76 LTD magic door question

Hi,
I just bought a 1976 Ford LTD. The rear window doesn't go down, but after some investigating I have determined that the switch works as I'm getting juice to the wiring connector when I work the switch. So it looks like I'll be buying a motor soon.

My question is: does the window have to be down to operate the inner handle to lower the tailgate? The handle doesn't move or open the gate. I'm thinking it's possible that as a safety feature, something blocks the latch when the window is up.
Can someone who owns one of these contraptions let me know if this is correct, or if something is wrong with my handle or latch.

Thank you!

 

The "Magic Door" tailgate works thus: To open as a tailgate, the window must be rolled all the way down, and the motor drive is interlocked to the window switch position. If the window is even a fraction of an inch up when the tailgate is up and latched, the tailgate will not open. And, when the tailgate is in the down position, the interlock electrically prevents the window motor from running. If the tailgate is opened as a door, the window can be in any position and can be driven up or down as the driver sees fit.

 

So to directly answer your question, the inner handle will not move unless the window is all the way down. The outer will work at any window position unless the tailgate lock is engaged.

 

Thank you for the reply.
So there's probably nothing wrong with my inside handle, it's just doing it's job and not letting me open the tailgate when the window is up.
But I will have to tear everything apart to replace my motor. Unless whatever keeps the motor from working when the tailgate is down is out of whack.

 

Whatever it is, you'll have to open it as a door to work on it; the saving grace here is the window's in the UP position. If you simply unbolt the motor and detach it from the regulator, if the regulator's not seized, the window will slide down.

 

Wait, does that mean I can replace the motor without removing the regulator?? I thought I had to remove the glass and then the regulator/motor as a unit?

 

It should be bolted in. It might require you to drill holes in the inner panel to access them (three in all), but yes, Ford bolts the motor on. The window, on the other hand....

 

So, swing the tailgate open, remove the inner handle and trim panel, then locate the motor bolts. IIRC, you need holes big enough for a 3/8" 1/4"-drive socket to remove them once the holes are drilled.

 

Make sure you wedge the window in place so you don't end up with a guillotine on your arm.

 

Thanks guys!

 

Well,it ain't the motor most likely,it is that darn gearbox! Some of them have springs,but usually you'll find crumbled plastic pieces in the gearbox(it's in unit w/the motor). There are supposed to be three torque buttons in there. I got some NOS,and they crumbled immediately. I replaced them with metal buttons(not good if the regulator binds),but I'm careful. Some gear parts you'll see online won't fit even if they say "9-Tooth". I think MAC's has rebuilt units,which gets around the problem with $. Getting at the unit is a bit of a knuckle grinder (I put tape on the sharp metal edges) and the three screws can easily strip out. But repeat:most likely it is the torque buttons.

 

Now I'm really confused! What are torque buttons??? I am getting juice at the motor connector but don't even get a click. I even tried hooking a battery charger to the motor wires while standing right next to it and there was no sound whatsoever.

 

Then the motor's shot. Torque buttons are these plastic 'buttons' that are inserted into the gear drive; they're designed to drive the regulator until it stops, then the buttons squish to cushion the stopping of the motor so as not to strip out the plastic gear teeth on the worm gear, which is usually brass. Put battery voltage to the motor and tap the motor body with a wrench or small hammer, see if it then begins moving or making sound. If the motor makes sound but doesn't move at all, the torque buttons are chewed up.

 

Well I finally got the window working today. First I purchased a motor online from Ebay that supposedly fit the tailgate of my wagon. It was only $19.99. I removed my motor by drilling three holes in my tailgate so I could do so without messing with the regulator. It came out rather easily, unfortunately my new motor was a different configuration (and 9 tooth vs 7). Well now that I had the motor out and knew what I was looking for I compared different ones online. My local Advance Auto had the correct configuration in stock but still 9 tooth for $48. I found the exact one I needed (forget where) but they wanted over $80! So I went to Advance today and bought the 9 tooth hoping to swap the gears. Even got 25% off so it was only $36. I finally made it work, but due to very slight differences, I couldn't use the little buttons that came with the new motor so I ended up using nuts. After spraying a lot of white lithium grease on the tracks and gears of the regulator it works very well from both the switch on the dash and with the key in the tailgate.

 

Oh, I did have a secondary problem with the magic door function. Even when I could get the window down, the inside handle wouldn't lower the gate. Turns out that the top left latch was just frozen from so many years of unuse. After some lubing and working back and forth, everything works as it should!