The tailgate window latch is broken on my 2008 Mazda Tribute

Need to take inside door panel off and look at inside door latch. The locking rod probably broke at door latch. Or it lucky unhooked. To find whice rod it is. You may need to cut hole in platinum sheet near door latch. Then move one left to right. One will lock it and one will open door. Then check to make sure both ends are connected on the lock rod. Almost sure it is the small plastic piece broken of door latch. And when taking inner door panel off. Make sure all screws are out. And use flat screw driver next to plastic tabs to pop them out. If careful everything will go back together easy.

take the panel and the plastic sheathing off and look for the door lacth you might need a flashlight it might be that the latch came loose from the plastic piece that holds it in or the plastic peice is broken if it is get a new one

Remove panel check for disconnected rod or broken plastic connection.might have to replace inside handle(piece of cake)..

If you can find a used one it is much cheaper (obviously).You need to pull off the tailgate interior panel covering.Also you may not.There may be access to it from underneath.I have pulled apart windows,doors but have never had a truck or SUV.There may be some screws holding down the interior cover in a few spots.If you have to pull apart the interior panel,look for screws that may be capped with those little plastic covers,they like to hide the screws for appearance.Then you will have to gently pry at the seams between the cover and the tailgate.There are usually little pop in pins holding it on.Please do it carefully because they can break.Once you get past the interior cover,there should be access to the latch.It's usually only held on by a couple of medium size bolts,maybe 10mm-12mm.(Everything seems metric these days anyhow).Good luck and let me know if you need further help or have any questions.

spray some penetrating oil in the door latch.

under the carpet installed on the tailgate door, there is a hole. put a screw driver in it and manually flip the latch open, to start.
yjen take the door panel off, one screw with the interiro handle, and pull the rest off,
watch the auto release slidw side to side, you will find a broken piece here, I made an extension piece with a plastic hook and screw, works fine for over a year, lube all latch parts with wd 30 once opened.

Open the rear tailgate from the inside. Now open the door to the toolkit that is usually mounted on the tailgate/rear door. Using a large Phillips screw driver[usually a #3 tip], take the tool kit off the door panel by unscrewing/removing the screws holding it to the door itself. Once you have removed the tool kit, use a knife to carefully cut a "U" shaped access flap in the clear plastic sheet that should have been behind your tool kit. This sheet is called a water shedder or water curtain, it keeps water off the back of any door panel trim to prolong its life. You want to cut that U shaped hole in the sheet where the door sheet metal already has a hole from the factory. This will allow you to peek up inside your door and see how much of the rear door handle broke on you.
You should be able to easily see the guts of the rear latch and the release handle from this vantage point. Try to move the handle on the outside of the door. If any linkage or plastic 'arms' broken during your winter, you'll probably see this as well. Hopefully new parts are available, otherwise, you'll need to access a used Montero in a salvage yard to get good working parts as a repair. While you're in the door, lube ALL latch, cable, handle parts with a light oil to help prevent this from happen[the oil or a light grease will help displace any future water or ice from sticking to any latch parts]
You can easily tape the U shaped cover you made of the plastic sheeting back up into place with some decent tape, like Duct tape or packing tape. Masking Tape will work, but falls apart in a car with age. Clear plastic Packing tape works well and is transparent to boot. Good Luck with the door.

I have the same problem, when I took the door apart I found that there is a plastic extension on the end of cyclinder that moves in and out on that electric motor you hear. Well the plastic extension is broken off and that is what moves the lever to open your window latch. I tryed Krazy Glue with JB weld to fix the plastic piece but the first release of the window it just broke off again so I'll have to order a new one. You can't just order the plastic extension according to Chevy you have to order the motor aswell about $80.00 CAD.
To get the door apart yourself, I just pulled out on the plastic trim on top enough to get a long narrow screw driver down there and you will see a brass like lever in the shape of a L , you want to push that to the left to release the window latch, and then you can unscrew the plastic trim properly and go from there.

Mine just did the exact same thing. The latch may be moving freely because it is not hooked to the latching mechanism anymore. In my case, the handle had broken where the handle hooks to the rod that operates the mechanism. Go to the Ford dealer and buy a new handle. Here in S.C. it was $24. You can't get this at the parts houses. Start by removing the plastic "Ford" cover that is over the liscense plate lights. You then have to remove the aluminum rivets that hold the handle to the tailgate from the outside and remove the broken latch. Remove the pull handle loop on the interior side of the tailgate (2 screws), unsnap the inside plastic tailgate interior panel, and pull down the black plastic sheeting that is underneath the panel to make access to the mechanism inside of the tailgate. There is also a hard plastic cover that you will see that needs to be pulled loose to open another access hole. Install the new tailgate latch handle by sliding back into the mounting holes and attach with two 10-32 screws and nuts. The new handle will come with a new yellow rod attachment piece on the handle. You will see inside of the tailgate a small rod hanging down, most likeky it will have the same rod attachment piece as the one on the new handle. Note the position of the yellow piece on the rod, as you will connect the new piece in the same place. Once the rod is hooked up, relubricate the metal mechanism with a light machine oil, replace the black plastic cover, replace the black plastic sheeting, (secure with a small amount of duct tape), replace the tailgate interior panel, replace the pull handle loop, shut tailgate, replace "Ford" cover over lights, and you're done!

if there are no broken wires inside the tailgate try lubing the latches with WD40 and open and close the tailgate several times. If the latches are properly closed on both sides the window will not work