rear latch - something fell

[bigtimeweb]

The other day I sort of slammed my rear shut and heard something basically fall inside the rear panel. The latch is now stuck in the "pulled" position.

Has anyone had this experience? Is what 'Im going to find inside salvageable simply because some screws came loose or should I buy some parts before I tear in there.

Rear window still works fine from dash and with the key.

Im also looking for a tutorial on how to take the rear panel off to get inside there if anyone knows of one.

TIA

 

[t4r4life]

Happen to me b4 the nut that holds the latch get lossen all the time from closing too hard, only way to fix it is to go inside the truck and take everything apart yes its a PITA but there is no other way

 

[blcktpgsr]

The other day I sort of slammed my rear shut and heard something basically fall inside the rear panel. The latch is now stuck in the "pulled" position.

Has anyone had this experience? Is what 'Im going to find inside salvageable simply because some screws came loose or should I buy some parts before I tear in there.

Rear window still works fine from dash and with the key.

Im also looking for a tutorial on how to take the rear panel off to get inside there if anyone knows of one.

TIA

I don' think there's ever been a tutorial on the rear panel removal but I have taken mine off a few times and there's nothing technical about it.

All you need is a flat screwdriver, a ratchet and a 10mm nut driver.

First you want to remove the plastic cover that hides the 10mm bolt holding the pull strap...

Once removed, use your flat screw driver and pry a section of the rear panel cover from the shell,(cover the tip with a rag to avoid scratching the painted surface when prying) just enough so you can get your fingers and pull the entire panel off held by some push in clips, don't worry about breaking these clips because they won't. Next you wanna push the panel upwards starting from one end until the panel is loose and off the hook.

After removal of the panel, really all that you need is to undo the remaining 10mm bolts, IIRC, there are 8-10 pieces of them. Start pulling from the top of the black metal plate cover now only held by 3 white colored push-in clips, one above, two below. ...and that should do it.:naughty:

 

[bigtimeweb]

Thank you for taking the time to explain!

 

[blcktpgsr]

Thank you for taking the time to explain!

You're welcome!

 

[T4RFool]

if its not that nut then it could also be the cable that is attached to the latch at the bottom of the door. i had mine pop out of its fitting before which caused it to not open because the cable didnt have anything holding it in place. so if its not that nut, i would also check that cable too.

 

[sportscarfan]

There is also an off-white piece of plastic to deflect water from the key/switch. It's not rigidly mounted to anything - just friction fit. I could see that getting into the wrong spot without much effort.
To get the rear panel off, use a butter knife :wink2:

 

[Nelsonmd]

In all honesty, the rear door is pretty easy to figure out. Don't feel nervous about digging into it not having a walkthrough. If you get stuck, post pics and it will get solved.

The first repair I did to my 4runner was replacing the handle in the rear door as mine had completely rusted away. I don't think I had even found this site yet and it was a pretty easy replacement.

 

[bigtimeweb]

Raise the dead.

Almost a year later Im just getting to this :|.

To be clear, my latch from the outside rear is stuck in the 'pulled' position, and my hatch is stuck closed with no way to open it.

I have removed the panel and am presented with a very clean interior.

Removed the black plate, and am presented with the rear window drive mechanisms which makes it impossible to see the rear of the latch.

do I need to take all that out?

 

[bigtimeweb]

okay, maybe this will help.

In digging / feeling on the interior there is a handle shaped assembly that is held on with a nut on each side. Looking at it from sitting in the rear with it closed, the nut is missing from the left.

coming out of this assembly going right towards the lock is a solid arm that houses the cable. The cable head is seated well. When I push this arm to the right, I can see the latch that attaches to the frame below move, but it does not release the hatch.

There is an additional wiring cable going into the same place at the physical frame/hatch latch. It looks fine, but is it an unknown.

How do I get the hatch to release manually? Is this possible? Why is it not releasing with the simple tug of this cable line?

 

[habanero]

Since you can't really see it, here is a picture of the underside of the latch and the cable you are pulling so you can see what you are actuating:

And the other end that you can see, just 'cause I have it:

That additional wiring cable is for the 'door' switch of the interior rear light.