Hi Jaroslav,
Thank you for your good question.
PTA3 and PTA2 in KE series is the special pin, you can find it from the KE04 reference manual.
1. PTA2 and PTA3 are true open-drain pins when operated as output
2. PORT_PUEL[PTAPE3]: This control field determines if the internal pullup device is enabled for the associated PTA pin. For port A pins that are configured as outputs or Hi-Z, this field has no effect.
If you use the PTA3 as the UART pin, this pin is the true opendrain, internal pullup is not working, you must add 4.7K to 10K external pullup.
The module works on your side with SN65HVD485 driver, I think it due to your external TI's 485 transceiver.

You will find your SN65HVD485 equivalent input already have the pullup, but this pullup normally very weak, so it may caused some of your board was working, some not.
So, for working stable, please must add the external pullup resistor.
Wish it helps you!
If you still have question, please let me know!
Have a great day,
Jingjing
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