Replacing rear window hinges, questions

[pls]

One of the hinges for the liftgate glass on my 2003 Explorer Sport broke a few days ago. From what I can tell, a very familiar story.

I ordered the kit with two hinges, and later discovered that this is the kit for the hinge recall and does not include all of the parts needed. I don't have the books for body repairs, so I have several questions. I hope you don't mind.

1. One of the articles I found on this site gave the part number D7FZ-6440610-A for the plastic washers that go between the glass and the torx screw. That article did not say what year/model this was for. Is this part number correct for my 2003 Explorer Sport?

2. There appears to be a spacer/gasket that sits between the glass and the hinge and between the hinge and the body. This isn't included in the kit either. I'm not happy with reusing something that's been sitting in the Arizona sun for I don't know how many years, so I'd like to replace this gasket. My dealer parts guy tells me this gasket is only available in the single hinge kit. Using this for two hinges would more than double my cost. I have easy access to sheet teflon and sheet nylon in .03 and .06 thickness. Any reason I shouldn't cut a gasket from one of these? Which one? Or is a part number available?

3. What is the tightening torque for the hinge/liftgate bolt and for the hinge/glass screw?

Thanks,
++PLS

 

[George Haselden]

Lost the bolt somewhere inside of the frame - can someone tell me what size replacement bolt is needed to replace the rear window hinge (not the part attached to the glass but the one that mounts the hinge to the car frame?

If I can find a replacement for the bolts without having to order another replacement set then that would be great!

 

[Turdle]

Lost the bolt somewhere inside of the frame - can someone tell me what size replacement bolt is needed to replace the rear window hinge (not the part attached to the glass but the one that mounts the hinge to the car frame?

If I can find a replacement for the bolts without having to order another replacement set then that would be great!

If you lost the "bolt" you will need a new hinge as the "bolt" is actually a stud which is pressed-molded into the hinge. The stud goes through the hatch and is secured by a nut under the inside trim molding.

Whichever it is, can be found by removing the rear interior panel using a flexible magnetic retrieval tool. If you did this it would be fixed today, if it is only the "nut" which is lost.

Otherwise, if it is the "nut" which is down there, this is just a common hardware issue you can fix by going to home depot. grab a metric nut assortment. I think it is m3 thread, not sure.