sticking tailgate handle

[Ex0r]

Is there somebody here who has experienced the problem with the rear tailgate handle being extremely hard to turn? I can turn it both ways to open either door or glass, but it's very hard to turn, and sometimes it requires ALOT of force either way. Also, I am not sure if it's supposed to return to the middle automatically or not, but it doesn't, and it's very hard to turn it back to the middle.

Anyone know what could be wrong? I was thinking maybe the actuator, but it still opens both ways, just turning it is hard. Could it be the handle is seizing up, or the actual actuator itself? Let me know what you guys think!

 

[tallsville]

on my 97 if i remember correctly returned to the middle by itself. have you tried wd40 on it? may have to take inside panel off to spray it.