New guy; tailgate issues

I've searched around a bit but didn't find this exact issue. So I wanted to see if anyone knows what's going on here:

My tailgate only opens when I manually pull the rod while operating the latch (either one) even though the doors are unlocked. I figured that would be the solenoid but I replaced that and it's still not working (it is a junkyard unit but it's definitely firing.) I took the whole lock apart and bought replacement linkage from salvage but it all looks the same as mine. It's been like this since I bought it so I don't know how it's supposed to work but I guess it's not like this.

I took a video and uploaded it to YouTube but I'm too new to share a link :/

Any help from someone familiar with this linkage setup would be most appreciated!

Welcome aboard!

You should be able to copy the link, and then paste it.

As for your door problems. You need to shut the door with force, especially the bottom right hand corner. Doing this probably "fixes" at least 50% of rear door problems. There are clips for the linkage, sometimes the linkage will pop out. Probably not your problem, but sometimes the rivets holding the solenoid will pop out. I has to be secure.

Tom

Thanks for the reply. New members can't share external links for 7 days, presumably as an anti-spam measure.

Let me try this (I promise it's not spam!)

https://youtu.be/HSrD5LVOolo

It's definitely not missing linkage; I've had it all apart and back together. The problem seems to be that the lock won't stay in the unlocked position, which suggests the solenoid but it is popping. Maybe just not far enough? Or it's moving too much on the rivets?

The glass solenoid is not connected to the linkage. It just unlocks the glass.

The video looks like the lock solenoid is relocking the gate when you manually unlock it. You may have a bad relay on the convenience center. I do not know which one is the gate lock relay.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

The glass solenoid is not connected to the linkage. It just unlocks the glass.

The video looks like the lock solenoid is relocking the gate when you manually unlock it. You may have a bad relay on the convenience center. I do not know which one is the gate lock relay.

Oh, I hadn't thought about that. Good call. I'll investigate that path. Thanks!

I replaced the middle relay (according to other posts, that's the one) with a new one and still no luck :/

Any other sage advice from tailgate experts?

The glass popper has nothing to do with the lock mechanism. You need to check the linkage for the lock relay. It appears to be binding, because when you hit the unlock button on your remote, it does not function properly. You should be able to manually unlock the gate with the key as well. Pushing the button only activates the glass release, but will not activate it if the gate is locked.