Tailgate window motor replacement

[Dieselchessy]

This might help someone.

My tailgate motor was tired. You had to lift on the window to get it up. The motor just hanging by itself was sluggish and glitchy.

A new Toyota one was $200+ so I opted for the Doorman 742-601 sold at Autozone for $60. It came with 3 pigtails with various connectors but none fit my 98. So I just cut the connector off the original motor and grafted it onto one of the pigtails to get it wired up.

I only removed the motor. I left the regulator and window in the up position.
The motor mounts with 3 T25 Torx screws from up inside the door. A 1/4” ratchet with a T25 bit took them out easily by reaching up inside the door.
Applied a little white lithium and bolted the motor in.
To ease things I used one of the screws to pre-tap the new motors screw holes prior to assembly.
I also cleaned and greased the tracks and gears with white lithium.

Window goes up and down fast and smooth now.

 

[bdjcl]

did you happen to take any pics of the process? mine's a little slow when rolling up.

Do you essentially just snap off the plastic interior tailgate cover and take the old motor out?

 

[MaineRunna]

did you happen to take any pics of the process? mine's a little slow when rolling up.

Do you essentially just snap off the plastic interior tailgate cover and take the old motor out?

It's a little more involved than that, but it is not super hard. Plastic inner panel has to come off, followed by metal panel under that. Glass has to detached from regulator, regulator assembly needs to be removed from the lift gate. Then the motor needs to be separated from the regulator. Be careful not to let the glass free fall into the hatch, I recommend taping it up w/ clear packing tape.

 

[Dieselchessy]

Plastic pops off after you remove the pull strap bolt. Start at the lower corners and pop out the bottom. Then push it up. It lips into the window slot, so you need to push it up and out.
Remove the 2 metal plates. You can disconnect the connectors for the ECU or just let that plate hang.
No need to remove the regulator if the window is up.
Just reach up around the motor. It has 3 t25 self taping screws holding it in. A short t25 bit on a 1/4 ratchet fits fine. Look at the new motor to see where they are. Remove the 3 and the motor comes off.

Splice the pigtail for the new motor. Then assemble in reverse order.
Will help to thread a bolt into the new motor holes to create the threads before you try to install.

My wires were red/green or red/ blue, ect... I just matched the one color on the pigtail and polarity was correct.

You may need to plug the motor in and move it slightly to line up the gears. I didn’t need to.

It’s a 1 beer job. I did it all with the door open reaching up over my head. Move the glass up and down stopping in different spots to clean and grease the gears and tracks.

 

[Sarki]

Plastic pops off after you remove the pull strap bolt. Start at the lower corners and pop out the bottom. Then push it up. It lips into the window slot, so you need to push it up and out.
Remove the 2 metal plates. You can disconnect the connectors for the ECU or just let that plate hang.
No need to remove the regulator if the window is up.
Just reach up around the motor. It has 3 t25 self taping screws holding it in. A short t25 bit on a 1/4 ratchet fits fine. Look at the new motor to see where they are. Remove the 3 and the motor comes off.

Splice the pigtail for the new motor. Then assemble in reverse order.
Will help to thread a bolt into the new motor holes to create the threads before you try to install.

My wires were red/green or red/ blue, ect... I just matched the one color on the pigtail and polarity was correct.

You may need to plug the motor in and move it slightly to line up the gears. I didn’t need to.

It’s a 1 beer job. I did it all with the door open reaching up over my head. Move the glass up and down stopping in different spots to clean and grease the gears and tracks.

Thanks for the detailed description.
Hoping I never have to deal with this issue but bookmarked just in case.