Tailgate spontaneously opening

mtbadbob · July 15, 2023

On 7/14/2023 at 7:16 AM, Pryme said:

Yeah 71k is where I’d draw the line.

all kidding aside, the holes serve no purpose at all. If you want water draining into your tailgate on electrical connections that’s fine. Others prefer to not even go down that road.

BTW, the electrical system is full of electrical connections that constantly get wet. The purpose of the holes are to drain the water out of that little grasping area. It's just cheap chinese switches, water obviously isn't the issue otherwise mine would have failed 100 times over. Go ahead though and lather yours up with silicone if it helps you sleep better at night!

4x4Hank · July 15, 2023

5 hours ago, mtbadbob said:

BTW, the electrical system is full of electrical connections that constantly get wet. The purpose of the holes are to drain the water out of that little grasping area. It's just cheap chinese switches, water obviously isn't the issue otherwise mine would have failed 100 times over. Go ahead though and lather yours up with silicone if it helps you sleep better at night!

I think that it’s fairly obvious that the holes are for draining the water out of the indentation/grasping handle. That indentation seems to be a little useless to me since the tailgate opens quite easily without having to pull on it. That being said I suppose a good amount of water could run through those holes particularly if you have a tonneau cover and either driving in the rain or parked with the back of the truck lower while it’s raining. I haven’t had the tailgate apart to see what the inside looks like so all I have to go by is what the GMC technician told me, and he said that that the water that drains from those holes runs right over the switches. He may be right or he might be all wet (pun intended), regardless, I can’t see that it does any good to allow extra water to run inside the tailgate when two simple dabs of silicone (not lathered) in the holes prevents it. I have yet to have anyone see my truck and exclaim: “Yikes, why is your tailgate all lathered with silicone?”
I also highly suspect that you are correct and that they are cheap Asian switches.

Pryme · July 15, 2023

8 hours ago, mtbadbob said:

BTW, the electrical system is full of electrical connections that constantly get wet. The purpose of the holes are to drain the water out of that little grasping area. It's just cheap chinese switches, water obviously isn't the issue otherwise mine would have failed 100 times over. Go ahead though and lather yours up with silicone if it helps you sleep better at night!

Like I said, you do what you want and others will do as they want.

Not only do I not want water draining onto switches in the tailgate I don’t want the extra moisture festering in a steamy hot metal tailgate creating an even more likely scenario for rust.

your descriptive term lathered is funny though. You can’t even see the holes filled.

Jettech1 · July 17, 2023

On 7/15/2023 at 6:20 PM, Pryme said:

Like I said, you do what you want and others will do as they want.

Not only do I not want water draining onto switches in the tailgate I don’t want the extra moisture festering in a steamy hot metal tailgate creating an even more likely scenario for rust.

your descriptive term lathered is funny though. You can’t even see the holes filled.

Have you taken off that panel on the tailgate to see exactly what is getting wet? I think I might do that tomorrow and will take pics.

Pryme · July 17, 2023

33 minutes ago, Jettech1 said:

Have you taken off that panel on the tailgate to see exactly what is getting wet? I think I might do that tomorrow and will take pics.

No I haven’t but it would be nice to see. Another member here said he did and said the connections are right under the holes. If you do, for sure take some pics

Jettech1 · July 17, 2023

31 minutes ago, Pryme said:

No I haven’t but it would be nice to see. Another member here said he did and said the connections are right under the holes. If you do, for sure take some pics

I have a 14 hour day tomorrow at work and for the rest of the week. I promise you at some point I will be taking that cover off and seeing the magic that has caused so many problems.

waltman · July 17, 2023

46 minutes ago, Pryme said:

No I haven’t but it would be nice to see. Another member here said he did and said the connections are right under the holes. If you do, for sure take some pics

I have had my cover off and can confirm the switch is underneath the holes, another reason to plug the holes is the switch and linkage will freeze in the winter after getting soaked.

Pryme · July 17, 2023

50 minutes ago, waltman said:

I have had my cover off and can confirm the switch is underneath the holes, another reason to plug the holes is the switch and linkage will freeze in the winter after getting soaked.

I will NOT slather icky unsightly silicone on my “insert arbitrary number here” truck!!!!

mtbadbob · July 17, 2023

I've had my switches completely out, along with the camera's. They are equally sealed. Apparently Montana water cannot penetrate the barrier!

mtbadbob · July 17, 2023

You can also just insert a spray can foam straw into the holes and disperse until the can is empty!

Paints-n-cows · July 22, 2023

I do not have the issue with it opening on its own on my 2024 HIgh Country.

However, it did fail to open when the button on the tailgate was pushed and then also when the key fob was used. All it did was beep and nothing else.

An hour later (when I didn't need it to open), it worked fine. It is at the dealer now for the headlights and multiple other electrical gremlins and they are supposed to be looking at the tailgate as well.

ILSilverado · August 14, 2023

This is not just a multipro gate issue. My standard tailgate on my 2021 did the same thing.

4x4Hank · August 21, 2023

Well I had another tailgate switch go bad. This time the main tailgate switch. I’m sitting at the dealership right now waiting for a diagnosis but it’s not my first tailgate rodeo so I’m pretty sure that I know the drill. They will come get me in the waiting room and say that they have to order a switch. I’m kind of losing count at this point however I think that this will be the second main tailgate switch replacement. There has also been two inner tailgate switch replacements. I siliconed the holes on the top of the tailgate after the last inner switch replacement so I’m not sure what could have caused another failure other than maybe the damage was already done before I sealed the drain holes. Whatever is causing the failures it’s very irritating!

mtbadbob · August 22, 2023

It's crazy that you keep having these switches go bad and others never have a problem. As I've voiced my opinion before about the water getting to these switches, I do not think that's the issue, just bad Chinese junk. Apparently, the luck of the draw on getting a bad one or a good one, either that or you may have a wiring harness issue causing them to short out.

4x4Hank · August 23, 2023

12 hours ago, mtbadbob said:

It's crazy that you keep having these switches go bad and others never have a problem. As I've voiced my opinion before about the water getting to these switches, I do not think that's the issue, just bad Chinese junk. Apparently, the luck of the draw on getting a bad one or a good one, either that or you may have a wiring harness issue causing them to short out.

Well the good news is that they didn’t have to order a switch, they had one. They claim to have tested the wiring and they don’t think that’s the issue. The tailgate would open fine from the fob and the dash button. I had a new service manager this time that I hadn’t dealt with before and he shared his theory that it’s water from the drain holes. I told him that I plugged the holes. He didn’t have an answer after that. Even though it’s a PIA running to the dealer every few months for a switch replacement at least it’s covered under warranty. I’m concerned what will happen once my truck is out of warranty.