Comments on: Suburban Rear Liftgate Won’t Unlock - How To Fix

By: jesus aguirre p

jesus aguirre p — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:08:16 +0000

same problem 2006 chevy suburban, all of the sudden the trunk won open, it cliks but it just wont open…I think trying to fix this by myself is alot of trouble…I hope they make this a recall..I dont know if it has warrnty still so they can fix it..

By: John

John — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:56:48 +0000

Mine had also stopped working, but could hear it trying. I saw this post and decided to remove the one internal round spring on the gear. Works slick. Saved $286. I recommend leaving the smaller (harder to reach) spring and that keeps the lock engaged or not engaged. Removing both springs could allow the arm to move during driving vibrations and either locking or unlocking the liftgate unintentionally.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:03:10 +0000

Hello All,

Thanks for the info. My 2006 Suburban tailgate hatch just stopped working 2 weeks ago. I was going to hit the dealer today and then saw this blog. Great post.

My window back there wont open either when I hit the button tab. Why there is not a key entry lock or a handle inside is beside me. What a poor piece of engineering. I am going to crawl back there and see what is going on today.

This site gave me a start. Thank you all for the info. I will post back when I get it over with.

2006 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN TAILGATE HATCH LIFT GATE HANDLE REAR DOOR WILL NOT OPEN. WILL NOT UNLOCK RECALL IT CHEVY!

Matt

By: Dennis

Dennis — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:57:50 +0000

Thanks to the guy who removed the spring! I took apart the gear motor casing and took out both springs. The green one on the cam pivot and the black one on the worm driven gear. It was too weak with either one still there. Works slick now. I wonder if any other lock mechanisms use that same motor? Simple fix to swap the motor out. May have to look around for one.

By: larry

larry — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 00:10:17 +0000

Thanks for taking the time to do this in detail. YOU are a person that cares and I really admire that!

By: BDG

BDG — Tue, 26 May 2009 04:12:05 +0000

Very helpful … GM should repair these under warranty … what a safety hazard!

By: DK

DK — Sun, 24 May 2009 03:12:30 +0000

Thank you for sharing this. If it weren’t for your blog - we would have ended up at the dealer spending $450. Although I didn’t have the exact problem - it was extremely close. I just needed to apply some pressure to the plastic locking mechanism to move it into the unlock position. It was stuck in the lock position and the remote was not triggering any activity to the actuator. Once I slightly forced the locking mechanism into “unlock” position - the liftgate began to open and close properly. We tried the remote again - low and behold it started working again. All is back to normal - at least for now. Thanks for sharing all this information. I had the problem resolved in 20 minutes or less.

By: Marty Lopez

Marty Lopez — Tue, 19 May 2009 02:04:26 +0000

I am having the same problem but with this information i’m set. i am going to do it myself when i get home tonight. It should be a recall, we shouldn’t have to be going through this trouble after paying $36.000.00 for the unit.

By: Terri Romine

Terri Romine — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:08:21 +0000

I can’t beleive I actually found someone who had the same trouble. My tailgate stopped working last month, right after the warranty expired!!! I’ve had to put large things in the back through the back doors with a little manuevering. I was checking for recalls and nothing. Then I found your blog. I just took it into my mechanic this morning and he wasn’t sure what to do. I’m going to show him this. I don’t want to do it myself, because it would probably cost me more to fix it is I screw something up. Anyway this should help Steve out. Who knows someone else may come to him with the same issue and he’ll know how to fix it. I know it will cost me less at my mechanic than the dealer. I totally agree this should be recalled!!!! Thanks again for the post. :)

By: Terry

Terry — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:56:41 +0000

I took the black box apart and everything looks good in there.Grease where it should be and put it back together.It just won’t turn the gear enough when back together.I let the truck run to make sure voltage was up also.

I see no signs of damage in the box on the gears or any type of electrical short.All the springs are intact and grease.

Update and for anyone having my issue.

My motor would not turn the gear near enough to throw the lock.Here is what i did to make it work right.

There are TWO springs inside the black box.One is under the wheel and the other is part of the arm.When you see inside you will understand.I removed the spring that is part of the arm assembly.It provides resistance.It is green/black.I took that out and put everything back together and it works like it should.