Hatch won't latch without slamming

I'd still be looking for an obstruction or cock-eyed weather strip. The latch itself should be adjustable. I'm pretty sure that WD40 is not the ideal lube, it seems like that should have grease.

Also, make very sure the hatch itself is not cock-eyed, look closely at the clearance all around when closed. I've noted that mine sometimes balks at latching when the car chassis is torqued on an uneven surface.

 

Mine does not always close completely on an easy push but does complete when just pushed a little more without slamming. I thought it was air pressure with all the other doors closed.

 

I have the same behavior but attribute it to resistance from the struts that hold the hatch up If I push weakly, they seem to slow down the hatch so it doesn't overcome the resistance of the weatherstripping. It must compress the weatherstripping for the seal to be effective.

I'll take that behavior because the corner edge of the hatch is sharp, just ask my head. I want that hatch held up.

My solution? Push harder and hold the push further down towards the ground.

 

A lot of times doors/hatches have rubber stops in the frame, and they're adjustable, ie: you can adjust their projection by screwing them in or out a bit.

 

Same problem here. I guess I'm not a complainer as I never brought it up when I brought it in for service. There have been several occasions when I came back to the car with the door ajar light on!

MT2L03 ?

 

I have the same issue for several periods since purchasing the vehicle three years ago. The latest started about two weeks ago.

1. Needs to be slammed to shut.
2. When opening the hatch I hear a thud which I attribute to overcoming resistance.

I would not have expected this after the warm weather moved in. What adjustments can we make to improve the perfodmance of the latch? I sprayed with Tri-Flow, but it didn't help. I have experienced similar issues:

Note: Do not use WD 40 for lubrication, it is a particle removal.

 

Still just living with it I'm afraid. Ours still has less than 5k miles so I guess it's not so much a pain because of low usage.

 

My hatchback seemed to take a bit more effort to close than I thought it should also; I just lubed the 2 supports with some of this. MUCH smoother. Did the doors as well. Waterproof and won't get all gummy. Give it a try.

 

I think ur problem is coming from the 3m adhesive that u are using.

The weather strip is suppose to for snugly without any aid.....adding the adhesive is creating the seal to be more bulky that what is intended.......this will not allow the hatch or doors to close properly.

Try removing the added adhesive & make sure that the weather striping is seated corectly along the pintch weld seams.

VS980 4G ?

 

I got the same issue. I noticed that happened after the trunk weatherstrips somehow got loose after a hot day.
I asked a garage to fix the weatherstrips (I should have changed them). They put some glue.
Still got the problem and need to slam the trunk to close it. But when I close the trunk, i can hear a little noise like a little piece of something that might have been broken.
So actually my two options are:

1°) Replace the weatherstrips (but they dont look really old and used.... so i am wondering if that's really the issue here) without being sure that it is the fix.
or
2°) or replace the lock which is a more expensive option, without being sure that it will solve the problem either.

I am a bit lost....

I found on youtube that these rear hatch door system are similar to other toyota cars (such as 4runner, sequoia, highlander....) so looking for clues in these videos what might help.

 

Ours got into a bad rear ender. Mother backed into a building doorway at what seemed like significant velocity, $14k to $15k repair. There seems to be something rattling inside the hatch lid. In our case at least I’m guessing opening/removing the interior hatch card and fishing it out is in order...

 

Ok today. I had a closer look. I haven't find any fix but I'd like to share my findings.

* First of all, i found what was making that noise, it was one of the license plate light which was not fixed correctly.

* I have tried to realign the actuator (unscrewing the 3 - 10mm bolts) with the striker (removing plastic and panels and unscrewing the two screws).
Then I have tried to adjust the striker.
For one second, I thought I'd would have fixed the problem but no...

* Then I look inside the actuator, it seems when i put my screwdriver, to simulate the striker getting it: it won't complete a kind of 3 level sequences to block the lock.
I don't know what would be the normal sequence ...going to level 3 or level 2.
When i put the screwdriver, it would block at the 2nd step. I have to bend the screwdriver or force really hard to go the 3rd step.
At level 2, there is a little margin to go back and forth. I think that would why my trunk won't close since it's blocked there.

Then I noticed a piece of rubber inside the actuator mecanism(not sure it was there before or installed by the previous owner).
It might be a kind of rubber "stop" for the striker and that would explain why i can't go fully to step 3.

I thought that would be the fix by removing it.... but previously I have tried and my trunk would not close either.

I am missing something but I don't know what!

I will next explore the weatherstrips issue.

 

It looks like I have fixed the problem. Will see how long the problem is fixed. By looking at how the weatherstrips were inserted, I noticed that the weatherstrips were not correctly placed.

On one side, the external side of weatherstrips were placed under the plastic that is along the rear light. On the other side, they were placed above the plastic.

I used a screwdriver to make the two sides similar so I have tried by inserting the weatherstrips just both side under the plastic. And it seems to work.

By looking at pictures found on the internet, it seems that normally, they should be set above that plastic.
If somehow problem is coming back, I would try this way. But now, that looks okay.

I'll try to send pictures.

Now, i don't need to slam the trunk hard. Just need to close it normally. If it's too light, it won't close but like the other doors.

 

Here are some pictures.
As you can see the weatherstrip is put under the grey plastic


Then it gets out here:



At the bottom:

 

I have noticed that if I almost close the trunk, pause with enough room for a second push, then fully close it, it works every time.