R1T Tailgate Sensor Problem

[Riviot]

This is apparently my problem also. I now have a mobile service appointment for February 12th. In the meantime, I am just driving her with the "red tailgate open" warning on the driver screen and the inactive warning alerts.

Brian

They'll replace the actuator, but don't be surprised when it fails in 3 months. Ask mobile tech to show you how to open it if it fails, the manual cable release.

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[moosetags]

They'll replace the actuator, but don't be surprised when it fails in 3 months. Ask mobile tech to show you how to open it if it fails, the manual cable release.

Where is this "actuator" located, and how is it accessed?

Brian

 

[Riviot]

Where is this "actuator" located, and how is it accessed?

Brian

It's just the name I'm giving it; latch is the whole setup, staple is the U bolt on the tailgate that gets held, actuator flips and holds the staple.

You have to pull off the side panel to access the actuator.

Driver side, you can see it:

Passenger side, I removed it. You can see a worn area in the plastic, it's grown since the day I bought it. It makes me think the actuator wasn't aligned right, but you can't adjust its position. The staple can be adjusted, but not in the direction necessary:

 

[raisethe4]

I had the same issues recently where the truck showed an open tailgate despite being closed. The actuator failed to latch after opening the tailgate one day. Tried the usual soft/hard reset with no success.

Called Rivian and they were able to schedule an appointment quickly since driving with a tailgate down was not ideal. Service center said actuator bolts were most likely over-torqued after the recent power tonneau install, cold weather supposedly didn't help either.

I would have saved myself a service trip if they shared the torque specs and if you're comfortable disassembling and working on your own truck. Hope this was the fix and no future issues.

 

[moosetags]

Thank you guys for all this information. I will be sure to carefully watch the the mobile service technician when he comes to work on my tailgate latches. I will make note of the torque values for future use.

I have torque wrenches of various torque values. I'm sure I can do this myself.

Rivian could do themselves a favor and be more forthcoming with information and instructions on minor adjustments. This could serve to help their dire service situation.

Brian

 

[TheSavageBeagle]

Woke up this morning to functional tailgate latches and sensors on my truck. They were not serviced or replaced (yet). I don't see any evidence of a software update. Does Rivian push small bug fixes? Is there a chance these issues are software related?

 

[moosetags]

Several days ago the 'tailgate open' warning on Opal's driver screen miraculously disappeared and the proximity warnings were back on-line. In other words, Opal was back to her normal self. It is curious that this occurred upon the onset of cold weather here in the Florida Panhandle. It will be interesting to see if these warnings return when warmer weather comes. Opal is scheduled to have a mobile service visit on February 12th to address this issue.

Brian

 

[TheSavageBeagle]

Interesting. It was also cold in Seattle this morning, but the truck was in Whistler over the Holidays where it was colder but still having tailgate and sensor issues. So I'm not cancelling my service apt. either, but wondering if it is software related... not mechanical...

 

[1stTimeTruckee]

Interesting. It was also cold in Seattle this morning, but the truck was in Whistler over the Holidays where it was colder but still having tailgate and sensor issues. So I'm not cancelling my service apt. either, but wondering if it is software related... not mechanical...

I'm curious. Did you ever get an explanation on why your latches were not working and then miracusouly they started working again?

I ask because 3 weeks ago I went to put up my tail gate the latches wouldn't work, so the tailgate would just drop but then without doing anything other than driving a few miles the latches started working again the next day. The weather was mild so I doubt that had anything to do with.

After the latches were working fine for 2 weeks again today the simply stopped working again and I can't close the tailgate. The only thing I can think of is that today when I released the tailgate to drop, I didn't let it drop the whole way down before closing it. I caught it halfway down and tried to close it. On my Rivian app it is stuck in a "dropping" status and now the latches won't work again. I did a full reset but that didn't do anything. I don't think it's a mechanical issue but something to do with the sensor getting confused when I didn't let the tailgate drop the whole way before closing it. I have a service appointment this week but they are estimating it will be $300 to service.

 

[TheSavageBeagle]

I don't think there are sensors that detect the tailgate height, the sensors are in the latch and it detects if the tailgate is open or closed. So it shouldn't matter if you caught the gate. I understand from the warranty service that the bolts that hold the latches to the body could have been over-torqued at the plant. They replaced them for me, as it was a known issue and I was having intermittent issues. The latches are mechanically activated though (by pushing the gate closed) so it is odd that they wouldn't latch closed. My issue is that they would latch close, but say open. Are you sure you pushed the tailgate hard enough?

 

[1stTimeTruckee]

I don't think there are sensors that detect the tailgate height, the sensors are in the latch and it detects if the tailgate is open or closed. So it shouldn't matter if you caught the gate. I understand from the warranty service that the bolts that hold the latches to the body could have been over-torqued at the plant. They replaced them for me, as it was a known issue and I was having intermittent issues. The latches are mechanically activated though (by pushing the gate closed) so it is odd that they wouldn't latch closed. My issue is that they would latch close, but say open. Are you sure you pushed the tailgate hard enough?

Thanks. I definitely pushed hard enough and there doesn't seem to be anything physically miss aligned. The tailgate goes up nice and smooth but the latches are just not closing so the tailgate just goes right back down. I have the tailgate now pulled mostly closed with a tie down strap so I can drive and have a service appointment on Thursday, so we'll see what they say.

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