My rear hatch glass no longer locks....not sure when this started happening but it no longer works. The glass will shut and stay closed/latched, but even with the vehicle locked I can still press the button and open it.

Hopefully someone with the service manual can point me in the right direction...

Thanks,


-Tim

 

Tim,

I have the Wiring Diagrams, and pages 110-1 and 110-2 shows the schematic for "Power Door Locks". There's a motor called "Liftgate Lock Actuator". I'm guessing that this actuator is supposed to lock both the lift gate and the hatch glass together. Can you confirm that the lift gate is locked when the hatch is not?

I can also scan the schematic and email it to you if that will help.

Let me also see if the other shop manuals cover the hatch lock.

 

I had a similar problem on my Mazda Tribute... the problem was resolved by a lot of WD40 to clear the gunk out of the lock /latch mechanism.

I got that answer here a year or so ago out here on the forum... just passing it on.

 

yeah, its just the glass that doesn't lock. The whole liftgate locks properly.

I'll check the latch for gunk too....


EDIT: checked the latch. I don't think it has anything to do with the catch mechanism. That works fine, holds the glass shut and clicks closed. Its the lock. Doesn't seem to be triggering somewhere in the door. I think the inside hatch's door panel is coming off this week. I hope I don't break or lose any of the stupid little fasteners/clips.

 

Sometimes you just have to open things up and get inside. So that's what I did tonight. This will probably be meaningless and confusing to anyone who hasn't examined the rear hatch mechanism, but in the interest of helping the next guy with this problem I'll explain what I found in detail. Quite frankly, I would be surprised if there aren't more people with the same issue and they just don't know it. I had no idea the glass wasn't locking until I discovered it by accident!

On to the hatch...
(I borrowed the pics from the ford-trucks forum - http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/10...wont-open.html)

1. The rear interior panel comes off fairly easily. First open the hatch glass. Then open the rear hatch (you have to have the glass open to get the interior panel off or the wiper mechanism protrusion gets in the way).

2. When the hatch is open there are 4 screws along the bottom of the hatch holding the base of the interior panel on. Remove the four screws and don't lose them. Then just grab the two inset 'handles' that are there to assist with closing the hatch, and YANK. The panel is held on by about 3 spring clips on each side. It comes off in one big section.




3. Get inside and pull the door most of the way closed. You'll want a flashlight or worklight that can stand on its own and shine on the mechanism.

The mechanism:
The locking mechanism consists of a rotating device with two plastic rollers. One at the top and one at the bottom. The top part controls the glass latch, the bottom part the hatch latch. The device rotates one way to lock, one way to unlock.

First the bottom (hatch) latch. As the device rotates, the rollers slide along in a metal track that controls the latch. When positioned at one end of the track, the hatch lever pushes the roller up and releases the latch. When positioned at the other end of the track, there is a channel...and when the lever is pushed the roller slides up the channel instead of pushing on the latch release arm.



Now the top (glass) latch. The top roller also slides along its own track, only there is no channel on this track. Instead, there is a lever arm behind the track that is offset at one end. In the unlocked position, the lever presses the roller against the release arm opening the glass latch. In the locked position, the plastic roller slides to the end of the channel where it is aligned with the offset in the release arm. When the release lever is pulled, the arm moves past the roller without triggering the release.



The problem:
The plastic rollers are hollow and have a steel pin down the center for support. Probably due to vibration, the pins in both rollers had slid almost all the way out. This has no effect on the operation of the bottom (hatch) lock - though without the pin in place the plastic would probably crack soon. For the glass however, because the upper mechanism relies on the lever arm being offset to clear the roller, this was a problem. The pin extended out beyond the length of the offset so that in any position the lever arm couldn't clear the roller and would open the hatch.

The solution:
I simply took a flathead screwdriver and pressed the pin back into the rollers. This was easy on the top roller but a little more challenging on the bottom. Nevertheless, it was a quick and easy repair once I sorted out how it worked and what the problem was.

 

TimK: This worked like a charm, thank you. With the trim panel off it also gave me the opportunity to Dynamat the hatch which quieted the vehicle down a bit.

 

I recently picked up a 2001 Mazda Tribute as a backup vehicle. Former owner was not kind to the vehicle, but it is getting better now. One of the many problems was that the rear lift gate glass would not latch. The gate itself would latch. Your explanation helped a great deal to solve the problem. I opened it and started checking stuff to see if it worked or did not work. The gaskets did not have a leak problem and all the stuff seemed to work fine, except the glass would not latch down. After two fingers of Kentucky bourbon and giving it a think or two, I went back in. What I found is interesting. It appears that someone before me had tripped the latch for the hatch window and then decided to slam the window closed. Not a very good idea, but I think that it happened. I am sitting there looking at the locking part and decided to unbolt it. You know, the 10mm bolts that hold the latch in position. I studied the dust pattern and it looked fairly normal. But it was not normal. It had been that way for a long time. It took a few tries moving the locking part forward enough to latch normally, but finally it caught just right. Moving it too far forward is a bad idea, because that made it impossible to open the lift gate. When I say forward, I mean towards the outside of the vehicle, not pulling it inside or toward you as you sit in the vehicle. With my wife locking and unlocking and latching and unlatching the vehicle made it easier. Wrapping it up, the rubber gaskets that seals that area of the vehicle were cleaned and some silicone spray was applied to help the rubber slide better. So if you have a used vehicle with the problem, give it a think or two, the bourbon is optional.