I recently picked up a 79 Bronco XLT and I can't get the back window with either the switch or key.

I took the panel off from the inside and found out the guy who had it before the guy I bought it from took the connections off the switch and completed the circuit by putting a piece of wire between them.

I can't get the window down which means I can't get the tailgate open to work on the motor and such. Any idea on how I can get it open?

 

hey wally sounds to me like u will have to work from the inside. u will have to climb in the bed and on the tailgater theres a smaller panel held on by about 10screws (i think 10). it will be a real pain and hopefully its just wiring that u can fix from there. if anyone sees a better way feel free.

 

Since you found the wiring, it sounds like he screwed the switch. Try taking 12 volts and applying it to the wires from the motor. Be careful as it may tend to smoke if bad. One way the wires put the window up, reverse them to lower it.

If the motor will not run at all, you may be stuck working on the motor from the inside......or......carefully remove the top and lower the tailgate while supporting the window....then work on it.

 

Good luck with raising the top these 78-79s are super heavy, did you try removing the piece of wiring and reconnecting the switch? If that doesn't work you can try the 12 volt battery or run more wire up to your battery and do it that way. I assume you made sure to push the left side of the tailgate while turning the key to try making sure the safety switch isn't messed up? Like 95 desert bronco said you may have to look fro the inside with a light to see if the wires are connected. If you see 2 wires coming off the motor that are disconnected the hook those to a battery and it should do something. If not the last resort would be to try manually lowering it till you can get the gate open but that won't be easy considering the weight of the window. I don't know how to manually lower it but i'm sure there is some way to do it. With mine (78) the safety switch has been bypassed while the dash switch was replaced by a different 3 way and it works but it is messed up on the regulator part... You don't happen to live in Washington State do you, if so i might be able to help in some way or another.

 

Well i found something on FSB forums that may help you:
How do I manually lower back window? - FSB Forums
Good luck, this seems to be a surefire way to get it down enough

 

I did look at the switch and I tried hooking the wires back up and even reversing the wires to make sure they were on correctly and I still couldn't get it to work.

I still haven't hooked a voltage tester to it so that will be my next step as well as trying to get the window down manually. Thanks everyone!

 

could the window motor be bad?

 

In that case if the motor is bad, the FSB forum says to remove the motor to get it down manually...

 

I replaced the connections underneath the truck where the wires from the engine hook up to lead to the key switch. Originally I found it to be defective so I took care of that but still no luck.

I removed the motor and hooked it directly to my truck's battery and it worked without error but I still can't get the window to work with either switch.

Any idea what I can do replace the key switch or both?

 

First check the fuse for the rear window.
It is located on the battery side of the solenoid (starter relay)

It should be a gold colored box about 1" long x 1/2" wide x 1/2" tall and is connected directly to the positive terminal of the solenoid.

 

I didn't know these had a fuse away from the fuse box for the window... I have never seen it.

 

If I had my truck here I would snap a pic of it.

FSB Forums - View Single Post - 1979 Bronco Back Window Stopped Working

Ah, found a pic of one..

 

Eh i don't have one of those. I have an aftermarket solenoid and there isn't anything like that little box on there.

 

Hmm, I wonder is someone wired it straight up with no fuse? Do you have a fuse in the box for it?

 

I actually figured out what the problem was. Whoever owned it before me had installed an aftermarket radio along with a dual sub and an amp so when he wired in the power for the amp, he somehow disconnected the main power going to the window from the starter relay.

I have since hooked it back up but have found the key switch is still bad along with the window limit switch. Any idea where I can get either of those?