97grand4.0

Ever since my son got this 98 XJ the rear pass side door wont open. Never been opened in the 5 years he owned it. So now its in my garage and Im semi going to town fixing a bunch of this stuff.

Any suggestions how to open it? It seems to be stuck locked, no resistance on the handle opener or outside 'button'.

fb97xj1

If neither inside or outside handle open it the linkage may have popped loose from the clips inside the door, or the child safety lock was flipped while the door was open and then shut, and got stuck. I have read of atleast one or two of those safety locks getting stuck. You have to pull the door panel off to get inside the door to see whats going on.

Ralph77

About a week ago my rear passenger door would not open. From the inside or out. The button on the outside handle had no resistance. No idea how long it had been like that. Anyway for me just taking the panel off and playing with the lock and door handle rods fixed it. No idea what was wrong. Door panel will come off no problem from the inside. Just remove the bottom of the back seat so you can take the panel off. And when you bust some of the clips go to Napa. BK 665-3282.

investinwaffles

Just try to avoid bending the rods for the door handle and lock (at the top of the door). The door panels pop off from the bottom, and "hinge" at the top where it meets the window. Get the bottom loose and you should be able to get your hand up in there to get the door open.

BlueRidgeMark

Bingo, I had this happen a couple of years ago.


It's not a fun job to get the panel off while the door is closed. It can be done, though.

Ralph77

Like I said with getting the bottom of the back seat out of the way taking off the door panel was pretty easy with the door shut. I am a smaller guy so maneuvering around back there was OK. You bigger guys might find it more of a problem.

97grand4.0

Thanks for the suggestions, will be doing this after the dentist today unless in too much pain. Looks like the rear seat has to come out, is this easy?
Had the fronts apart this week and replaced the lock cylinders as we never had a key for the old ones. $19 at the AZ for 2, with keys cant beat that.

Ralph77

Piece of cake. Fold it up, move that lever, unhook it from the rod/stud, tilt some and pull the rod that is attached to the seat out of the hole.

97grand4.0

Perfect, thanks.