My intermitant problems were due to poor contact at the safety switch at the tailgate latch. I took it apart and cleaned it and it worked for awhile but I eventually bypassed it. Yank out the connecter at the switch and make a wire jumper to fool it into thinking the gate is shut. Worth a try and pretty easy to do. You will then have to make sure you don't send the window up with the gate down. Hasn't really been a problem. I did it once, gasped and ran around back to support it, but no harm was done.

85 4Runner 22re, mostly stock. Over 340K miles(SOLD for $4000 7/06)

98 2.7 4cyl 4Runner Bone Stock perfect 200,000 miles (alright, it has a HG and clutch in it's past)