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Rear window stuck down...

cbbr

cbbr

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1990 Suburban. The window went down, but won't go up. I am getting power to the rear at the bottom of the tailgate so its not the dash switch. Is there a safety switch that would keep it from going up? Any chance for a quick manual workaround so I can get it back up for a week or so?
 
There is a safety switch, on blazers it is on the drivers side, just connect the two wires going into it.

Not sure where it is on the burbs
 
Been here since 2004 with 14,000 posts and you dont know about the safety switch? :haha: Sorry, I had to do it. :D

Make sure the tailgate is closed ALL THE WAY. Slam it home if you gotta.

Dumb question but do you hear the rear window motor trying to do anything? IF not, its probably the switch, but if you do hear something, could be the cable broke.
 
In my defense, 13,998 of them were BS and 2 were about spray paint. :whistle:

I slammed the crap out of it and the switch is fine, so it has to be the safety switch, but I just don't see it. I disconnected the switch on the passenger side that made the interior light come on years ago so I doubt that is the problem.

So in crayon and super noob language - WTH am I missing?
 
nothing at all its way on the side of the tailgate. I still have never "seen" my switch just the wires coming in and out, only wires going to the side of the tailgate
 
Nope. I also checked and the latches on both sides are closing tightly. I'm glad that I am not the only one who has not seen the switch. What a PITA...
 
Im wonder if it is an actual switch or if there is a movable latch that has a wire going to it and is grounded when its fully closed or something like that.

Ive never seen any "switch" per se either. I know about it, cuz Ive 1/2 assed closed my tailgate and window wouldnt go up. CLosed it harder and then it would work.
 
To close it any harder I would need to hit it with another truck. I'm guessing that something just came loose (imagine that). But it sure is frustrating.
 
Pull the inside panel off, then look for the two wires heading over to the passenger side of the gate, they are blue, IIRC. Cut them and splice them together, this will bypass the safety switch. You don't need the safety feature, as I'm sure you have enough brains to know not to slam the gate closed with the window up:waytogo:
 
I pulled that off earlier and didn' see any wires that I could get too - the glass was in the way - but I will look again tomorrow. Thanks.
 
That is the #2 worst thing about the tailgates is that the glass is in the way of the important parts, and everything is hard to get to when the gate is closed. The only thing I hate more about the tailgate on my old 'burb is the tendency to rust out around the hinges, not a problem with the newer barndoor 'burb.

I want to say there is a way to get a wrench on the motor with the glass down, if that is possible you can move the glass up without turning the motor.

If that doesn't work, I am pretty sure you can unbolt the glass from the track, or rollers from the arms or something like that. That would let you get the glass out of the way and do the needed repairs.
 
I couldn't remember if you could see them with the window down. My Burb's PO had drilled some access holes in the gate, so you can get to the window bolts (4) with it down. They line up perfect, are just big enough for a 7/16 socket to fit through, and get covered up by the access panel. I recommend adding these access holes, as they have come in handy a couple times.
 
My k5s switch was on the driver side latch assembly. I had someone hold the switch on the up side while i beat on the left side of tailgate to get the glass back up, then I just bypassed the switch and havent had a problem since. First best thing was getting the window working, second best was getting the crap out of the back so I could actually have it down lol.
 
blazinzuk said:
nothing at all its way on the side of the tailgate. I still have never "seen" my switch just the wires coming in and out, only wires going to the side of the tailgate
Click to expand...

I have a safety switch from a Blazer gate handy that I can snap a pic of so everyone can SEE what they look like.

002.jpg

003.jpg
 
There is no cable in a Suburban, direct drive motor on the regulator, and it isn't accessible with the window down. The Blazer uses a cable from the motor to a transmission on the regulator, while the Suburban design eliminates this possible point of failure.

The safety switch should be on the drivers side latch. Easiest way to get to it is open the gate, get some help(if you don't have any help, just make sure you support the glass while it is sticking out), and remove the 4 bolts at the bottom of the glass that hold the glass to the regulator. Slide the windshield to the up position and have your buddy (or some other support) hold the glass. Find the wires running to the safety switch, pull them off the switch and use a jumper to connect them, then test the motor with the dash switch. If the motor works fine, you can move the regulator arms to center them on the access opening, then reconnect the window to the regulator. Just make sure you test it since it is a fairly easy operation to swap a motor while the glass is already out of the way in the up position, much more work if you put it back together then pull it apart again.
 
Mine is stuck all the way down, so I don't think that I can get to the bottom of the glass but its dark right now and I can't fool with it until later. Assuming that I can't get to them, should I just release the tracks from the side? And how big a PITA is it to reconnect/reset the glass in the tracks later - anything to watch out for?
 
You should be able to reach them even when it is fully down. I can't speak for pulling the tracks, since I don't think they will give you the room you need to get to the switch. When you get a second reach down on either side of the access panel and you should be able to feel the window sash at the bottom, and just below that is the two bolts on each side.

Once those four bolts are out, the window will easily slide up in the tracks. Even if you remove the tracks, the window itself is bolted to the regulator which is bolted to the wrong side of the tailgate for you to be able to access anything. The portion that bolts to the regulator 'locks' the regulator rollers into place until they are unbolted.
 
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