Woody rear gate won't open either way

The gate on my recently acquired '95 bright white woody Roadmaster wagon suddenly won't open in either direction (it previously only opened down). I suspect that the clips have rotted & broken off, as this car has been sitting for quite a while & all the other clips, etc..., have been cracking & breaking.

With that being said, how do I open the panel to investigate ?

Try pushing on the lower right corner of the gate gently. Sometimes they don't close all the way. If you can get the latch to fully engage, it should open.


Otherwise, first open your glass and remove all the visible screws along the top of the gate. Next, climb into the back of the car, remove your spare tire panel and the storage compartment. There are then two screws on the inside of the tailgate panel. Then it pulls off like a door panel. There are Christmas tree clips holding it in place. Expect to replace them.


Then there are two plates held on with 7mm bolts. Remove those and you can see into the gate.

Good luck.

Ray Jr.,

Thank You for the tips on opening the panel to my gate - I got it completely open (& clean !), and was able to view all the inner workings of the gate.

However, I still can't get that sucker open (pushing in on the bottom right side didn't help - it seems to be 100% shut).

I see how the connecting rods open the gate down from both the right & the left, and how the steel cable opens the gate like a door. I also see how the door lock operates.

There seems to be a pivotting steel latch that should move out of the way to allow the operation of the door, but it won't move. It doesn't seem to be electronically operated - it seems mechanical.

I looked for 'child' locks on the gate, but I didn't see anything, or read about any such a safety feature in the Op. manual.

Any suggestions as to why that latch won't pivot out of the way, allowing for proper operation of both gate functions ?

Thank You in advance for any & all of your help....

Not to sound a jerk, but you did remember to pull the gate plunger up while trying the the cables?

Alas, that is where my knowledge of the gate mechanism ends.

I'm glad I could help you get it open though!

I know with mine, it is as simple as being 100% sure that it is unlocked. Mine has a factory remote, and even after clicking it, sometimes it sticks. If something that simple doesn't fix it, look through some older threads in the body section. I know just within the last week or two someone posted some pictures of the inside of the gate, and suggested something about a broken plastic clip that can sometimes cause it to not work. Good luck!

Wagoninabox wrote:

Not to sound a jerk, but you did remember to pull the gate plunger up while trying the the cables?

I did do that, yes.... I had an extra set of hands out that with me, pulling on everything at the same time.
There seems to be one immovable latch that won't allow the mechanism to move.

Mark 96 Roady wrote:

I know with mine, it is as simple as being 100% sure that it is unlocked. Mine has a factory remote, and even after clicking it, sometimes it sticks. If something that simple doesn't fix it, look through some older threads in the body section. I know just within the last week or two someone posted some pictures of the inside of the gate, and suggested something about a broken plastic clip that can sometimes cause it to not work. Good luck!

Mark 96,

As far as I could tell, it was unlocked. I was utilizing the key fob, the lock button itself, the lock/unlock buttons, and the key lock, trying to get something to move that hard-stop mechanism out of the way - alas, to no avail.

I did see that post a few weeks ago about the plastic clips, and will go review the blow-up picture of the inside of that gate again. I looked for but didn't see any broken plastic clips, or any clips that had fallen off - they all seem to be in pretty good shape.

Thank You for all your help - this forum rocks, and even if I can't get that gate down, I'm sure I'll be receiving many tips moving forward as I continue to rehab Sore Eyes.

Sincerely,

PSchelly

on one of my wagons the plunger goes down into the plastic of the cover and gets caught and won't come up to unlock, but it sounds like you are past that point with the cover off.

Can you take a picture and post it of this immovable piece? Use photobucket or something to host the pic and use img tags. Write up in the pic and photo section on how to post.