2000 Jimmy - rear hatch glass does not open either with the dash button or the keyless entry. I can hear the relay clicking when the buttons are pushed but there is nothing at the actuator in the hatch. I disconnected the plug and there appears to be no power using a test light. Just bought the vehicle so I have no idea the history on when the issue started.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

Anyone know where I should start with this?

 

Sigh. It's a regrettably common problem on these.

The basic problem is that this stupid plastic (or "nylon!?") part (Dorman 42426) inside the tailgate breaks so the actuator doesn't actually actuate like it's supposed to any more. Unfortunately, this truck is from the era before mandated emergency trunk-release handles and such so there's not an easy way around it. You can crawl in there and pull on the handle all you want but the tailgate won't drop until the lift glass is open, which just plain isn't happening with that part broken. Mine was non-functional for about a year because of this.

If you google around there are various internet/youtube guides for this. Some of them would have you pull on the plastic tailgate panel until you break the bracket for the center top screw so you might fish a tool in there to open it. I tried this method and gave up on it, finally using a 1" spade bit to drill a hole into the plastic of the rear panel so I could manually actuate the mechanism, get it open and finally repair the broken part. At my brother's suggestion I covered the hole with a sticker. It actually doesn't look that bad and at least I've got fast access should I need it again.

Feel free to DM me if you get stuck, and I'll send you a pic of the inside of my tailgate panel so you know where to drill at least.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the response. I've actually already taken the panel off and the plastic clip is fine, it's the actuator that has no power to it. I can hear the relay in the under hood fuse panel clicking when the button is pushed but there is nothing happening at the actuator.

 

Oh sorry, guess I misread.

You could try swapping the relay, but if it's working with the rear button it sounds more like a wiring problem.