yooperdetective
New Member
- Joined
- July 23, 2008
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Negaunee, Mi
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 00 4-door 2wd
2000 Ford Explorer XLT 2wd 4 liter SOHC here. 329K on the body, on its second engine and needing a third transmission. Yeah, yeah, wow, lots of miles. Pfffft. Everything's breaking and it sucks.
The latest issue: My lift gate door will not open. The lift window will but the key doesn't turn nicely and the button gets stuck, so I'm always leery of messing with that. The release handle on the lift gate just flops with no tension when I pull it back, failing utterly at doing its job of opening the back door.
I've read all the posts on here about fixing the problem and they all require removing the rear door panel, which sounds like fun when you can't open the rear door. I'm looking forward to the challenge.
However, I noted that there are two plastic "plugs" on the trim panel, one on the hump that covers the latch assembly for the lift window. This appears to provide excellent access if, say, the key thingy doesn't open the lift glass.
Next to this hump on the top of the rear door trim, right under the window is a second, smaller plug which provides access to a hole that goes I know not where. I was wondering: If I stuck something down there, like the thing that lets me lower the spare tire, can I push on something that would unlatch the rear lift gate?
That makes perfect sense to me: an emergency release mechanism with the tools at hand. Of course, I'm not a Ford engineer. I must clear my mind of all logic before trying to solve one of these problems.
Case in point: If you can't open the rear lift gate, you can't lower your spare tire. WTF? Couldn't they have put a little notch in the bottom of the door to give you access to the crank access hole? Or put the crank access hole lower, like in the bumper by the license plate like GM does?
Sorry, I'll try to put logic aside. I will assume the little plug thing on the top of the door is for greasing the tail light bearings. And that they didn't put the crank access hole someplace accessible if the liftgate doesn't open because it's unsafe for a mere mortal like me to lower my spare tire without dealer assistance.
Sorry for the sarcasm. It's late, I want my freaking brand new spare tire off so I can replace a balding older one, and I want to be able to get to my toolbox without climbing over the back seat. Just grumpy.
So what IS that cap-covered hole for in the trim on the back door? And do I HAVE to replace whatever part broke on the lift gate assembly, or is there a way to jury rig something, even with some bailing wire and duct tape? After all, at 329K, any "new" parts automatically double the value of the vehicle.
Any ideas? Feel free to be sarcastic.
Jim the Yooper
The latest issue: My lift gate door will not open. The lift window will but the key doesn't turn nicely and the button gets stuck, so I'm always leery of messing with that. The release handle on the lift gate just flops with no tension when I pull it back, failing utterly at doing its job of opening the back door.
I've read all the posts on here about fixing the problem and they all require removing the rear door panel, which sounds like fun when you can't open the rear door. I'm looking forward to the challenge.
However, I noted that there are two plastic "plugs" on the trim panel, one on the hump that covers the latch assembly for the lift window. This appears to provide excellent access if, say, the key thingy doesn't open the lift glass.
Next to this hump on the top of the rear door trim, right under the window is a second, smaller plug which provides access to a hole that goes I know not where. I was wondering: If I stuck something down there, like the thing that lets me lower the spare tire, can I push on something that would unlatch the rear lift gate?
That makes perfect sense to me: an emergency release mechanism with the tools at hand. Of course, I'm not a Ford engineer. I must clear my mind of all logic before trying to solve one of these problems.
Case in point: If you can't open the rear lift gate, you can't lower your spare tire. WTF? Couldn't they have put a little notch in the bottom of the door to give you access to the crank access hole? Or put the crank access hole lower, like in the bumper by the license plate like GM does?
Sorry, I'll try to put logic aside. I will assume the little plug thing on the top of the door is for greasing the tail light bearings. And that they didn't put the crank access hole someplace accessible if the liftgate doesn't open because it's unsafe for a mere mortal like me to lower my spare tire without dealer assistance.
Sorry for the sarcasm. It's late, I want my freaking brand new spare tire off so I can replace a balding older one, and I want to be able to get to my toolbox without climbing over the back seat. Just grumpy.
So what IS that cap-covered hole for in the trim on the back door? And do I HAVE to replace whatever part broke on the lift gate assembly, or is there a way to jury rig something, even with some bailing wire and duct tape? After all, at 329K, any "new" parts automatically double the value of the vehicle.
Any ideas? Feel free to be sarcastic.
Jim the Yooper