In my 1989 Jeep Cherokee I took my door panel off to remove a blown speaker on the driver side.

When I went to go put it back together I noticed the lock button somehow popped out of the panel. I have no idea how it happened.

I have been sitting here trying to fix it for an hour or so to no avail. I don't understand how this happened, and the door can't be opened unless this pops back in. The panel won't line up with its screws holes so something must be messed up I just can't see. I took the passenger one off to see if something was missing, but its the same.

 

On mine you remove the cover from the panel before you remove the panel. The latch handle and the lock button stay with the door shell. Maybe busted it off the door where it mounts.

 

I had the whole door panel off, and slipped the control panel through the panel. I don't see anything that looks broken, thats the problem....

 

Anyone ?

I can't even open the door from either side. The only way to open the door is to use the key from the outside.

 

hmm. mines apart right now, let me go look and see if i can help.

 

alright,

so look at the back of the lock button. is it attached on both the top and the bottom to the panel, or is it sort of just free floating?

i couldnt tell this from your pictures. try taking more pics of the behind the scenes action.

i have one thats taken apart, but just remember, its not going to work until you put it back together. mine doesnt work right now, but thats because the screws normally holding it on arent there. so you have no leverage to use the lock ****.

try aligning it up and screwing all back in again.

 

I'll go take some more pictures. I tried screwing it back on, but it won't line up properly, and a lot of force is required to do so.

I took the panel off the passenger door and that one goes back on without problems, no force required.

Give me a sec.

 

If you need a specific angle, tell me.






Also, when i took the other doors panel off, the button still stayed like normal, and never popped out like the pictures. It seems like it had to of been pushed real hard for it to happen, but I never really touched it besides moving it.

 

dang, i cant figure it out.

well tell me this: when you try to move the panel back to where it should be to screw it in, what is holding it back/causing the tension?

and take a picture of it from further out, so i can see how the panel is situated.

I can take my panel and hold it in place and use the lock, but if i dont hold it then you dont have the resistance to be able to do it.

I can maybe take pictures of mine, but keep in mind mine is a 1996 and you have an older model. do you have power locks? I dont know if that would make a difference or not.

 

I'm not exactly sure whats holding it back. I don't see anything that could be causing this, so the only thing I can think of is something inside the door, but how could that have happened ? All I did was take the panel off.

There are power locks yes.

And here is a picture with the entire panel off:

 

hmm.

did you try unlocking it with the auto locks?

what happens then?

thats really what mine looks like but i can just grab that little panel and move it back to where i needs to go.

difference is I took off that outside frame that connects the power accessories with the lock and door handle. maybe you should do that just to more easily see the problem.

simply disconnect the plugs for the locks and windows and then you can pretty easily remove the frame (yours is chrome).

now can you move the lock **** back and forth, or does it seem jammed? when you unlock the door from the outside with a key, what happens with the ****?

 

a picture of my set up for a reference point. I cant really see any differences except it looks like yours comes out a lot further. This was the furthest I could pull out that little panel to take the picture.

 

Yea I tried unlocking. It will move the panel a little because the lock button tries to movie. It's also the same case with the key.

I can pull the whole panel to the right, not towards me, but towards like the mirror, and it will unlock. Then, if i push it back in place it will lock.

I'll have to mess with it tomorrow. This is really a huge problem as I can't even open the driver door from the inside when its closed.

 

Well I fixed it by other means, and it worked perfectly fine.

I took a blow torch and heated up a blade. Then I cut through a bit of the plastic keeping it from going back in. It went in fine and doesn't seem to want to pop back out. The door works like it should now!

Thanks for your help though Cherokee, I appreciate the effort