[jhanley1952]

Battery does not appear to be discharged. The new car documentation (owner's manual) is not helpful about the location of a lever or switch that appears to be in the engine compartment that allows the gate to be opened. Any comments?

 

[Janner]

So you've tried both the exterior button and the interior button by the driver? How about the key fob? All fail? Is the car unlocked? (Locked car won't allow hatch to open). I had issues with my '15 Outback hatch. They replaced the entire mechanism. But my door locks weren't always consistent and sometimes I'd pull into my garage and the thing would beep at me when I tried to open the hatch. Hitting the unlock button would then allow the driver's button to work. Just throwing out ideas...

 

[FoRealz]

Battery does not appear to be discharged. The new car documentation (owner's manual) is not helpful about the location of a lever or switch that appears to be in the engine compartment that allows the gate to be opened. Any comments?

I believe the manual documents a manual override process to open the hitch. I thought it was a panel in the back so you'd have to climb in from the passenger door into the back...

 

[scooby]

I believe the manual documents a manual override process to open the hitch. I thought it was a panel in the back so you'd have to climb in from the passenger door into the back...

Yep, page 425. Says you pop the panel on the bottom center of the rear gate (from the inside) and use a flathead screwdriver to flip the lever

 

[kathytn]

Also, if you are standing in the way, it won't open.

 

[Thirt]

I accidentally had pressed the “set height” button with the rear gate closed. The buttons would not work to open it, but I manually opened the gate, with the car on pressed the set height button (which reset the height to have the gate fully open) and then things worked fine. Could be your issue if you accidentally did what I did.

 

[[email protected]]

I had to do this today. After doing that the door would not open or close with the buttons or the key fob. I had to shut door manually. Then it would not open again. I held the button (latch) on the tailgate for 10 seconds and it opened part way. I had to lift it the rest of the way. Could press the button on the door to close it, but it would not open again unless I held for 10 seconds. Got door to close, but then the car beeped and beeped while driving home. Tried to turn car off and on again, but the beeping was continuing. Will be at dealer first thing tomorrow. Unfortunately, I will have to listen to the beeping for 30 minutes while I drive there.

 

[AnacortesArmyGuy]

I had to do this today. After doing that the door would not open or close with the buttons or the key fob. I had to shut door manually. Then it would not open again. I held the button (latch) on the tailgate for 10 seconds and it opened part way. I had to lift it the rest of the way. Could press the button on the door to close it, but it would not open again unless I held for 10 seconds. Got door to close, but then the car beeped and beeped while driving home. Tried to turn car off and on again, but the beeping was continuing. Will be at dealer first thing tomorrow. Unfortunately, I will have to listen to the beeping for 30 minutes while I drive there.

Have you gone through the initialization procedures outlined in the manual?

 

[[email protected]]

I'm so frustrated with this car....going to dealer tomorrow....

 

[Wazioc]

Hey guys, I was trying to come up with a way to keep the hatch from killing the battery while open. Tried a few different things, caused a few different problems, but finally may have worked it out.

At one point I had the hatch to where it wouldn't open or close and simply beeped. I really didn't want to mess with the battery cables so I was excited to find the info about the fuses under the dash (thanks @mr.paul). Turns out it's Fuse #14. That one did the trick. Pull it out, wait a few seconds, put it back in.

I also shot some videos of my findings if you're interested.

How to get the hatch unstuck if you screw it up:

 

[Wazioc]

***Standby, These solutions may not be completely valid. Testing still underway.***

 

[Eye Am Horus]

I've had the hatch get confused on basically all my subarus.
The solution is to stand on your head and wiggle your feet in the air... seriously though. This one is frustrating. You can fix it without doing too much. I've found that you should always just let the hatch fully open and close without interrupting it. If it doesnt want to open, make sure you have the key fob with you and stand at the rear and hit the unlock on the fob. Then hit the button on the vehicle, not the fob, to open it. If that doesnt work, lock the car then start over. It seems Subaru uses the 'lock' to initiate system crosscheck with a lot of components.

 

[Herestous]

Battery does not appear to be discharged. The new car documentation (owner's manual) is not helpful about the location of a lever or switch that appears to be in the engine compartment that allows the gate to be opened. Any comments?

