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The window latch on my lift gate opens enough to open the window, but the latch does not open enough to allow the window to be closed. The movable part of the latch for the window is partially open but the bracket on the window hits the latch on the lift gate and will not close. Is there an adjustment for the latch to correct this problem? If so how do I get to it. Or is there some other problem? The latch has worked just fine in the past, but it acts like the latch is only opening to a safety position, and will not open any further. I can manually move the latch to the closed position, and using either the fob or the release button, it only opens to the release position and will not open all the way down to let the window bracket push it to the lock position. Any help will be appreciated.
What do I lubricate? I have sprayed lube on the latch cross pin and anything else that I can see from the latch area, but the latch still only opens part way. And not enough for the window to engage the latch to close it.
So does the issue seem to be an alignment issue that when you try to close the liftgate glass the striker "hoop" contacts the latch closure arm and starts to close it before it's hooked the striker, rather than slipping into the receiver portion where it can then fully close? I have a clear idea in my head of what I'm trying to ask, but I'm not sure it translated to words well. Ultimately, it sounds like you're describing an alignment issue between the latch and the striker, and you're want to understand which one can be adjusted to fix the alignment.
Have you inspected the weather stripping and hinges to make sure that is all in good shape and not loose which could lead to the striker and latch not lining up properly?
You have the correct understanding of the problem; the latch does not open far enough for the loop to engage and allow the latch to close.
The hinges and weather seal all appear okay.
Here is a photo of the latch in the open position. Hopefully you can see that it does not tilt down far enough for the loop on the window to engage. Latch does not open enough to allow window loop to engage.
to engage.
The spring on the right in the photo doesn't appear to have any tension/torque on it. Are you able to tell if maybe that spring is broken, or not hooked where it's supposed to be hooked? Are you comfortable with removing the plastic trim panel from the liftgate to be able to better inspect the latch mechanism and operation?
I will check the spring. I can remove the cover on the inside of the hatch, but I'm not sure where all it is attached. If it is like most of the plastic pieces they use it has several plastic posts stuck in metal clips and if you don't know where they are the posts break off and then you have no way to put the thing back on. Is there a sketch available that shows how the cover is attached?
I will check the spring. I can remove the cover on the inside of the hatch, but I'm not sure where all it is attached. If it is like most of the plastic pieces they use it has several plastic posts stuck in metal clips and if you don't know where they are the posts break off and then you have no way to put the thing back on. Is there a sketch available that shows how the cover is attached?
Spring is attached on both ends (bracket on right and moving latch on the left). Spring returns the latch toward open when I manually push the latch toward closed.
I see the bolts that hold the inside handle on and can remove those to begin removal of the inside plastic panel from the lift gate. After removing any obvious attachments does the large plastic piece move down to release any hooks or is it all posts in metal clips?
Unfortunately I no longer have one of these to go take a look at. If it were my vehicle though, I would carefully take the inside trim panel off, then have someone close and open the liftgate glass from the outside while I watched from inside to try to understand what isn't aligning right, or what is hanging up / not moving freely.
Follow up and closure on my lift gate window latch problem. Thanks to all who responded with helps. SHOROD was the closest with the problem - alignment. But without more detail I was not able to identify the problem. To others who may run into the same problem, don't bother trying to take the lift gate apart to make an adjustment; none is available. My problem was with the bolts that attach the glass to the hinges. They were loose, but not enough that you could tell. By being loose, they allowed the window to drop a little bit (not noticeable) and cause the latch to misalign. I could not move the glass by pushing it. While trying to remove the inner liftgate trim I had the window open and the as I moved the lift gate open I heard a clunk. Repeating the procedure several times I realized that the window was nearly vertical and the glass was heavy enough to slide back into position tight against the hinges. I tightened the window retaining bolts (without breaking the glass), and the latch works perfectly.
Thanks also to those; who supplied helps for removing the lift gate interior panel. It was a scary process without more detail as to how many attachment points and where they were, But I didn't break anything, and it went back together pretty easily.
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