Blue Hedgehog has it right with the BCM. I just ran into this issue for the third time and found through my own investigation the real cause for me, I took it to the dealer twice before because it was covered at the time. However now it isn't and I'm fed up with letting them bandage the issue. Mine was caused by rain getting in through a white plastic clip that helps hold the license plate lights and its housing in place. It had a crap foam washer and mine fell apart in my hand. So I went to Lowes and bought the auto weather stripping and ran it along the top edge of the housing then bolted it back in place. That stopped the leak since it rained today and I didn't have a stream of water dripping on the old actuator. Back to what Blue Hedgehog said though, I tested his theories and pulling the fuses will not reset the system so the new actuator will work. Mine shorted out because of the water landing on it and you do have to disconnect the BCM, let it sit (I did 30ish minutes), then reconnect it all and connect the new actuator if you haven't yet. It should function when hitting the release button on the hatch itself. I am very pleased with finally fixing this for hopefully the final time.
2013 Sonic LT Hatchback
