2018 CX-5 liftgate not opening

[fernans954]

hey everyone. so today i noticed the liftgate would not open. not with the remote, not by pressing the button by the steering wheel, not by pressing the button on the liftgate itself. no beeps or movement or anything. any clue or insight into what it could be?

the manual says possible dead battery. my car has been slower to start recently, but it still starts and is working.

TIA

 

[edmaz]

It could be a number of things, and diagnosis is usually always better than guesswork. Start by checking the fuse and continue on from there, if it's ok.

 

[wlong01]

Before taking it to the dealer do this. Remove the negative battery terminal and wait a few minutes then put back and tighten. Try the hatch.
That's the hatch reset.

Fixed mine and somebody else's on this forum

 

[edmaz]

Before taking it to the dealer do this. Remove the negative battery terminal and wait a few minutes then put back and tighten. Try the hatch.
That's the hatch reset.

Fixed mine and somebody else's on this forum

Thanks for posting that - good to know and I'll file it away for future reference. I suspect that cutting power to the PLG or RBCM control module causes a computer reboot, which is what 'fixes' the problem (AKA the Gates solution). And that would mean that recycling the fuse for one of those units should restore liftgate functionality as well. If the OP ever comes back to this thread, perhaps he/she can try that out.

 

[CX5_Driver]

.. causes a computer reboot, which is what 'fixes' the problem (AKA the Gates solution). ....

Hrmm Gates as in Bill Gates the founder of Microsoft, Microsoft who famously has an OS (operating system) called "Windows" that also famously works miraculously well after a reboot (cold or warm). Since Microsoft Windows is the dominate OS on the consumer market the vast experience with fixing computer problems comes from rebooting a computer using "Windows". Now fixing a computer is often completed by novices simply with a reboot, and is done so often it is called "The Gates Solution"? This is all an interesting use of fact linking. However browsing the depths of forums, urban dictionaries, memes and other various nooks of the internet today - besides this post I couldn't find another use case where someone referred to the rebooting of a computer (of any type) as "The Gates Solution." - please point me in the direction where you learned about this, I love to learn more about internet history and nomenclature.

 

[meow_man]

We always called it a "traumatic reset"

 

[fernans954]

i’ll report back. will try on monday when i’m back in town.

 

[edmaz]

..... However browsing the depths of forums, urban dictionaries, memes and other various nooks of the internet today - besides this post I couldn't find another use case where someone referred to the rebooting of a computer (of any type) as "The Gates Solution." - please point me in the direction where you learned about this, I love to learn more about internet history and nomenclature.

First off, an apology to the OP for starting something which sent this thread in a totally different direction. I was actually making what I considered to be a little private joke, and didn't ever expect anyone to actually pick up on it and show such an interest. So I guess the jokes on me

And I feel obligated to provide a reply, so here it is. I'm an old dinosaur who was in IT (commercial software) for 40 years, and was in the shop when the IBM PC first showed up. All of us in the computer business were keenly interested in this new toy, and we were also witness to all of the brutal growing pains it suffered along the way. And we all were greatly amused by the notion that every non-trivial PC issue would invariably be resolved by rebooting. At the time we worked on worldwide mission-critical mainframe systems, where a 15 second outage would be elevated into a corporate crisis. So for any problem with one of our key systems, we got into the habit of saying 'let's reboot', or 'we need to call Bill Gates and see if he has a solution'. This always brought lots of laughs, and was often a stress reducer as well.

Sp that's where it came from. Nothing in print, just an entire organization of computer folks who shared this same standing joke for many years.

 

[edmaz]

i’ll report back. will try on monday when i’m back in town.

Here are the fuses you will need to recycle.

I'm not sure if your 2018 has a PLG Control Module. If it does, then there will be a 20A PLG fuse in the ER fuse box. If there's no PLG fuse, then your vehicle doesn't have that module.

For the RBCM, there are 2 fuses protecting it: the 15A ROOM fuse in the ER fuse box; and the 25A D.LOCK fuse in the cabin fuse box.

 

[wlong01]

Here are the fuses you will need to recycle.

I'm not sure if your 2018 has a PLG Control Module. If it does, then there will be a 20A PLG fuse in the ER fuse box. If there's no PLG fuse, then your vehicle doesn't have that module.

For the RBCM, there are 2 fuses protecting it: the 15A ROOM fuse in the ER fuse box; and the 25A D.LOCK fuse in the cabin fuse box.

This may be adding more confusion to the mix and may not even work. We know disconnecting the negative terminal works. I've fixed my problem, another op on this forum fixed his problem and Mazda service says it fixes the problem.

Trying to find the correct fuses in 2 different locations seems like a PITA.

 

[edmaz]

This may be adding more confusion to the mix and may not even work. We know disconnecting the negative terminal works. I've fixed my problem, another op on this forum fixed his problem and Mazda service says it fixes the problem.

Trying to find the correct fuses in 2 different locations seems like a PITA.

I prefer to completely diagnose whenever possible. Disconnecting the battery worked for you, and the problem has not returned so far. But what if it comes back again and starts happening more frequently? In that case you're certainly going to want to fix the root cause problem, and not keep disconnecting the battery every time it happens.

So, given that it's not a big deal to do, why not invest a few minutes trying to diagnose the actual problem up front? If recycling fuses gets the liftgate working, that's an important piece of information, and virtually establishes the control module as the underlying cause. But if the fuses doesn't fix it, and disconnecting the battery does, then that's also helpful information, by eliminating the control module as the problem.

If this was a big effort, then yes I could agree with what you wrote. Finding and pulling fuses however, is a very easy thing to do. Just pop the fuse box cover and turn it over, use the fuse map to find the fuse, and pull it out. The 5 minutes it would take to do this is more than worth the effort IMO. But as always, your vehicle, your choice.

 

[fernans954]

dead battery. a new one fixed it. a voltage gauge or actual indicator in these cars would help instead of random things that quit working due to low voltage.

 

[edmaz]

dead battery. a new one fixed it. ...

But the vehicle continued to start and run ok, and it was only the liftgate that wasn't working? And was it a battery testing tool at a shop or parts store that showed the battery being 'dead'?

 

[CarpeDiem]

This is a common issue on most modern vehicles. With almost everything in the vehicle controlled by computers and sensors which are very voltage sensitive, a low battery output while under load can cause various systems to show faults or to fail to function. A “voltage gauge” would not indicate the battery’s actual condition, making it virtually worthless. What is needed is a load test, which can be done at most larger auto parts stores for free. This does leave the owner having to diagnose his own issue, but the bottom line is that any time something seems odd with his/her vehicle’s systems, have the battery tested first.

I’m not aware of any manufacturer providing a “battery tester” in their vehicles. Some may believe that they should do so - but then that device would also be subject to the same problems as the rest of the vehicle’s electronic systems...

 

[fernans954]

it was turning over slow so i opted to have it load tested before anything else. it was on its last legs. put a new battery in and the tailgate opened like nothing ever happened. i’m sure it didn’t have enough juice to open the tailgate.

 

[edmaz]

OK, and thanks for posting the outcome of the problem.

 

[wlong01]

Glad it was something simple. Time for a new battery anyway.

 

[GAXIBM]

You do realize that the battery was disconnected for a few minutes as the new one was installed...

 

[CarpeDiem]

You do remember that the old battery failed the load test, right?

 

[amyc]

Before taking it to the dealer do this. Remove the negative battery terminal and wait a few minutes then put back and tighten. Try the hatch.
That's the hatch reset.

Fixed mine and somebody else's on this forum

Thank you so much for this answer! It worked for us!