My first post here. Warning, tedium ahead! I did a search for a possible solution to the issue I was having with my power liftgate on my brand new 2019 Ouback. I noticed lots of posts here and some had general reference to cold weather as a possible factor. That was the issue with mine. The liftgate would open ever so slightly when the temps were below around 35 degrees then it would beep three times, and close. Once it warmed to above 40 to 45, it worked fine. I took it in to the dealer to have it looked at and they reset the computer and said it was fixed. It wasn't. The dealer is down the hill from where we live, where it is much warmer than our mountain residence so they could not duplicate the problem. However I showed them a video I took of the liftgate not working and they concurred it was not user error but indeed a malfunction. However, as mentioned, they thought a reset would fix it. So, here I was, an hour and half away from the dealer, not wanting to take it back down there for another "reset" and pat on the head, knowing they couldn't duplicate it. So I did what I do. I obsessed. I learned via the manual that the three quick beeps means that the gate senses resistance (hitting something). It is supposed to stop, beep three times quickly, and close. I duplicated this when the temps warmed up and the gate was functioning by standing in front of the gate, letting it hit me after it was barely opened. It did exactly what it was supposed to, it stopped, beeped three times and closed. My conclusion, the gate feels undo resistance when the temps are cold. So first I sprayed everything with a light silicone lubricant. Hinges, pistons, a little on the motor itself, and on the latch. Next morning, 22 degrees F (-5 degrees C) the problem still existed despite lubricant. Opens slightly, stops, (sensing resistance) beeps three times, closes. So, now, I thought, it's time to introduce temperature to the situation. I used a hair dryer to heat up the motor. Not a lot of heat, just to get it up to 50 degrees or so. I didn't want to melt or warp anything. This did not fix it. Now I'm looking at the gas charged pistons. I really did not want to heat those up much as they can explode if over heated. So I just warmed them with the hair dryer to the point that they were warm to the touch, not hot. Ta da! It worked. I let things cool again, didn't work, warmed with hair dryer second time, worked. I did this three times (remember I said I was obsessed) and all three times warming the gas charged pistons solved the issue. Anyway, I hope this helps the one person who endured all these words to get to one possible solution. But also a question: Does anyone have a suggestion on how to resolve this? Have the dealer put in new pistons hoping they're less resistant? Open the liftgate using the button on the liftgate itself through the rest of the cold season (this works) then hope that a warm season of use will "relax" the pistons? Thanks in advance for any ideas!
sellersdave
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