Rear Hatch Latches | Ford Explorer Forums

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Rear Hatch Latches

yaman

Member
Joined
August 30, 2003
Messages
39
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City, State
Oshawa, Ontario
Year, Model & Trim Level
95 Explorer Expedition
Has anyone had to pleasureable experience of the mechanism in their rear hatch latches to let go not allowing the gate to close? both of mine are shot and I've got bungie cords holding it shut from the inside.

i've got the latches and haven't started the task yet....any pointers, hints or suggestions. I did a search on here and couldn't find anything.

thx.....
 



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Sometimes mine would accidentally close with the door open, preventing the door from closing. I assume you've tried to manually pry the latches open and they won't stay open?
 






it's actually the opposite - the latches are remaining open and not closing against the 'post' they latch onto - the drivers side went a few months ago and then this week the passengers side went (prob due functioning on it's own for a few months)
 






I just replaced mine on my 94, i am assuming that they are the same as yours (especially since one of the replacements came off of an 85 Bronco2!)
1. THe bolts may snap, just redrill/tap as necessary
2. the easiest way to get the rod out is to remove it from the center latch mechanism (attached to handle inside gate) and pull it out with the outer latch mechanism.
these rods are held on by a little clip that goes over the right angle on the end of the rod
Imagine the end of the rod looks like L the part that goes like _ goes into the mechanism, and the part that looks like l goes towards teh latch. teh clip goes around the _ (o shaped) and clips over the l (u shaped)
it is a pain to see them, and a pain to figure them out if you can't see them, but easy to unclip once you know teh deal.
3. once you have re-installe dteh rods/latches, make surethat the lock knob still goes up and down. there is an adjustment on the end of the rod taht allows you to move it in and out. this affects a piece in the mechanism that if it is not in teh right place when th e door latches 'spring' back, will prevent the lock from locking.
i can't even begin to describe what piece i am talking about, but i will give it a quick shot from memory:
if you look at the center latch mechanism, there is a curved slot, when you push the lock knob up and down you will see it through this slot. when you turn the handle back and forth )latches must be latched to see wqhat i mean, i think) you will also see something move in this slot. if the pieces that move behind the slot don't hit, then you are golden.
Hope this helps, onme of mine was jammed shut, so i had to release the lock and kick the tailgate from teh inside (boy was it a PITA to get the interior panel off with the door closed!)
Scott
 






Wile you are in there soak every thing down real well with some white lithium spray grease.

The swap it actually real easy. Take your time do one side at a time.
 






thanks for the pointers guys.....I'll let you know how it goes! i need to either brave the cold or find a heated garage as winter has hit!
 






got em in!

well i finally got the urge to get this done. it was pretty cold out for a while and then i got in a fender bender. now i that i got the explorer back (had a 2004 GMC for rental) i needed to get it feeling like new....

anyways thanks for the tips.....i know for sure i would have tried for hours to disconnect the rods up by the latch vs the handle. i sprayed quite a bit of white grease in there as it was suggested!!!!
 






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