1965 Colony Park tailgate window issue...dash switch

Okay, here I go. HELP! lol. Pretty new to this forum. Picked up a 1965 Mercury Colony Park last year. I really like this old wagon! I have been slowly working through some of the issues (all small thank goodness). The larger issue...the tailgate window goes up and down no problem with the key. Of course this makes me nervous only having that option to access the back. This last weekend I pulled the switch at the dash which appears to have integrated wiring which is worrisome. Not sure how the switch disconnects in the event I need to replace it. If I can find the part! When I tried to check for power to the switch I found none. This is hopeful..maybe the switch works but isn't getting power? The owners manual says the power comes from the relay and if the key at the tailgate works, presumably that part of the electrical is okay. I don't have a wiring schematic though so it's a guessing game where the issue would be. Is there a second wire going to the tailgate from the switch that works independently and could be disconnected? What am I looking for and what should I do? I also want to know if this is exclusive to the '65 or if other Colony Parks of the period have these tailgate window configurations. Thanks!

 

I had a 1970 country squire. The wire from the circuit breaker had shorted out under the dash melting several things in its path. It was a self resetting breaker so it must have been going off and on for a while. Previous fix was substandard to say the least. It also had a bad switch, broken wires through the tailgate hinge and a blown window gear. Yours should be easy LOL good luck.

 

Take a look here: http://www.fordmuscleforums.com/galaxie-pages/518657-using-dropbox-share-manuals.html
I pulled the 62 Galaxy manual to help me. I am not sure if it's the same tailgate circuit, but there is a schematic in the manual.
They may have a manual for 65 I just haven't looked.

 

Thanks for the link. A wiring schematic would be very helpful!

 

No luck...

 

I have a mid-to-late Sixties wiring diagram book; if you shoot me a PM ("conversation," on here) I'll shoot some pics and send them to you.

 

Found this link: http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/threads/1967-country-squire-rear-power-window.5063/

I figured this has been an issue for many and there are probably more of these questions buried here. I even found a schematic but it's not clear what car it's for although it very much looks like what I have so I'm thinking the wire configurations were similar on Fords and Mercs for a number of years. I did some more testing today and found the dash switch is most definitely not getting any current. The schematic shows a wire leading from the starter relay to the center post of the window relay and must be the power source. On either side of that post are two terminals. One of mine is dead. Can I safely assume this means a bad relay? Also, there was talk of by-passing but it's not clear who did what or how it was done. Considering these relays are not cheap or being reproduced what is a good option? Having only one way to get the tailgate window down make me nervous lol. I guess my only other question would be I'd like to send power to the switch somehow to test it but unsure how to do that without doing damage to the switch or starting a fire.

 

Are you saying there are four connections on the relay or two? Is it a relay or circuit breaker? I'm going to assume it has two wires and is a self resetting curciut breaker. Jump it and see if the window works at the switch. If it is a breaker and it's failed then something has caused it to fail, possibly a shorted wire. Those breakers are available cheap.

 

This is the relay on the driver side firewall. Are you saying I can jump from the center wire (hot) to the wire leading to the dead side of the relay to check the switch?

 

A buddy of mine came over and gave me the second pair of hands I needed and the brain power I lacked. We determined the toggle switch works and the relay is dead. Ordered the part below. I'll let people know if it worked.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/302612460660

 

And here, I just found my book of wiring diagrams...but I'll still shoot pics and send them to you via email.

 

Seven photos in two emails...let me know if either or both do not arrive.

 

Relays are cheap if you didn't want the original. The relay and pigtail is probably less than 5 bucks.

 

Other than you I wasn't getting any help. I absolutely still need the diagrams! They look great man! I somehow managed to screw up my horn sending my big paw up under the dash lol.

 

The diagram for the power windows includes a section, marked 'heated backlight,' for your tailgate window. It's on the right-hand end, center of the page side.