Tailgate Window getting stuck on Rear Wiper. Help!

[tineman06]

Hey,
recently when i try to roll my tailgate window down on my 2000 limited, it gets stuck on the wiper assy and only travels about an inch down. the only way i can get it down is if im outside the truck and physically pull the rod that the rear wiper is attached to down wile powering the window down. Any ideas?
I already took the interior panel off and pulled the tabs that the window motor and gears are attached to out in hopes of moving it further away from the wiper, but it didn't work.
Anyone experienced this problem or have any ideas?
thanks,
Alex

 

[Ron Helmuth]

Well I will take a stab at this. Nope never have heard one quite like this before.

I am guessing you must have already diagnosed the problem correctly,

meaning you have told us the only way to get the window to travel down is by pulling physically on the wiper assembly. (indirectly from inside sort of)

So I am assuming it must already be bent-but honestly can not picture this in my head very well.

I hate to say this but can you get some photos to show us? Lots of guys on here do lots of photo hosting-some say it is easy....use photobucket they say...

I can't guarantee that I actually know what I am talking about-but bet the odds of someone chiming in on what the problem with the wiper /window is would go up exponentially.

Welcome to our fine forum tineman06

 

[tineman06]

will do, i'll get some pics tomorrow.
anyone have this same problem or have any ideas right off?

 

[Rocky01]

Glad I saw your thread. I bought a used 2001 4Runner and quickly the rear window stopped working. I took of the panels and looked in side as much as I could and did not see anything. It goes down about an inch and gets jammed. After reading your post I went and pulled on the Rear Wiper and it went right down with the key remote. Then I jammed a paperback between the tailgate and the wiper arm and was able to lower the window with the console switch. I am still not sure what the overall problem is to fix it besides that the wiper is causing a hangg up. Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[tineman06]

Glad I saw your thread. I bought a used 2001 4Runner and quickly the rear window stopped working. I took of the panels and looked in side as much as I could and did not see anything. It goes down about an inch and gets jammed. After reading your post I went and pulled on the Rear Wiper and it went right down with the key remote. Then I jammed a paperback between the tailgate and the wiper arm and was able to lower the window with the console switch. I am still not sure what the overall problem is to fix it besides that the wiper is causing a hangg up. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Yep, that's exactly what happened with mine. However, good news is i fixed it! I don't exactly remember what I did but here's an idea:
-Lower rear window
-Take off interior panel (snaps off + unscrew near the strap)
-There are a few (maybe around 7?) 8or10mm screws that hold on a metal panel/frame on the inside... unscrew all these and you can remove it a bit (be careful because i think it will still be connected with wires on the right side.
-I think from here you can see that the rear wiper assy. is in a metal support. If you look between the lowered glass and rear panel (where the wiper is attached) you should see a part of the wiper assy that is rubbing against your rear window (on the outside part of course). I forget what I used, but you can just bend this away from the window. I said in my first post that I tried to bend it, and I guess I just didn't actually bend it permanently.... If i remember correctly you really need to push on this to get it right again. try a crow bar or similar maybe... This should fix it.

I figured out what happens is if the wiper sticks into the window just a little, the window will catch on it every time it is lowered and bend it further in until is far enough that the window won't go down at all.
Hopefully this works for you. If not I can take mine apart and try to give better instructions.
Good luck!

 

[bgmac]

I have never had to mess with mine, but from what you guys are saying is that the wiper arm sticks into much ,catching on the window. Can you disassemble the wiper arm assemble and add a washer or two to bring it out?

 

[Charlee78]

The only time I saw this, the wiper motor needed to be retighten. After that, everything was ok.

 

[Rocky01]

Gents, Thanks for all the good advice. I will try all and let you know what happens. It will be nice to have the window working again.