Ok, this one is for those of you who understand how circuits and electricity work, because I don't. This is the switch for my 72 Ranch Wagon tailgate window, inside and back. I can see that it's a rocker setup with contacts in front and behind the two copper side pieces. I assume rock the switch one way and the window goes down, rock it the other and it goes up, but which post gets constant power? I marked them with coordinating colors to hopefully show the electrical path. When the switch is unactivated both side copper contacts rest against the part I marked red. Is there a switch I could buy that I could wire in, I cant find one that has a similar configuration. Is there a tool I can use to check if this OE switch still works? If you know of anything, or know how I can Frankenstein something together, I'd love to try it. This is not a show car so I'm not worried about trying to find a correct replacement. I know the window motor works, I can get it to go up and down with power directly from a battery to the motor. I don't know about the key in the tailgate, it doesn't work with the ignition key that I have. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
Okay, so the dash switch has power from the ignition, but the doorgate switch has constant power. You need to get a battery, so that your testing includes power to both switches. The doorgate switch is designed to provide a clear power/ground path for the dash switch, unless you use the doorgate switch, then it opens the wire paths from the dash switch and applies its own power and ground to work the window motor. Anyway, once you have a battery, use a 12 volt test light to probe the connector wires, find the switch power. Or, find a 1972 wiring diagram. One thing that's good about Ford, the wire color codes are kept consistent through each model year, and common-use wires have the same color coding over many model years. My '79 Ranchero's starter solenoid trigger is color coded the same as my '89 Colony Park's solenoid trigger wire, red w/blue stripe. So if you had a '71-'73 full-size wagon diagram, you should be able to trace the wiring, figure out how it's configured.
Need to see the other side of the switch innards to get an idea. I would speculate just looking at it now that the window output is going to be either white or yellow (for up\down) and the power is going to be red or blue. If I am remembering my Fords correctly, blue is usually used for the power from the relay that feeds the circuit. The red would be the output of the 12V from the switch to the motors to put in a loop with either the yellow or white to make it go up and down (the switch essentially reverses the polarity on the motor through the pairs of wires, after passing through the limit switch and incorporating the outside tailgate switch too). I'm sure someone better versed in these cars will have the correct answer as I could be completely wrong and it wouldn't be the first time. I will say if you have a multimeter it's almost a trivial test to do. It's a good idea to learn how to use one even if it's just for checking these simple open\closed circuits. That and the factory wiring diagrams.
