I've got a '96 XJ with really hard to move door lock mechanisms with elec locks that you used to have to push 5 times to get it to go in either direction. And now the elec actuators aren't doing it at all. On advice that the actuators were just getting old I disassembled each of my 4 door innerds (pita) and lubed everything well including the latches. After that things seemed to work somewhat ok but now things are back to the way they were...the inner lock levers on the doors are really hard to push and the action of the outer door buttons is fairly sticky, not smooth at all.

Next step would seem to be to replace the door latch mechanisms. Since I don't want to be doing this again for a while I'd rather put in new parts as opposed to something used from the jy. Where's the cheapest place I should look to find these parts new? A quick search on the net shows these things aren't exactly cheap.

 

Myself, I'd be looking for voltage drop due to bad connections somewhere. I'm not much help as to how to trace that. 96 has a "PDC" under the hood? I might start there at the power distribution connections.........

If they are all acting sort of the same, the problem might be "farther down the trunk", as opposed to being out in every door.

Re reading, I see they are manually sticky/hard. What did you use as "lube"? WD 40 is not a good lube at all, nor is BP. Lithium spray grease s is neat. (you can bean things just through the crack with the window down). Or I've used just 30W or 90W.

 

WD-40 and work it. I need to do this with mine as the three I don't use are stiff.

 

Once freed up spray with white lube or silicone spray.

 

Used silicone spray lube. Like was saying it worked ok for a bit but now the lock mechanisms and buttons / levers are back to being stubborn just like they were before I disassembled and lubed everything.

Yes the '96 does have a PDC under the hood. I'm not sure how to go about it but I have a multimeter and can follow directions well so if anybody has advice on how to check for a voltage drop I'm all ears.

 

None of mine have that PDC under the hood. I have seen posts there guys exclaimed "Holly phit! what a mess", after pulling theirs and seeing corrosion somewhere down there. Also locating and cleaning any relay sockets it uses is a thought. (CRC Electrical contact cleaner for one)

I'm really not much help. I assume there is a solenoid that gets system power to actuate. (or it may be getting grounded?) That solenoid should get around 12 volts, and have around, or less than 1 ohm to ground.

CCKen as well as others might be helpful here. In here you might find some wiring help.....> http://oljeep.com/gw/elec/cherokee/edge_cherokee.html