67 coronet wagon tailgate problem

[cherokeechief79]

when we bought the car last year the po had the tailgate down so i know it works.we cant crank the manual window down at al.
it just hits a hard stop.
one of the keys does go in the lock and it does rotate about 90 deg but it still wont budge.
we contacted the po and he said he never had any problem with it and that he never locked it.any ideas?

 

[rbkt65]

is tail gate down or just the window? grab a fsm. i think that the t/g has an internal stop that does not allow the window to roll if the t/g is down. my 65 has a power window in it and it was a giant mess when i got it. had to get fsm and figure out all the little stuff that makes it work/not work. fyi. 63-70 is same per internet. i bought an extra regulator w/motor and also extra motor for mine. hard to find.

 

[peabodyracin]

I believe the manual tail gate crank mechanism has a dowel pin sort of affair that connects to the crank to allow you to move the window up or down. When it's locked, the dowel pin is retracted and the crank just spins. So I don't think it's locked. Something is in the way. Don't force it as the connecting piece from crank to mechanism is pot metal and prone to breaking. They are really tough to find.

I'd recommend you get into the cargo area and remove the philips head screws holding the access panel in place. See if you can access the bolts that hold the glass to the bottom channel. If you unbolt them you can move the glass down into the tail gate and get it open. Then you can work on the internal mechanisms.

 

[R413]

I had one that went down 3” and stopped, like it hit a blocker. (Just like a hard stop as you describe)

It turned out it was just dirt in the tracks. The car sat a long time in the desert. It was a hot summer day so I rinsed it out with the garden hose that was filled with hot water. Then let it dry and lubed it up. Works great now.

There was nothing broken or falling apart.

 

[cherokeechief79]

I believe the manual tail gate crank mechanism has a dowel pin sort of affair that connects to the crank to allow you to move the window up or down. When it's locked, the dowel pin is retracted and the crank just spins. So I don't think it's locked. Something is in the way. Don't force it as the connecting piece from crank to mechanism is pot metal and prone to breaking. They are really tough to find.

I'd recommend you get into the cargo area and remove the philips head screws holding the access panel in place. See if you can access the bolts that hold the glass to the bottom channel. If you unbolt them you can move the glass down into the tail gate and get it open. Then you can work on the internal mechanisms.

wow...this is news to me.i thought that when it was locked some type of pin kept it from rotating.if this is true that it feespins when unlocked i can rule out the lock completely.can anyone confirm that this is how it acts in the unlocked position?the tailgate and window are up.the window moves up and down about 1/2 an inch in either direction before hitting a hard stop.

 

[ckessel]

Get the cover off of it so you can see what's happening. For sure components need some lube and most likely the rollers are toast which can cause the jamming. Clean, lube, replace wear parts and go from there.

 

[peabodyracin]

It took me a while to find my parts so I could show you the mechanism function. Here are 2 pictures of the back side of the window crank. The pin sticking out of the center round part is how the device looks when unlocked. The picture showing just the round black section is when it's locked. Turning the key retracts that pin into the round black section.

 

[peabodyracin]

This is the coupler that connects the crank to the window mechanism. Your part will not look exactly like this one, as I'd made this one to replace the one on my car which was broken. As I mentioned the original part is pot metal and gets quite brittle. I was able to use the splined end of the broken coupler and grafted it to the machined aluminum socket, which mates to the crank center shaft. You can see the slot/channel which I machined into the aluminum. This is what catches the pin of the crank mechanism and allows you to move the window up/down.

Hope this helps.

 

[peabodyracin]

There are two nylon wheels attached to the mechanism, that follow the horizontal channel in the glass bottom frame. These tend to get brittle and disintegrate with age. The lack of the wheels causes all sorts of motion problems.

As has also been pointed out, the glass channels can cause trouble. If memory serves I'd seen at least one window mechanism that had jammed up where the 2 gears mesh. Since it's not a 2 way tail gate the mechanism itself is pretty straightforward. The powered units have a switch to prevent the motor from energizing unless the gate is closed, which also closes the switch. The switch is just in series with the power wire that goes to the motor.

I'm not aware of any safety mechanism which prevents you from manually cranking the window (on a non-electric gate) when the gate is open. I know I've done it myself in the past to clean and lube up the internals.

The 2 way gates introduced more complexity. If you do as suggested and remove the interior panel you can get the glass down, open up the gate and start sorting things out.

 

[ckessel]

Replacement rollers can be had through many outlets like the ones selling hardware, clips etc. If the run channels are messed up from age, they can contribute to the glass rocking around. If you can get the lift unit, latches and other mechanisms out, it would be beneficial to soak them in a solvent[ as long as it doesn't kill the plating] to dissolve old grease/goo/grundge etc from those, the reapply fresh white grease on them and work it in. You can get spray white lithium which works great. Goes in runny then dries after the solvent carrier flashes off. Use that on your hinges, latches and other areas too.

 

[cherokeechief79]

thank you guys so much!
ill look into all of these things soon.
just to be cleat thoug...when it is locked it just freespins and when its unlocked its engaged and will crank it up and down right?
it seems engaged right now and moves the window about a half inch in either direction.

 

[cherokeechief79]

this is ours.this part wants to turn in both directions so i guess it is not locked right?
i sould be looking in one of the other areas you were talking about righjt?
i was going to remove the whole handle assembly from the gate by unbolting it from inside but now i dont think its binding at all in the handle.

 

[peabodyracin]

When locked the outer handle will have no effect on the coupler at all. The handle will just spin. If yours is trying to move the coupler then it's not locked. Sounds counter-intuitive I know.

I would recommend you remove the crank handle assembly 1st. I can't stress enough how careful you need to be with that coupler. It's better to have things disconnected before trying to remove the mechanism.

 

[cherokeechief79]

thank you guys for the help!
we got it last nite.
after trying everything my son filmed it with his phone by sneaking his hand behind the gears.
that post that sticks out when you turn the key to drive the key was messed up.
it was so worn inside that it came almost completely out of the hole and was sticking out so far it was hitting one of the mounting screws.we took the whole thing off and i drilled and tapped a hole in the side to hold the pin at the right location.
it works fine now but doesnt "lock"
while i have the panel off im trying to figure out the 2 tail lights that are in the tailgate itself.neither of them ever light up.
should the light up with the driving lights on?

 

[peabodyracin]

Glad it worked out. Enjoy!