Hey guys I really need some help with this! It is tripping me out! And please let me know if what I say doesnt make sense and you need any clarifying!

My rear window on my 1986 4runner was working fine from both the switch up front and with the key in the tailgate. I needed to do bodywork and so removed the camper. I finished pre-fabbing a piece for the bodywork and put the camper back on (3-4 hours later), but then the window didnt wanna roll up. Both the switch and the key in the tailgate didnt wanna work. I tested the motor first, it worked fine. I went up front and pulled the switch out to see (wires still connected) and started testing terminals on the switch using a tester that plugs into the lighter and defines blue for ground and red for hot. There is 5 wires and they went in this order (left to right, when ignition is ON) [Ground, Hot, dead, Hot, Ground] then when I would click the switch either up or down, the center dead wire would go Hot. I then used a old school tester, grounded the alligator clip and started testing.... HERES THE INTERESTING PART!

When i touched the outer grounds and the center NOTHING. But when I touched the Hot's, the window would either go up or down depending on which one I touched.... WHATT!!! and then if I kept the tester on the center one and used the switch, the switch would work!!!
But even with this my key in the tailgate doesnt work....

CAN SOMEONE HELP ME! Its making me crazy! it worked fine before, I plugged in all the wires correct. All safety switches are working, The tailgate latch switch, the windshield wiper switch, and the little lever next to the handle switch. It worked fine just before, I dont see what could do this. Im so confused ESPECIALLY because when I do that weird thing, grounding the hots on the switch, it works????

 

Sounds lime the switch to me

 

you really think it could just be the switch??? even though when I do that wierd grounding thing it works?? or does me doing that define it as a switch problem? I am not a wiring guy, I am horrible at wiring... Also, would a bad switch also keep the rear tailgate key from working?

 

Sounds like one of the safety switches is open .

Now there is one on the removeable top if that is not closed it won`t work.

Meaning if your Top is off the window will not roll back up and then no doubt break.

Also there is a safety switch for the wiper if that is not closed the window does not move.

Did you plug any wires back in when you put the top back on.

The safety switches might have been jumped in the close position and just failed in someway.

When you jumper the switch in front your bypassing the safety switches As when the safety switches are closed they allow the circuit to be complete and things to work.

 

Hmmm.... I know I plugged everything back in right, and I looked to see that the wiper switch was connecting/disconnecting. But I will double try. I konw for a fact that the latch switch and the little lever (next to the lever to open it) is working cause it says "back door" on my dash when theyre open.. The only thing can be the wiper since i did take the top off. Ill check the wiper when I get back home on friday and let you know.......
Do you think it could be the switch?? No right? cause if it was the switch then it wouldnt work when I jumper it right? And if it was the switch then the rear key in the tailgate would work to roll it up right?

 

There is also another switch Toyota calls the Top safety switch if the switch is not closed it will not work.

This switch keeps the window from working when the top is off..

The top was removed I would be looking at that one.

I doubt the key switch has failed but any thing can happen.

Being that neither of the switches worked I gotta go with one of the safety switches either not plugged back in or no longer working

 

Make sure you put the right bolt on the cover top switch, otherwise rear window wont work.

 

WHOA! So according to this diagram, theres a switch under the rail which is pressed down by one of the bolts which bolts down the camper?

I was missing a few bolts on my camper and put them back in random places which I figured would hold it down the strongest, but didnt know that there was a switch which was triggered by one of the bolts! Thank you so much! Im going to try it out when I get home tomorrow and let you know how it works!!

 

You got that right! It has to be a certain length. ON mine, I painted the head and the are surrounding the clearance hole red to indicate where it belongs.

Aloha!

 

Is it usually the same bolt for all 4runners? or do they place the switch on random bolt holes for different trucks? If it IS the same one for all trucks, and the one shown in the diagram (which is the 2nd or 3rd from the rear on the driver side) then that might very well be my problem because I did remember skipping that bolt to balance out the load.
I really hope thats my problem, and think it might be since it worked PERFECTLY fine before i pulled the camper off, and then didnt wanna work just a few hours after when I put it back on.. I will try it tomorrow and hopefully share some GOOD news with you guys haha

 

It's in the same place for all 4runners, you're probably missing the bolt.

 

THAT WAS IT! haha. To you guys it might not seem like a big deal, but i had NO idea that switch existed and so it was soo stumped. BUt i got home today and pulled the side compartment door to look inside and sure enough, there was that switch module i never knew existed haha. I put in a longer bold and it worked! Thanks alot guys, couldnt have figured that out without you guys!

 

Cool! Aloha!

 

YT has a pretty knowledgeable bunch of people...
Imagine if you had asked this on Pirate

 

Thats for sure! This place has gotten me more help with my toyota trucks than any other place PERIOD. I love that theres a place that all the toyota lovers and whizzes can go to help each out. Theres people out there that live, breath, eat and drink toyota, and sometimes they are the ONLY ones who know a solution to a problem. And this is the place other people and I can get answers from them. WOOOOOO!!!!!

By the way, I told my friend that was trying to help me fix it, what the problem was, and he laughed at me for a good 10 minutes about it cause I was tripping SO HARD thinking it was one of those mystery electrical problems and it was just a switch hahaha! ALOHA GUYS!

 

We learn something new everyday.

 

Yeah, oftentimes we start thinking we have a complicated problem in front of us, we forget ask ourselves, "What did you mess with last?" LOL!

 

anyone able to help when a window wont got down? Worked fine loaded the womans treadmill in and went up, got home have nothing now except for a treadmill stuck in the back of my runner with like 3-4'' of space from the end of the treadmill and the rear tailgate panel.

need help, dont want this thing stuck in my runner