[How to] Tailgate window regulator repair / replacement.

Tailgate window repair.

Either follow the whole [How to] to repair a regulator or skip the middle section if you are replacing with a complete assembly.

You will need, Philips screwdriver, 10mm & 13mm sockets, ratchet and an extension. Long nose pliers, T25 torx(if you are repairing the regulator), new tailgate membrane or gaffer tape.

First off open the tailgate! Under the bottom of the trim there should be 4 screws,



Remove these and them the tailgate trim can be pulled off starting in the corner where the screws were. The top edge is held on by u shaped clips -the trim lifts vertically off these when the rest of the clips are free.



Remove the tailgate waterproof membrane,


Now to start the strip down...



Loosen the 2 bolts securing the window clamps,



Unplug and unclip the heated rear window wires.
Then carefully lift the glass up out of the door and place in a safe place (away from dogs, children, clumsy mates etc.)

Remove the two clamp bolts fully and retrieve the clamps and plastic bits from inside the door bottom.



Loosen but don't remove the three bolts in the centre of the door retaining the window motor.



Rotate the motor and push the bolt heads through the panel.




Loose. But don't undo the two 10mm nuts at the top of each side slider. The second bolt is higher up and hidden in my pictures!



Then undo and remove the 13mm nuts on each side at the bottom of the sliders.



Un clip the wiring for the motor and pull the motor towards the hole in the door.



You should now be able to unplug the motor wires.

Wiggle the regulator assembly free.

Either reassemble with a new regulator here or read the next bit about repair....


Find somewhere warm (living room if wife will allow):jaw:




Strip the old cable from the motor and sliders. If the aluminium has corroded and is preventing the cable from coming out some hot water will help wash the corrosion away.

Get the nice new regulator kit out of its packet!

Lay it all out and feed the parts together. I had a fight with one of the white end sections not going into the frame very easily, but with a bit of persuasion it pushed in. Also the d shaped section that retains the spring the hole was a little too small and had to be gently remedy out to fit.

Feed the wires around the plastic wheel taking up all of the slack, Three hands can be useful for this! And pop into place on the motor....... Then have a fight with it so that the white plastic bits hook over the black plastic backing of the motor body. Making sure that the flat edge is upwards.

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Replace the metal section (slide it into the big white plastic bit and wiggle the small plastic section over it.

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Replace the bolts

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Have a cuppa - you have earned it!


Take the unit back out into the cold.... And in the ubiquitous Haynes speak reassembly is the reverse of disassembly.

Wiggle the regulator assembly into place and do up the bolts top and bottom and on the motor (referencing the marks on the door where it was originally)

Image

Reattach the clamps for the glass ensuring the plastic bit sit correctly.

Drop the glass back into the door being very careful of the heated window terminals.

Image

Replace and re waterproof the door membrane.

Refit the trim panel.

Job is a good un. Now all you have to do is the re calibration procedure and you are all set.

Ahh, halfway there... what happened to the last 5 images ? I need them !! ;-)

Hi did every thing you said BUT found a problem ...When my window cable broke it did so when the door was shutting...So window stayed up..So on your images plus the youtube video the replacement of the cables are for a window or cable broken DOWN ...So when I did everything put it back pressed the button the cable broke again as the window was down and the motor was set to take it down from being up where it broke ...So ,if I do this again I do I reset the motor so that it lifts up and not down.

Cheers ZDomZ, replace my tailgate window regulator today, thanks to this write it was a piece of Pee.

Hello just registered to the site I need to replace my cables but the window is in the up position but with the tailgate open, how do I get the window down' it won't budge, do u think it could be the up cable is stopping it ?

ianmarr said:

Hello just registered to the site I need to replace my cables but the window is in the up position but with the tailgate open, how do I get the window down' it won't budge, do u think it could be the up cable is stopping it ?

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If you can reach the bolts holding the glass then loosen them and lift the glass up, then it should be easy to get out.

Alibro said:

If you can reach the bolts holding the glass then loosen them and lift the glass up, then it should be easy to get out.

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Thanks Alibro to cold at the moment but I will have a go on Monday. I managed to get enough flex in the glass and got the door shut. IanM

ianmarr said:

Thanks Alibro to cold at the moment but I will have a go on Monday. I managed to get enough flex in the glass and got the door shut. IanM

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Be careful while taking off the rear window heater connector. They break off the window very easily.

Fitted new regulator. Problem is the longstanding marks on the glass where the old glass clamps bear no relationship to the new glass clamps. I have spaced them out as equally as I can. Window is not level and offset. When recalibrating the window keeps going down and when raising it stops several times on the way up and three beeps can be heard each time. It will not sit snugly at the top in the closed position. Stays up with ignition off, opening door causes window to drop down What do I do next?

First thing is to get it level by loosening the bolts and adjusting as best you can. Then disconnect the battery so that when you reconnect it the rear window will automatically go all the way down. Then turn the ignition on and bring it back to the top, this should re-calibrate your window.

Finally got it level. Tried recalbration procedure 12 times and gave up. Locked the Freelander and went to bed. Got up in morning and everything was the same plus it refused to start! An hour later it roared into life and the window operated perfectly! Puzzling! Thanks for the suggestions anyway it all helped.

Bump for later

Dumb question time ... how the **** do you get the window to be in the "half-down" position to enable access to the bolts on the window holder? Mine is always either up or down. If i stop it half-way (e.g. on the switch), it opens or closes depending on where it started! Thanks
Is it a case of cutting the cables??

IanSG19 said:

Dumb question time ... how the **** do you get the window to be in the "half-down" position to enable access to the bolts on the window holder? Mine is always either up or down. If i stop it half-way (e.g. on the switch), it opens or closes depending on where it started! Thanks
Is it a case of cutting the cables??

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OK - ignore. Managed it on the switch, by some quirk of fate!!

IanSG19 said:

OK - ignore. Managed it on the switch, by some quirk of fate!!

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How? Is there a trick? I actually faced same issues, but didn’t try too hard.

Dreamed said:

How? Is there a trick? I actually faced same issues, but didn’t try too hard.

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Assuming your window is in the fully up position, turn on the ignition, then use the switch on the console to lower the window to about half-way down. Let go of switch, turn off ignition. That seemed to work. Didn't have too much problem fitting the cables to the regulator, but the two window supports are now at different heights - one of them must have moved while fitting the cables. Anyone know if i can adjust them without taking it apart and starting again???