Thread: Rear hatch wont open on cold mornings

I have a 2010 Venza V6 AWD. On mornings in which the temp has dropped to 5egrees celsius or less, my rear power hatch wont open. It just does a double beep. If i Place it into gear and move the car, even 1 foot The hatch will then open.
This double beeping occuurs if I use the remote and if i use the button on the dash.

Bring it to the dealer. I know it is a hassle but it needs to be done. I have a 2010 V6 AWD with the power hatch. Hope it keeps working.
Take care.

Sounds like excess moisture has frozen the door seal - possibly similar to our windows locking up when its really cold in the morning. If the dealer offers no solution try and put a little "door seal" lubricant to help prevent the condensation freeze sticking of the seal to the door.

Also verify that the power on switch on left front dash side is on (colored line visible from driver's seat when "on".

Could also be that the door as to be reset manually by opening it by hand at the back hatch outside wide switch ( not the small button on right of this ), then pressing the "close" switch on the hatch door.

So many buttons and ways for the same thing..........

Well shortly after my post we got a cold spell and the same problem happened to me.
I will lubricate the door seal and see if it helps solve my suspicion.

Hi again !
Further investigating this tailgate issue of not opening from outside or inside when arriving to the vehicule.:
It's not a cold frozen seal issue. Today was mild and it happenned. this was not an issue before our first cold freezing rain day last week.
What I know is this: if you put car in reverse for one second and back in park you can open with inside button. If you manually press the open all door door locks button you can open the rear hatch from the inside button.
What I don't understand is why I was able to open door from outside before and not now even from the inside button unless door locks open ?
Does anyone know if the little round button on the right of to the exterior hatch switch handle is for ?
I press it and nothing changes the problem.
I suspect a faulty switch in parallel with hatch and door lock status.
SupernewF - have you gone to dealer yet ?

The little round button next to the exterior hatch switch will lock all the doors on the smart key equipped cars. Press and hold until it beeps....you can unload the back, and then lock the car without taking the fob out of your pocket.

I had this same issue and video tapped it on my cell phone because my local dealer likes to say " I hope we can DUPLICATE THE SAME PROBLEM." So I drive the car into the bay and tell him what the issue is. First thing he says is
" I hope we can recreate the same propblem. So I show him my cell phone and his eyes popped out of his head. I told him I dont want to hear any excuses why you cant fix my car. Thirty minutes went by and the service guy says were going to be replacing those shocks in the hatch.





















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My 2010 sometimes does the same thing in cold weather. Shut the car off and try again. It will work this time. Something to do with the electronics. My car is garage kept and this same thing happened to me in the garage after a 3-day storrage session. No moisture, freezing snow were involved.

I finally found others with the same problem! I bought my '10 in 09/10. By December i was having problems with the hatch. I thought it was the cold weather too, but after having it in and out of the dealership for weeks with no resolution, I decided to table the issue and keep looking for others with the same problem and possible fixes. I have noticed that it will sometimes not work during nice weather as well, no consistency to when it occurs. I'm hoping Toyota comes up with a solution b4 my warranty runs out.

I would think the issue is with the latch on the rear gate. It has an actuator attached to it that may be failing. Just a guess though.