i have a 90 bronco and the tailgate window will not go up/down. a mechanic has told me it needs the motor and regulator replaced and will cost about 300 bucks. does this sound right?

 

They have been known to get full of dust, clogging it up. I would take it apart and have a look around. Is the motor getting power?

 

yeah, the motor is getting power. i took off the panel on the tailgate and can see the motor but, it looks awful tight in there. is there another way in? also, what does the regulator do?

 

The regulator is the dual-arm gadget that rolls the window up and down under the power of the motor. It normally doesn't need replacing, but often needs to be lubed. a can of WD-40 on that and the side tracks may free it up enough to roll down. You can work it by hand if the motor turns but doesn't move the glass. Just wear gloves and watch your fingers so they don't get smushed. There's a little tiny gear on the end of the motor that fits into the regulator. This gear often wears out. About $10 for it.

 

after using wd-40 to lossen it up and getting it moving again do yourself a favor and buy a can of spray on white lithium grease , and hit all the tracks and gearing in there , this should keep everything running smoothly , the spray on stuff is so much easier to work with then tube stuff , also , the other day i tried the pledge trick on the window runners , worked awesome, i even got the oragne stuff so its smells purdy too.

airrikk17

 

just a simple reminder not to over look the switch that cuts power to the motor when the tailgate is open. i believe that it is on the drivers side latch and it is easy to bypass to see if it in not working.

 

You can find the two pin connector to the motor immediately under the access cover in the middle, jumper a battery directly to it and see if the motor will go up/down. You can do that from the back of the truck if the tailgate is still closed. If the window is already down, remove the access cover with the tailgate open and push the drivers side latch in to simulate the door being closed. Don't roll the window out too far with the tailgate down!

 

Oops, just saw your previous post. If the motor is turning but the window not going up and down, then the problem may be as simple as the plastic torque pins in the motor gear. They are designed to fail first and prevent the gears/motor from stripping. $7.00 repair kit is available at Autozone and consists of three plastic pegs about 1/2 inch in diameter. You have to pull the motor assembly and disassemble it, but its not too hard

 

Take the panel off the inside of the tailgate and remove the motor assembly. Inside the assembly are three or four (I can't remember) little plastic cams. They're worn out. The rebuild kit costs about $26.00 at your friendly Ford or Lincoln-Mercury dealer.

 

I had this happen to my Bronco about 5 years ago. Since I'm a mechanical moron, I had a mechanic take a look at it. I was charged 1/4 hour of labor for them to "replace ground strap" in the tailgate.

So, perhaps power is getting TO your motor, but not getting THROUGH the system?

 

I seen somewhere on the web that a guy made his own cams out of steel rod cut to length and rubber over top. Just a thought,