Neither the rear lift gate nor the rear window will open on my 95 Ford Explorer.

This happened to me when I first got my 95 Ford Explorer earlier this year. I actually love this 2 door SUV! The solution is that the REAR DOOR LOCK on the BACK DOOR was well beneath the hole where the lock should come out! I took a long nose pliers & grabbed the very tip of the door lock peg & twisted it & twisted it until it came up out of it's hole. The rear door lock button, like both the other doors, is a screw-type of peg. When it gets too low, and then when you lock the doors, the door lock is too low to pop up out of its hole. When you unscrew the door peg button, it will raise the height so that the peg does not go below the top of the hole. It's a simple solution - but very annoying when it happens!

ps ... the peg button gets too low & stays in the locked position. That is why you cannot turn your exterior handle either way so that either the back window or the rear hatch will open. It is locked. As soon as you pop the door lock (usually round) peg up & out of its hole, you can hit the unlock buttons & it will unlock - therefore, you will be able to turn your exterior rear door handle either way - left to pop open the window - and right to open the rear hatch. :)