 

[Herestous]

I had a dead battery on my 2020 ascent, must have left something on, and my tailgate would not open no matter what we did. Tried a couple of things in the forum with no success. We called Subaru service dept and they gave us an easy fix. I guess raising the hatch uses alot of power. Here is the fix.....
Press tailgate lift button for 5-10 seconds and manually lift the tailgate all the way up. Once lifted press close button and it beeps and lights flash. Then press close button again and it closes on its own. Worked great and no problems since.

 

[GaryInMI]

I had a dead battery on my 2020 ascent, must have left something on, and my tailgate would not open no matter what we did. Tried a couple of things in the forum with no success. We called Subaru service dept and they gave us an easy fix. I guess raising the hatch uses alot of power. Here is the fix.....
Press tailgate lift button for 5-10 seconds and manually lift the tailgate all the way up. Once lifted press close button and it beeps and lights flash. Then press close button again and it closes on its own. Worked great and no problems since.

Yes, this procedure is documented in the Rear Gate section of the Owners Manual. It's on page 158 of my 2019 manual.

Happy to hear it worked.

 

[PamelaAnnela]

Yes, this procedure is documented in the Rear Gate section of the Owners Manual. It's on page 158 of my 2019 manual.

Happy to hear it worked.

I just had the same thing happen on my 2019 Ascent after the battery died due to the excessive heat we have been having in Northern Alabama and called AAA and they replaced it. I have followed the operating manual instructions to a T for what to do after battery replacement but have been unsuccessful in getting the lift gate to work. Looks like I am going to have to take it in to the local Subaru dealership to have them fix it.

 

[GaryInMI]

I just had the same thing happen on my 2019 Ascent after the battery died due to the excessive heat we have been having in Northern Alabama and called AAA and they replaced it. I have followed the operating manual instructions to a T for what to do after battery replacement but have been unsuccessful in getting the lift gate to work. Looks like I am going to have to take it in to the local Subaru dealership to have them fix it.

If all else fails, you can crawl in through a back door, pop of the access cover and release the latch manual by flipping the little lever. Once it has been opened manually it may reset itself.

Assuming that everything else came back to normal after the battery swap.

 

[Merope]

Couple of things to try. From the manual:

Initialization of power rear gate
If the power rear gate detects some
abnormality while operating, an electronic
chirp will sound and the power rear gate
operation will be automatically stopped in
either opening or closing position. In this
case, the system needs to be initialized in
the following order to restart the function
properly.
If the power rear gate is closed

1. Keep pressing the rear gate opener switch until it unlocked and lift up the reargate.
2. Pull down the rear gate until it starts to close automatically. The system will be initialized once the gate is fully closed.
3. Operate the power rear gate and check that the function operates properly.

1. Pull down the rear gate until it starts to close automatically. The system will be initialized once the gate is fully closed.
2. Operate the power rear gate and check that the function operates properly.

or.

Pull and replace fuse #14 to reset the TG.

 

[TuRkey]

Hey guys, I was trying to come up with a way to keep the hatch from killing the battery while open. Tried a few different things, caused a few different problems, but finally may have worked it out.

At one point I had the hatch to where it wouldn't open or close and simply beeped. I really didn't want to mess with the battery cables so I was excited to find the info about the fuses under the dash (thanks @mr.paul). Turns out it's Fuse #14. That one did the trick. Pull it out, wait a few seconds, put it back in.

I also shot some videos of my findings if you're interested.

How to get the computer to sleep while hatch is open:

How to get the hatch unstuck if you screw it up:

Worked like a champ...Thanks

 

[Lstethen]

I had a dead battery on my 2020 ascent, must have left something on, and my tailgate would not open no matter what we did. Tried a couple of things in the forum with no success. We called Subaru service dept and they gave us an easy fix. I guess raising the hatch uses alot of power. Here is the fix.....
Press tailgate lift button for 5-10 seconds and manually lift the tailgate all the way up. Once lifted press close button and it beeps and lights flash. Then press close button again and it closes on its own. Worked great and no problems since.

Thank you for this post! Exact situation happened to me. Did what you said….voila!! Works perfect!!