# Power Liftgate Suddenly Not Responding



## Rocket 2014 (May 1, 2021)

Power liftgate on 2014 Nissan Murano suddenly stopped responding to fob or buttons.
Fuses and battery: ok
Power door switch: on
I opened the back panel and saw two things that seem off (see picture):
1) what looks to me like a broken fuse to the right of the liftgate motor
2) a broken component










Can anyone identify those and tell me whether they could be the cause of the malfunction?

I can only open it manually by climbing in the back and the liftgate motor makes no sound when I press on the buttons/fob. It's why I think it could be a break in the circuit.

Also, saw video saying it could be the car not registering it's in park, and therefore not activating the circuit. My cheap scanner has not registered any error but it's not the fancy Bluetooth tablet one I saw on the video that they used to just reset the whole thing. Apparently can happen after changing the battery or when battery dies.
Anyone experience with that? 

Thanks!


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## VStar650CL (Nov 12, 2020)

Rocket 2014 said:


> 1) what looks to me like a broken fuse to the right of the liftgate motor


That's not a fuse, it's the motor connector pins. They're potted with clear urethane. Those look fine.



Rocket 2014 said:


> 2) a broken component


Nope, that switch actuator is actually bent like that. If you remove the lock assembly you'll find at least 3 more of them, and chances are the one in the middle (the Half Latch switch) is causing the issue. The switches get "soft spots" in the contacts and quit reading right, which causes the ABD Controller to quit working the lift. If you scan it with a high-end scanner that can detect the ABD, you'll find a Closure State code along with either a Half Latch or Open/Close switch code. If you reset the door it will work again, but only until the next time the switch messes up. From a repair standpoint, the problem is the switches are unavailable. They're ordinary Panasonic "Turquoise" switches, but the actuators and mounting style are custom for Nissan. If you've ever dealt with Matsushita then you know they're not interested in even talking about less than 10K pieces of anything, so repairing the latch is pretty much hopeless. You really need to replace it and then reset the door.


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## Rocket 2014 (May 1, 2021)

Thank you very much VStar650CL.Just found that one of those switches is missing the thin metal strip allowing it to make contact with the small button underneath it. Must have broken it back when I had first tried to fix it. As you said, no way to find that strip so I found a used liftgate drive assembly online and will replace the whole thing. Shame, cuz it seems that tiny little strip is the only malfunction.
What do you mean by reset the door? Got an OBDII MIL code reader but no way to reset any component, only erasing error codes, which I havent found. Been thinking of getting a scan/reset tool but have no idea which one to get and there are so many. What system would I need to reset, to reset the liftgate? TPMS? 

Thanks a lot!


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## VStar650CL (Nov 12, 2020)

Rocket 2014 said:


> What do you mean by reset the door?


For most of them, just open the hatch all the way and then press-and-hold the Close Switch. If that doesn't work, let me know and I'll check the ESM.


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## Rocket 2014 (May 1, 2021)

copy that. I have the ECM too. seems like the body control module (BCM) is what should be reset, but I can definitely be wrong. Thanks again!


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## VStar650CL (Nov 12, 2020)

Rocket 2014 said:


> I have the ECM too. seems like the body control module (BCM) is what should be reset, but I can definitely be wrong.


No, neither one. There's a dedicated controller called ABD for Auto Back Door. Only very pricey scanners will generally detect it.


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## Rocket 2014 (May 1, 2021)

Do you know which ones do that? Do you recommend owning such scanner? If not, I'll put in the part once it arrives, try to manually reset and i guess ask a garage to reset it if I can't.


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## VStar650CL (Nov 12, 2020)

If you want a budget scanner that will handle just about everything Nissan, get the AutoEnginuity Giotto with the Nissan/Infiniti support package. For about $450 (a fraction of the price of a SnapOn Solus, etc.), it does codes and work support for _all_ the Nissan subsystems. Try the press-and-hold trick first, it works on almost all the ABD's.


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## Rocket 2014 (May 1, 2021)

Roger. Will do and report. Thanks a million!


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## Rocket 2014 (May 1, 2021)

Hi,
Just wanted to update you on our convo. I got a replacement power liftgate assembly on eBay for $150 and it worked immediately. Took less than 20 minutes to swap from beginning to end. Now I'm thinking of getting one of those turquoise switches to fix my broken assembly. I'll test it, and if it works I'll put that one back in and sell the replacement, which would bring the whole repair under $10 (+time spent of course). In any case, way cheaper than going in the shop. 
Thanks again for all your help!


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## VStar650CL (Nov 12, 2020)

You're most welcome! I've never had any luck locating a retail source for those switches. Mouser, Digi-Key, Allied, etc only carry the straight-arm or no-arm versions, and the locks are so touchy in operation that I'm leery about DIY arm bending. If you find a source for ones that don't need tweaking, I'd love to know about it.


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