more of the 4th - 6th gen.

As for that other plastic piece thing, I'm not totally sure what that is. Sucks about your back window. Sounds like maybe the motor. Sucks thats happening on such a new vehicle. If you bought it from a dealership, I'd see if there's warranty on it.

 

Thanks.

Warranty is a PITA. It's a bit far away, and only safety items are warrantied.
I wonder if this would be considered a safety item.

I'm curious how an electrical component can work with only one wire?

 

That dropped glass would probably explain why the rear window defog is not working.
Probably ripped out a wire.

 

Welcome

 

Dude. Did the venom symbiote get to that?

 

Ya, I thinks so.
It's a mess inside the gate. Going for warranty repair tomorrow.

 

It looks like a miniature alien creature, the ones that wraps themselves around the head after they jump out the chest

 

Either the window regulator failed or its mounting bracket in the tailgate failed. Open up the interior plastic panel and take a look.

 

Thanks. I did look and the tracks are rusted and busted, looks a mess inside, so I took it to the car lot's warranty mechanic.
Phew, the last day of the warranty, exactly.

 

Considering all the lift gate issues you've discovered since owning this, I imagine the dealer you got the 4R from rigged something up to keep everything in place long enough to complete the sale. I wouldn't think you would have bought it knowing this would happen. Any evidence if them doing that?

Good luck with the warranty repair.

 

No, they may not have. Maybe. Nothing inside propping it up. Unless that lump of chunk I posted above was jammed in there and doesn't even belong in the gate somewhere.

I actually found out the buttons on the gate control the back window and pressed on them. Heard the motor spinning and nothing happening.
It dropped the next morning probably because it was boogered and I hit the switches causing the regulator to stop in a lowered position.

Used car lot may or may not have known.
Usually, they do.

Don't care much though. They gave me a place to go immediately to get it fixed.
Buyer beware. I was not.

My 69 El Camino had 1/2" of slime and metal in the pan. Dropped it, tore it down. New clutches and steels. Brand new.
That car was from a classic car dealer. Them bastards knew.

 

https://www.tagtracking.ca/en/how-it-works
This is a TAG Tracking anti-theft transponder installed by the previous owner. There would be 4-6 more hidden in various locations in your vehicle:

https://youtu.be/9XpnaBsCyhU?t=41

 

Thanks.

A friend tracked his pickup truck and he was right outside the building. The cops wouldn't even come.
This country is ridiculous now.

 

Update:

Everything fixed under warranty. New regulator, motor, and eventually, they discovered they need a glass.

Thanks for the support.

 

Construction site or flood vehicle? Shouldn't have mud and dirt inside the hatch unless it was submerged.

 

No, not submerged.
Ha....

Dust goes right thru window fuzzies when it rains. Washes inside.

No mystery here.
I've read that lots of the regulators and glass mounting clips have rusted in these cars.

 

I hadn't seen one that dirty. I read that to. It may be what part of the country it's been in. Mine is was pretty inside. You might check your hatch drains. I always wash along the bottom of my door seams and drains. Rust can develop there easily. I'm glad it's not a flood vehicle. I don't trust car salesmen.

 

I don't trust them either.
Carfax helps keep things in line though these days.

 

A lot of problems could be avoided if Toyota just got rid of the roll-down tailgate window, like on the GX. Big cost saving too. Alas, the feature is too entrenched.