Kick to Open Liftgate Stopped Working

ChargedCheese

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As some of you know, my car was in the shop (Autonation) for a week waiting for a new tire. During that time, I tried to get them to update firmware as well as take a look at my liftgate. The kick to open worked initially, and now it doesn't - it is not disabled in Sync.

I got it back with the new tire yesterday. They informed me that they didn't look at anything else because their "electric car guy" up and quit last week. She told me that, while she regrets to say this, I should probably take the car to a different Ford dealer. There is no way I'm taking it to Groove - they are terrible.

While this post is a bit of a rant, I'm also hoping someone has some at home suggestions for the liftgate I can try while I'm waiting for Autonation to hire a new "electric car guy." My hands are often full with children, so the kick to open is REALLY HELPFUL!

So much for Ford being better because you can "just take it to your local dealer." ?
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timbop

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Were you using PaaK or did you have the fob with you? Even with the fob sometimes the trunk doesn't want to open for me.
 
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ChargedCheese

ChargedCheese

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Were you using PaaK or did you have the fob with you? Even with the fob sometimes the trunk doesn't want to open for me.
I'm using PaaK and my wife is using FOB - neither one of us can get it to open with our feet.
 

zvez

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I'm using PaaK and my wife is using FOB - neither one of us can get it to open with our feet.
I can't recall, is that opening feature something you can turn off in the sync 4 system? Perhaps at some point it was turned off. Again I don't know if that's even possible

I just checked page 81 of the manual says it can be turned off in "settings" so you might look there.

liftgate pg 81.png
 
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DYohn

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You might try rebooting SYNC to see if there is a settings glitch.

With car on, hold down VOLUME DOWN then the RIGHT ARROW button on the steering wheel.
 


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ChargedCheese

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So my wife actually got the lift gate to work with her foot once this weekend. Considering that these other troubleshooting steps didn't work, I'm pretty confident that we just have a very weak sensor that needs to be re-calibrated or replaced. I guess I'm stuck waiting for Autonation to get their new EV guy.

You might try rebooting SYNC to see if there is a settings glitch.

With car on, hold down VOLUME DOWN then the RIGHT ARROW button on the steering wheel.
No love from doing this. It did kill XM for a few days though ?‍♂ It eventually cleared itself up though, so no harm no foul.
I can't recall, is that opening feature something you can turn off in the sync 4 system? Perhaps at some point it was turned off. Again I don't know if that's even possible

I just checked page 81 of the manual says it can be turned off in "settings" so you might look there.
I have flipped that switch on and off so many times trying to get it to work.
 

benk016

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I've noticed that some days its very sensitive, and other days I can't get it to work no matter what I try.

Last weekend I had the car in a Drive Electric event, and just standing behind the car it kept closing it thinking I was kicking.

Last night, I had 2 handfulls of groceries, and it took 17 tries to get it to close. After a few I started counting just because It annoyed me.
 

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In my experience the deciding factor on whether the kick will work is how awake the car is. I find the same to be true with PaaK in general. If the car has been preconditioning/remote started, everything works as expected. If it is sleeping, the kick sensor is usually inop and the first press of the door pillar button results in relays and contactors clicking then it will open on the second press.

EDIT: After reading @benk016's post. I have always found kick to close to be less reliable than opening. ?‍♂
 
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ChargedCheese

ChargedCheese

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In my experience the deciding factor on whether the kick will work is how awake the car is. I find the same to be true with PaaK in general. If the car has been preconditioning/remote started, everything works as expected. If it is sleeping, the kick sensor is usually inop and the first press of the door pillar button results in relays and contactors clicking then it will open on the second press.
It would be so great if this were the case for us. We have toddlers, so I back the car out of the garage before we start piling in. Even with the car on I can't get the dumb thing to work.
 

BMT1071

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It would be so great if this were the case for us. We have toddlers, so I back the car out of the garage before we start piling in. Even with the car on I can't get the dumb thing to work.
Is your phone still in your pocket or is it in the car when you do this? The kick sensor is only supposed to work when the PaaK/fob is on your person.
 
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ChargedCheese

ChargedCheese

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Is your phone still in your pocket or is it in the car when you do this? The kick sensor is only supposed to work when the PaaK/fob is on your person.
This weekend, my phone was in the center console, but my wife had the FOB in her bag/on her person when she was unsuccessfully trying to kick it open. When I was loaded down on groceries, my phone was in my pocket and my wife was loading the kids into the car (open doors) - still no luck.
 

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Given that the kick sensor is under the rear bumper, have you made sure the sensor isn't covered with dust or mud?
 
 




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