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My 2017 Subaru Outback power lift gate will not latch

Customer Question

My 2017 Subaru Outback...

My 2017 Subaru Outback power lift gate will not latch closed

Mechanic's Assistant: The Subaru Mechanic will know what to do about your lift gate. Do you have any other details that could be helpful?

To open my lift gate I have to push and hold the power rear opener gate button till it unlatched and push it up manually. Now to close the lift gate the power rear gate button just beeps 3 times and will not shut. When I push my lift gate down to the bottom it will not latch.

Mechanic's Assistant: Is there anything else the Subaru Outback Mechanic should know before I connect you? Rest assured that they'll be able to help you.

This has been an ongoing issue for 2 years. I have gotten a new battery and it did not help.

Submitted: 10 months ago.Category: Subaru

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Answered in 58 minutes by:

7/17/2022

Subaru Mechanic: Zac J.,

replied 10 months ago

Zac J.

Category: Subaru

Satisfied Customers: 34

Experience: Expert

Verified

Thank you for choosing just answers! My name is*****’ll be happy to help you with this problem. I’ve got a couple of questions to better help understand the problem at hand.Have you tried the reset procedure to tell the hatch where fully open is?Have you looked at the latch itself to see if it’s been pushed closed with nothing in it?I went through this problem with one of my customers outback. Ultimately had to replace the latch mechanism on the hatch. The range switch fails or breaks and it sends false signals to the computer. Very frustrating at times when you need your hatch to function

Customer reply replied 10 months ago

I am unsure of what the reset procedure is. There is nothing in the trunk

Subaru Mechanic: Zac J.,

replied 10 months ago

To the right of the steering column is there a button that looks like a hatch with a dotted line in an arch?There is an access panel that you can remove to inspect the latch itself. What you are looking for is a white switch that tells the computer the hatch is closed.When you drive the outback is the hatch just bouncing around unlatched?

Customer reply replied 10 months ago

there is a button with a dotted line in an arch. I can't find the panel. Is it on the rear hatch?it is just bouncing and the car is beeping

Subaru Mechanic: Zac J.,

replied 10 months ago

The panel will be on the rear hatch itself. If you open it all the way up it’s in the middle of the hatch left to right and then closer to the bottom of the hatch if it’s closed. It’s around a 4 inch by 4 inch access panel you can pop offThe button tells the computer where you want the height of the hatch to be when it’s fully open. This system is very sensitive and annoying at times that’s for sure.You’ll want the hatch to be open all the way then you press and hold that button until you hear I beep. I’ll have to double check this here shortly. Going off memory

Customer reply replied 10 months ago

Okay. I found the hatch and got it open.

Subaru Mechanic: Zac J.,

replied 10 months ago

My memory was wrong. Here is a video of setting the height limithttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao7m9WxkvW4

Customer reply replied 10 months ago

Okay thank you

Subaru Mechanic: Zac J.,

replied 10 months ago

Okay looking at the latch itself does it look like it is closed? Think of this as a latch on a gate where there is the bar and then there is the clasp that holds the bar/gate shut. On the latch it should look like a fish mouth with nothing in the way for the bar to go in and be grabbed by the latch

Customer reply replied 10 months ago

No it is fully open

Subaru Mechanic: Zac J.,

replied 10 months ago

Okay on the inside of the hatch panel can you look inside and does anything look out of place?A reset might do the trick with this one not wanting to latch closed

Customer reply replied 10 months ago

Nothing is looking too out of place but I also don't know what it should look like

Subaru Mechanic: Zac J.,

replied 10 months ago

Okay this little white part, circled in yellow, is what tells the latch to actually latch.

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Customer reply replied 10 months ago

It looks to be "normal"

Subaru Mechanic: Zac J.,

replied 10 months ago

Before we go to the conclusion of the latch it bad.If you try to manually close the hatch it will not latch closed and lock?Have you tried to reset the computer by unhooking the battery? What you’ll want to do is unhook both the positive and negative terminals and hold the battery cables together for 20 seconds or so. This drains out all the stored energy in the capacitors in the vehicle. Much like a hard reset on your iPhone if you have one of those.

Customer reply replied 10 months ago

I just tried to close it one more time before trying that and it worked. Not sure why but it did. Thank you for taking your time

Subaru Mechanic: Zac J.,

replied 10 months ago

The body control module might have stored codes that is hanging up the module from sending the correct commands to the hatch. By resetting the computer it clears these stored codes and gives the module a fresh start.I’m glad it latched closed for you. If it continues to act up I’d try the reset. If that doesn’t work then I would recommend replacing that rear latch on the hatch. If you are mechanically inclined they aren’t too bad to replace. Just be careful that whole rear hatch panel likes to crack instead of let go of the clips holding it to the metalI’m glad it latched closed for you. If it continues to act up I’d try the reset. If that doesn’t work then I would recommend replacing that rear latch on the hatch. If you are mechanically inclined they aren’t too bad to replace. Just be careful that whole rear hatch panel likes to crack instead of let go of the clips holding it to the metal

Subaru Mechanic: Zac J.,

replied 10 months ago

Thank you again for Choosing Just Answers. Hopefully your rear hatch is cooperating with life and still allowing you to have the hatch latched closed. Please feel free to reach out at any time you need help with your outback. Thanks Again Zac J.

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