[bostonbob]

Too bad we never got the answer (whether replacing the strut was the fix) as my lift gate is now exhibiting the EXACT same problem. It is seasonably warm in New England, and has been very dry for over a week. Also, the problem started with no warning or strange behavior leading up to it. ...on to googling the next hit.

 

[bostonbob]

Will do all of the above, but not anytime soon unfortunately due to work commitments. Also, from another thread a possible culprit is a blue wire under the power strut boot. It might be awhile but will post an answer whether it gets fixed or I spend the rest of its lifetime manually opening and closing the liftgate. I might punt and see the dealer about this recall: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2015/RCRIT-15V393-6798.pdf