Rear tailgate window problems
Maritimer,
I don’t know how mechanical you and or how far you want to go into this, but most likely it is your clutch on the window crank itself. What usually happens is the felt in the window runs (tracks) on each side of the door rot away and the window binds up. There is a pot metal "clutch" that drive the regulator gears and arms up and down and the force of trying to crank the bound up window bends or breaks the ears off the clutch. The two major things you will probably have to fix are the window runs and the crank clutch (there will be some other things you will want to consider, but I will try to get your window working first. If you have a place to keep it inside and some time and money you can just do every thing all at once. There is no sense in just doing part of it, you will have everything apart and it all goes hand in hand. However, if you need to drive it and have to wait on parts, I can get you going until you are better situated.
First you have to take the cover off the inside of the tailgate (Phillips screws). This is kind of a pain, since I am assuming the window is high enough that you can't open the tailgate. If you have it open, it is much easier than climbing inside and over the back seat trying to take all the screws out of the cover and disconnecting the window. Anyway, once you have the cover off you will see two arms that support the window, one on each side. These short support sections are bolted to the bottom window support with two 7/16" bolts on each one. Take those bolts off and slide the short pieces off (there is a roller inside those short pieces which are connected to the lift arms). You can then gently let your window all the way down (if you have to open the tailgate MAKE SURE THE WINDOW IS ALL THE WAY DOWN to get clearance to open the tailgate. Once the tailgate is open, it gets a little tricky and it might be best to have a helping hand or something to support the window. Once the tailgate is down you are going slide the window out enough to get to the crank gear mechanism inside the tailgate. The glass shouldn't fall out because of the rubber weather stripping, but it will need to be supported by something or someone. There are four 7/16" bolts, one at each corner of the crank mechanism. A couple are kind of hard to get to because they are under the crank. They will come out, but it is a pain. The best wrench I have found is a Gear Wrench from Sears, box end ratchet wrench, and it makes it so much easier. Once you get the crank mechanism out of the tailgate, set it aside for later (at some point you will probably want to clean the old grease and rust off the gear assembly and relube it. Just depends on how much time you have at this point). Once the crank gear assy is out you will see two nuts in a recess. You will need deep walled socket and ratchet for those, 7/16" I think. Take those two nuts off and the handle assy will come off the other side. It has a rubber gasket on the outside that only fits one way. It might stick, but the handle assy will come off. Once you get the crank assy off you should see the drive clutch and it should have two "ears" sticking up that engage the window gear mechanism. They will either be worn or maybe even broken off. At this point you have two or three options. You can go ahead and repair the handle by replacing the clutch, (about $20 and shipping from LMC or you can replace it with a whole new crank assy (pricey) You might find one in the junk yard, but you are taking a chance you will get the same thing. The other quick option if you need to keep driving the vehicle while you are waiting on parts, is leave the handle out and put the gear assembly back in (four bolts), slide the window back down and put the two supports back on the rollers and bolt them back on the window. ( AGAIN, MAKE SURE THE WINDOW IS ALL THE WAY DOWN IF YOU LIFT THE TAILGATE UP. IT IS SPRING LOADED AND WILL BREAK YOUR GLASS FASTER THAN YOU CAN SAY (insert your own curse word). Once you get the assembly back together you can use a some kind of tire iron, screw driver or ratchet with some slotted end to raise and lower the window. I have used this once just to get home and until I got all the parts I needed. The other thing you need to probably change is the window runs. They are usually the source of the clutch breaking. You can order new runs (pricey) or clean and replace the felt. If you are going to continue to drive until you get your other parts, you might wait on the window runs, but I would sure repair or replace them before your final assembly, or you will be doing this again at some later, inopportune date. The other thing you might want to consider, is your rubber weather stripping on top of the tailgate. Once you have the thing this far apart, it is the time to replace them if you need them. I bought mine from Fairchild Industries and it was about $90 for the inner and outer. Trust me, if you put the time into fixing the window runs, with the handle, you will not regret it.
I hope this info helps you and if you need any further explanation. I don't how to attach photos, but feel free to email me if you need and I will do my best to help explain it to you.
ONCE AGAIN...DO NOT LET THE TAILGATE GO UP WITH THE WINDOW ABOVE THE TAILGATE. IT IS SPRING LOADED AND WILL CLOSE FAST, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU DON'T WANT IT TO.
Good luck and best regards,
KD
