Tailgate access

[Burns]

While putting my tool boxes in the back of the truck to take to my new job, I put the window down and up and down... but it never went back up. The switch in the truck never worked, but since I only had it about a month so far, I never got to fix it. Now, I think the motor's dead. How do I crack the tailgate open without breaking everything? And what kind of motor is it, a normal power window motor? And how do I get to the keyswitch if the window's stuck down? If I could get this tailgate off, I'd put my old one on from my previous truck that has no rust, and worked, except the keyswitch.

Thanks.

 

[Silent-H]

While putting my tool boxes in the back of the truck to take to my new job, I put the window down and up and down... but it never went back up. The switch in the truck never worked, but since I only had it about a month so far, I never got to fix it. Now, I think the motor's dead. How do I crack the tailgate open without breaking everything? And what kind of motor is it, a normal power window motor? And how do I get to the keyswitch if the window's stuck down? If I could get this tailgate off, I'd put my old one on from my previous truck that has no rust, and worked, except the keyswitch.Thanks.

Been in your shoes,heres the deal when the moter goes bad you can either buy a new one or a refurbished one,the other option is to find a motor from the passenger side of a f150 with my 1990 I used a 96 f150 moter dont think they changed ,just did the swap with my 95 found a 96 f150 and boom.To acces the motor remove the inside panel of the tailgate its a lil tight in there but once you fish around you will get used to it .if the widow cannot be pulled up while the tailgate is opened you have to actually pull the window .But usually you can bulldog it out .remove old moter leaving it attached to elecrical,then trouble shoot your electric system and try the key if the moter turns it may just be the transmission gears in the moter these are polyurethane and can be bought at auto store for like 5 bucks .replace the bushings and re grease hopefully your moter is still good if not follow my tips above remember passenger side is the tail gat moter ...................good luck Lenny

 

[Silent-H]

]Oh Ya be carefull if your working on it with the window all the way up support it with a stick of some sort and sometimes its just a good idea to remove the window for easier acces to diagnose electrics.all your work is mostly done with tail gat down ,unless you make my mistake i replaced the moter without checking electric wires that were all cut up by the widow because the securing straps broke free .Its a pain to try and take the moter out from the inside with a strong new moter holding it up ,make sure you recheck the wires and holders to make sure they will not be cut by the window scissors...........................again good luck after the first cpl of hrs you will be a expert at the tailgate

 

[Shadow_D]

Do you hear anything when you turn the key or push the button? If not then the safety switch may be open. Try pushing on the driverside upper corner of the gate when you turn the key, if it tries to move then you have found your problem. If not then you might have to get that gate open and look for broken wires between the gate and the body of the truck.

 

[Burns]

Been in your shoes,heres the deal when the moter goes bad you can either buy a new one or a refurbished one,the other option is to find a motor from the passenger side of a f150 with my 1990 I used a 96 f150 moter dont think they changed ,just did the swap with my 95 found a 96 f150 and boom.To acces the motor remove the inside panel of the tailgate its a lil tight in there but once you fish around you will get used to it .if the widow cannot be pulled up while the tailgate is opened you have to actually pull the window .But usually you can bulldog it out .remove old moter leaving it attached to elecrical,then trouble shoot your electric system and try the key if the moter turns it may just be the transmission gears in the moter these are polyurethane and can be bought at auto store for like 5 bucks .replace the bushings and re grease hopefully your moter is still good if not follow my tips above remember passenger side is the tail gat moter ...................good luck Lenny

Yea, my trouble that night was it was getting dark fast and the window wasn't budging. I just need to move the glass, then I'd be good. At this point, I'd be happy just to have the window shut.

Do you hear anything when you turn the key or push the button? If not then the safety switch may be open. Try pushing on the driverside upper corner of the gate when you turn the key, if it tries to move then you have found your problem. If not then you might have to get that gate open and look for broken wires between the gate and the body of the truck.

Nope, no noise at all. It worked fine one minute and then nothing at all. I tried pushing on that corner of the tailgate, and nothing. So it looks like I'll have to replace it.

Thanks guys.

 

[Shadow_D]

Ok if you are not hearing anything I would bet you have a broken wire somewhere or a faulty safety switch.

Try testing the motor in place... use a wire from the positive side of the battery and a test lead (wire with alligator clips).

First open the access panel on the tailgate. Next locate the electrical hookup on the motor and disconnect it from the motor. Now take your test lead and connect one end to one of the electrical connections on the motor and the other end to a good ground. Now take the wire you ran from the battery and touch it to the other connection on the motor, the motor should either try to raise the window or start to bring the window down.

If nothing happens, double check your connections to be sure you have power to your "test equipment".

If you can get the window to go down, get it so you can open the tailgate as this would make the rest of this repair easier.

Get back to us with what you find out and we will go from there.

Darrin