RinTX

I have a 97. Drivers door lock has become intermittent - mostly not working. I have read a lot of the threads on here and thanks for all the info. I went to a local jy and pulled the door locks from a 98. Installed the "replacement" and same problem. No surprise.

I decided to take the original apart and see what makes it tick. Anyone else done that? There is a small centrifugal clutch inside there.

Going to try to add some photos...

RinTX

Here is the heart of the thing...

RinTX

Here is the clutch....

RinTX

Here is the outer part of the clutch. There are two small tabs that the clutch must grab when actuated...

RinTX

So I roughed up the ends of the metal pins in the clutch assembly (using my dremel) and I roughed up the edges of the tabs in the outer clutch. I have added some plastic weld epoxy to the edges of the tabs. I intend to clean it up a bit after it cures for a while. Then re-assemble and see if I can get it to work.

RinTX

Well I got it back together and installed. The electric door lock works. Not sure how long this type of repair will last. My friend was sure it wouldn't work at all. The only downside or bad so far is that it is so tight the clutch will not "slip" when moving lock mechanism manually.
The key works to lock and unlock but it is nearly impossible to move door button to lock position manually.
The electric portion locks and unlocks like a champ.

RinTX

This is still working. I have a junkyard lock actuator that I may tear apart and fix then pass on to someone else.

Goldenfoot05

That is awesome you fixed that. I have 3 doors out of 4 that the locks make the sound like they are locking and unlocking but nothing happens.
Im interested in more detail in how you did the fix as I would like to do it to mine. Mostly on the work you did to the clutch. "roughed up the ends of the metal pins in the clutch assembly" Tho it may make more sense after I get to see it in my own hands.
The rest you explained nicely with the pictures.
Thank you for posting your success!

RinTX

Goldenfoot - thanks. It still works like a champ.

I think once you look at it you will see it clearly. The ends of the metal pins (they are very small) need to "catch" or grab onto the plastic tabs in order to actuate the door lock. Rough the outer edges and make sure they can extend and contract smoothly.

Good luck.

Goldenfoot05

Tore into the locks today. Wow thats tedious work. Everything wants to fall apart and spring were going everywhere... You have to dig pretty far into them to get to the problem. I didnt get even as far as you did and maybe its because we were having slightly different problems...
I noticed that the frame holding all the gears are just bent up metal and are kept together by the pins holding the gears and a couple of tabs. One tab on the side with the larger gear that also has the clutch on top has a... button or some spring loaded deal pressing up against one of the tabs. The tabs on mine were bending out from the pressure of the spring loaded button. If I forced that in everything worked just fine. I tack welded the tab while it was forced in on the button and that seemed to work for me. I didnt have to dig into the clutched part of the gears.
I just finished up the last one but now none of the locks work, all I hear now is a relay clicking... O_o will it ever end!?

RinTX

Goldenfoot. Sorry to hear that it doesn't appear to work. I should have mentioned - keep a fully assembled lock set to look over carefully as you take apart and then reassemble. There are a couple of springs in there and they need to go back correctly or it won't work.
The assembly can be tested off the vehicle with a 12 volt source to ensure it actuates.
Just because it actuates doesn't mean it will have enough grip and oomph to throw the lock once installed though.

Goldenfoot05

They all work great now! The problem I had at the end was a bad connection in the front passenger side switch. I did have a spare that I had pulled from a scrap yard and that did help to ensure I got everything back together right. Thanks for your help and for posting your fix!

PocketsEmpty

Nice fix! Wow, more evidence that Chrysler loves to over-complicate things. Seeing that makes me wish more that I had manual locks. Mine all work currently, but the rear doors seem to take a lot of force to move the lock switch.

rightcoaster

I have the same or similar problem. Are the power lock actuators the same for all Cherokee submodels and years around the late '90s and early '00s? I'll get some from a jy and either modify or use as-is, but if they are year-specific it would help to know.

Wonder why the parts makers don't make these for this vehicle. Dorman only makes one for the hatch door, not for any of the other doors; and no other makers seem to produce any at all.

mchlwise

Just got a '99 WJ a couple days ago.

All the door locks seem to work except the driver's, which make a high-pitched sound somewhere between a whine and a buzz.

I'm going to see if I can get into it this weekend and figure it out.

Thanks for the info!