tailgate window/door.

[albrow75]

good folks,
the rear window recently either jumped off the track or the motor shut down while letting the window down (the left side is up while the right side is down). anyone have any experience with replacing the motor? would it make more sense to hit a salvage yard and replace the door/window altogether?

I got a '95 V6 4WD.

Of course the window would crash in the middle of winter and snowing!

 

[fourwd1]

I'd start by pulling the access panel and to see what's up. You can disconnect the motor connector and run 12V to it to see if it works. Try the polarity both ways to see if it goes up/down.

 

[ultrabongo]

If one side of the window is up and the other part way down, its not the motor, its either that the glass has come off the arm that supports it or the regulator itself is defective or jammed. The motor meshes with a geared edges of two crescent shaped arms which each terminate in one of the arms that supports the edge of the back window glass from beneath. The motor drives these two arms in unison, so if the motor quits, the glass should be at an equal height on both sides.
Once you get the acess panel off, you should be able to get a better idea whats going on. Look at the mechanical end first. I had a similar problem which I thought was electrical but turned out to be a piece of broken rusted metal from the tailgate stuck in the regulator gears.
If you need a regulator, I have a good one from an 86 4runner I will sell you for 95 bucks with the motor, also good.

 

[rustyrazor]

Window with one side down

My window did the same thing. I took it apart. There are two arms with rollers on the end that run in two tracks, one on each side at the bottom of the window.

One of the tracks on mine rusted out so the arm didn't have anything to guide it.

I think the problem originates with the rubber seal at the edge of the tailgate. When it gets old the rubber gets hard and it doesn't make a good seal against the window letting water in and rusting out the inside of the tailgate.

Also, tailgate problems are common. I asked at a scrapyard about one and they quoted astronomical prices for 4runner tailgates.

 

[promted]

I'm new to this board and don't know a lot of the lingo or rules or anything but this happened with my '87 4Runner also. The window completely came off the track and when I opened it up to look inside, I noticed that the runner gutter thing was rusted through, (I guess that's pretty common). Anyway, I went to a dealer to see how much a new gutter would cost. They quoted me something like $75 which was way more than I was willing to pay for a piece of metal. So I went to Home depot and bought some sort of aluminum window trim or something for like $5. I took it home and cut it to the lengths that I needed, then riveted the sections together. On the original I believe there was a seal of some kind to keep the window from getting scratched up. To get by this I just cut up a piece of an old bike tube and glued it to the inside, then glued the window back in. I sorry that I'm not explaining this very well, I'm just trying to go off memory from about 4 years ago. Anyway it worked perfect and has been going up and down better than it ever did for at least 4 years now, and because it's aluminum, it won't ever rust out again.

 

[ultrabongo]

Now THAT's a brilliant repair. As we approach the end of the petrochemical age, only people like the last poster are going to make it.

 

[albrow75]

thanks for the info good people.... as suggested the arm is rusted out that supports the window. even w/ a manual and a Toyota tech i couldn't figure out how to fix this darn thing!

 

[ultrabongo]

Its not that hard. You take the wiring off the old regulator, and remove the linkage to the door release and lock. Then there are bolts that hold on the regulator itself. You take it out and replace it with a used, good one. Look it over carefully and see if it clicks for you. If you want to try it, I have a good used regulator and motor for 90 bucks.