This bulletin applies to 2007-2013 Acura RDX vehicles, where the tailgate won’t open.
According to Acura, the MICU must recognize that all doors are unlocked before the tailgate outer handle switch or the power tailgate opener switch can work the release actuator.
Any of these items can cause the tailgate outer handle or the power tailgate to be inoperative:
- Bad door lock knob switch.
- Bad door lock actuator.
- An open or short in the wire between the driver’s MPCS and the door lock knob switch.
The normal method for troubleshooting this problem is to hook up the HDS, find any B-CAN DTCs, then go to the Security Data List and find out which door lock knob switch UNLOCK inputs read OFF.
However, if you don’t have an HDS handy, Acura suggests an alternative method:
1. Lower all windows
2. Lock the doors with the keyless remote.
3. Wait until the security system is armed
(Note: The security LED in the gauge control module will let you know when the system is armed. When you first lock the doors, the LED blinks for two seconds, then goes off for one second. When the system is armed, the LED blinks for 0.5 second, the goes off for two seconds.)
4. With the system armed, reach through a window and unlock one of the doors with the lock knob. The alarm should go off if the MICU sees that door as unlocked. Reset the alarm with the keyless remote, and repeat the test for all other doors.
- If any of the doors don’t sound the alarm when unlocked, repair that door’s lock knob circuit and then re-test the tailgate operation.
- If all of the doors sound the alarm when unlocked, or the tailgate still won’t open when re-tested, continue with normal troubleshooting.
