Hi,

My brick didn't come with the master key, and the previous owner said that the tailgate lock was broken. It opened and closed when you pulled on the handle, but couldn't be locked.

I just invested in having the dealership cut a master key, which does work in the glove box lock, but not the tailgate lock. In an attempt to figure out why, I decided to take the tailgate apart.

What I found was quite the rigged up mess. I never realized you were supposed to be able to open the tailgate from the inside (that lever is missing) and a lot of stuff has been disconnected, including the connecting rod from the lock cylinder to the opening mechanism. Since I've had it apart, I can no longer open it from the outside. If nothing else, I need to make this part work again.

My Haynes manual doesn't have in-depth enough pictures for me to rebuild this. I was wondering if anybody could give me some advice on what I should do to fix this whole mechanism up. Also, I could not get the exterior license plate light and handle assembly removed, either. Any advice on that? I did what the Haynes book suggested and either the bolts are rusted and broken or something else is wrong.

I think there is a key broken off in the lock, but it appears that the lock has been jarred and is actually pretty rusty. Is this something I could buy from a junkyard, or should I just order a new lock cylinder from the junkyard?