Power liftgate doesn't work when vehicle is locked

[cgorske]

Hi everyone. I've had my '23 Vapor Blue Premium MME for a couple of weeks now. I love it! But one strange thing that I've noticed is that if I walk up to the vehicle while it's still locked (such as at the grocery store), and I push the button on the rear liftgate, it pops open slightly but the motor will not lift it for you. You have to grab the liftgate and force it open. If I unlock the car first, then push the button on the liftgate, the motor opens the liftgate with no issue. It doesn't matter if I have the key fob in my pocket, or if I'm using my PAAK. Either way, if the car is locked, it just pops it slightly ajar, but the motor does not work. Even more strange, a couple of times while I'm manually trying to push it up against the motor's resistance, it will force a stop halfway and then start automatically closing! One time I got bopped on the head by it before I got out of the way.

I've tried this over and over to verify that the vehicle being locked is definitely the determining factor whether the motor will lift the gate or not. I knew from the forums here that the foot waving thing was disabled by Ford, so I was fine with that. But this is a strange issue. I've owned several Escapes over the years and you could always walk up to the locked vehicle and just hit the button on the liftgate and the motor would raise it right up. You never had to manually force the liftgate up.

This just seems like a strange bug that hopefully will be fixed with an update in the future. I was just wondering if anyone else has noticed this issue. Especially on these new MME's that are being delivered this month. Thanks.

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[Mach-Lee]

Make sure power liftgate is enabled in the vehicle settings. Toggle it off and back on again. Otherwise a known glitch with 2023's.

 

[cgorske]

Make sure power liftgate is enabled in the vehicle settings. Toggle it off and back on again. Otherwise a known glitch with 2023's.

Thanks! I made sure it was on, but I didn't try toggling it off and on. I'll try that.

 

[bdonpwn]

Toggle off/on has fixed it not working at all for me in the past.

Also, try reprograming its open position. Manually pull it up to the height you want it when open, then press and hold the button on the liftgate until it beeps.

 

[CentralCoastCalifornia]

I've noticed pressing the button the on lift gate will only open it a few inches. Pressing the button a second time would open it full height. This does not happen when using the fob, Fordpass or button on Sync. I just tried turning the feature off and on again in preferences and it seems to have resolved.

 

[cgorske]

I've noticed pressing the button the on lift gate will only open it a few inches. Pressing the button a second time would open it full height. This does not happen when using the fob, Fordpass or button on Sync. I just tried turning the feature off and on again in preferences and it seems to have resolved.

Thanks. I never thought about pressing the button again after it pops open slightly, to see if it'll open. I just grabbed the door and pulled it up. I'll have to try that and see if it'll work for me. At least it's a work around.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Looks like the fix is to toggle the setting?

Also, be very careful of pulling against stalled motors. Pull them open very slowly, like 1-2 inches/sec. Trying to pull them open at full speed may damage the motors or bend mountings out of alignment.

 

[Warp Asylum]

Same behavior in my 23. Also in my case neither toggling the power liftgate setting nor reprogramming the position fixes it.

I didn't realize the behavior was different when it is locked vs unlocked. It does function as expected when unlocked so I will use that as a workaround for now.

 

[cgorske]

I've noticed pressing the button the on lift gate will only open it a few inches. Pressing the button a second time would open it full height. This does not happen when using the fob, Fordpass or button on Sync. I just tried turning the feature off and on again in preferences and it seems to have resolved.

I just tried pressing the button a second time after it pops open, and that worked! Thank you for that tip! It's so funny, I went through all the experimenting of testing with the car locked and not locked, but it never occurred to me to just try hitting the button a second time.

 

[konnerth]

Same problem with my 2023. Pressing a second time works, but toggling the setting doesn't seem to help. Thanks for the tip!

 

[CarbonGT]

If the car is locked, shouldn't the liftgate be locked too? Are you able to open the liftgate when the car is locked?

 

[RickMachE]

If the car is locked, shouldn't the liftgate be locked too? Are you able to open the liftgate when the car is locked?

Only with a FOB or PaaK in your pocket.

 

[DugthePug Dad]

My lift gate was only working sometimes.

I did a search and came across this thread.

I was trying to figure out my lift gate issue.

regardless if I have my fob or phone with me and or both the lift gate does not go up like it should when the MME is locked.

I tested the suggested procedure and what works on my 2023 Premium is unlocking the car or the double button push.

I never had this issue with my Escape. The lift gate worked just fine if the Escape was locked or not.

My Escape had the foot sensor and it worked great. I wish my MME still had that feature.

I’m happy I found this thread because now I know how to operate my lift gate and not fight the motors to open it up.

 

[CAL465]

If you try to open it by clicking on the open button on the liftgate it will not work correctly. I will only work if you unlock the car with the remote first. You can also open it with the remote button.

 

[devmach-e]

If you try to open it by clicking on the open button on the liftgate it will not work correctly. I will only work if you unlock the car with the remote first. You can also open it with the remote button.

I open mine all the time with the lift gate button. Never fails to work, even when the car is locked. Helps that I have my key fob with me. Or PAAK is working.

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