Tailgate lock fixed!!!

Cool story if you're in the mood for some light reading. This weekend marks the 1 year anniversary of bringing home the Colony Park from it's original home in western Maryland.

Some of you may remember that I sold my maroon 92 Fleetwood Brougham early in the summer. The new owner (John) lives about half an hour away and we've struck up a friendship. He is also a member of the long roof club, owning an 89 Country Squire that is nearly identical to my Colony Park. Over the summer John and I have been in touch several times. He sends me text messages periodically to bring me up to date with what he is doing to the Caddy. So far some minor tune up items and replaced the chrome trim that surrounds the windows due to pitting. He just scored two beautiful chrome mirrors from a guy in Texas who has a store on eBay. If you are looking for parts check this guy out, he has a lot of nice stuff that he reclaims from the salvage yards down there...."Dean's OEM Finds, LLC" (210) 488 5567. He seems to carry parts for a wide variety of land yachts including some wagon parts. Anyway, I offer to go down to John's to help him take the door apart so he can get the new mirrors on the Fleetwood. I had the driver's door apart to replace a window motor about 2 years ago so no biggie. The mirrors from Mr. Dean were gorgeous and we got them on no problem.
I am really glad the Caddy is still local....after owning it for 8 years it has been missed a bit.


From here, after a break and a few laughs, we start talking about the wagons and comparing how we filled the holes in the tailgate after drilling out to access the window motors for rebuilding. I mention that I still haven't figured out why the tailgate won't lock. I know many of the other 80's CS and CP owners on the forum have mentioned this same problem. After some toying here is what we found......and fixed.....

When you open the tailgate like a door, there are two door latches that are on the passenger side of the car. My lower latch was working fine, but the upper latch was not engaging. I had noticed that the top part of the tailgate never seemed to look totally closed....somewhat of a gap. It kind of stuck out, but I figured it was just getting sloppy from age/mileage. So it turns out that you can adjust the location of the upper latch post quite a lot. You need a large 6-point star tool to loosen the post up. After loosening the post, you can readjust the location bit by bit and find "the sweet spot." It has some kind of magic nut behind it that will not fall down into the fender when you remove the post. This allows the post to be moved about 1/4 inch any direction. The top of the tailgate now clicks closed properly and the door locks works as normal. This probably seems like a big "duh"....it did to me for sure, but I figured I would post this so others might check it out. One way you can probably test this out to see if you have the same problem...lower the back window. Grab the top of the tailgate on the far right just above the handle and start wiggling it back and forth. See how much play you have. If that upper latch is not engaged you will be able to feel the slop as it wiggles.

In any event, it was a nice day feeding our car obsession and having some good laughs.

 

That is probably a Torx T-50 drive to loosen that latch post. Same one as you need to re and re seatbelts.

 

oh jeez.....ive never even given that 'top' latch a thought

MW....you may have just kept the 89 one step further from a horrible fate
...well...that is if you can cure the 'phantom RPM' thing too

as the crappy weather gets closer...im trying to decide if I will drive it again....I do despise all the technology in it

 

Rev, a suggestion for dealing with the idle problem. I have noticed with my car that it gets especially crazy if the car hasn't been driven for a few days. I have started spraying down the throttle linkage with wd-40. I take off the breather first so I can get at things better. Spray down the springs and all of the joints that move around. If your 89 is like my 85, I have a part called an idle control solenoid. This part is located just in front of the throttle linkage (front being in the direction of the radiator) This idle control solenoid runs strictly off the vacuum and it has a moving part on it that tends to get stuck in one position or the other. You might lube the idle solenoid with a few drops of household oil. The car has always run properly for me after spraying down these parts. Let me know if you have any luck.

 

The '85 Merc. has TBI or an 'electric carburator'. My '85 Ford CS had that.

The later models(like my '88 CP) had the more modern EFI, so it's completely different.
Except that things do get sticky on any old car that hasn't/ isn't used much.

As far as the tailgate goes, they called it a 'magic tailgate' and I thought it really was.
Still do.
I sure can't figure out how it works.

 

Thanks for posting this. My CS tailgate locks occasionally, but more often than not it just doesn't. I've noticed the same thing with the top latch. Thanks to your post, I'll tackle this one before I put the wagon away for the winter

 

I can empathize completely. I just replaced my hinge assembly and can finally open and close my tailgate/door again! If you ever need a new upper latch- I've got an NOS one.
Congratulations on getting it fixed!

 

yup...as stated ..mines injected and ive sprayed everything in site on it before
Mine apparently has a 'vacuum leak' issue...and if i dont find it...it will have a 'fire' problem

 

my idle issues seem to be getting worse too. I'm thinking mine probably needs the vacuum lines replaced too. Not looking forward to that....

 

I spoke to a Ford tech that I know..and he says its reall common on the 86 and newer...and that the culprits are the 'auto ebrake' and the 'defroster/heat' controls....so as soon as it stops raining on my days off...then im gonna start disconnecting things to see if it changes

 

Those automatic parking brake release collars are nothing shy of being a pain in the backside! I've pulled the vacuum line, and used a golf tee. Seems to stop the problem nicely. The heater problem is very easy to figure out. Put the control to floor. If the air comes out the top, you have a major leak. If it comes out the bottom until you step on the gas, then you have a more minor leak. Either way, it is a nuisance, but not that difficult to fix.

 

last year I solved the problem by...taking it off the road
this year..i think i solved it again....by buying another wagon for the winter

 

Or you just got another new set of problems !

 

yes...but at least they arent "electronically controlled"

 

When looking for vacuum leaks :confused: on these vehicles with the naughty idle air controllers and the mass air flow sensors, always look in the ducting between the MAF and the throttle body, any leak....or hidden hole in the case of our 88 Trooper...............will affect idle quality.

Glad your tailgate is "magic" again!