Zoider vs. Power Door Locks not working

Zoider · 2011-11-25 02:50:25

Symptoms: None of the 5 door locks open when using the passenger or driver switch. Locks are hard to move manually. Preparation: Overload on reading posts about power door locks not working. Buy a book on Automobile Electronics, a Haynes manual and download a factory service manual (FSM). Buy a digital multimeter (DMM) and some other basic tools. The saga begins: Lots of posts say clean and lubricate, sounds easy, I?ll do that first. Passenger door trim panel came off fairly easy, if I overlook the slight tear under the mirror and cracking the plastic on the bottom of the switch and handle trim. Some posts with pictures on another forum say to remove the lock switch then clean and lubricate it. Damn those clips are hard to get off. Hope I can get them back on. Hmm, what?s to clean and lubricate? A rusty spring on the door handle and some plastic on plastic movement on the switch itself. Need to research what?s the best lubricant for this situation. Seems to be a lot of conflicting opinions on what to use as a lubricant. Don?t think I want to use white lithium grease on this part, don?t have silicone or dry graphite, think I?ll go with gun oil. I?m thinking now they mean to take the door latch out and clean it. The way this is going I believe I?ll go practice at a junk yard (JY) tomorrow before I try it on our XJ. While I?m there I can grab a heater control switch and blend door cable! Meanwhile as I wait I read a post saying "If it was a bad solenoid then only one door would be affected. If it is all doors it is most likely electrical." Sounds reasonable, Think I'll check the electrical stuff. Check the fuses under the dash. Replace one that's broken. Doesn?t fix it. Go to the books, see that there are fuses under the hood, check the pertinent ones and they're all good. Take the multimeter to the XJ along with the owners manual with the fuse box diagram open. Wonder why none of the JY's have a fuse box cover. Realize the fuse I replaced is the wrong amperage for the slot. /sigh Get out and read the DMM instructions again. Ground the black cable to bare metal on the door and try to test the voltage at the red wire in slot 14 of the fuse box. No reading on the DMM. Stick the red probe into slot 14 of the fuse box. Then take a few minutes to let the probe cool down and read the instructions on the DMM again while the burned insulation smell dissipates. Check all the fuses again. None are broken. Put the probe into the correct hole on the DMM and cautiously try probing slot 14 again. DMM shows around 3 volts from the slot.

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11-24-2011, 08:50 PM

Zoider

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Join Date: Oct 2011

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Year: 1995

Model: Cherokee

Engine: 4.0 HO

Zoider vs. Power Door Locks not working

Symptoms:

None of the 5 door locks open when using the passenger or driver switch.
Locks are hard to move manually.

Preparation:

Overload on reading posts about power door locks not working.
Buy a book on Automobile Electronics, a Haynes manual and download a factory service manual (FSM).
Buy a digital multimeter (DMM) and some other basic tools.

The saga begins:

Lots of posts say clean and lubricate, sounds easy, I’ll do that first.
Passenger door trim panel came off fairly easy, if I overlook the slight tear under the mirror and cracking the plastic on the bottom of the switch and handle trim.
Some posts with pictures on another forum say to remove the lock switch then clean and lubricate it. Damn those clips are hard to get off. Hope I can get them back on. Hmm, what’s to clean and lubricate? A rusty spring on the door handle and some plastic on plastic movement on the switch itself. Need to research what’s the best lubricant for this situation.
Seems to be a lot of conflicting opinions on what to use as a lubricant. Don’t think I want to use white lithium grease on this part, don’t have silicone or dry graphite, think I’ll go with gun oil.
I’m thinking now they mean to take the door latch out and clean it. The way this is going I believe I’ll go practice at a junk yard (JY) tomorrow before I try it on our XJ. While I’m there I can grab a heater control switch and blend door cable!
Meanwhile as I wait I read a post saying "If it was a bad solenoid then only one door would be affected. If it is all doors it is most likely electrical." Sounds reasonable, Think I'll check the electrical stuff.
Check the fuses under the dash. Replace one that's broken. Doesn’t fix it.
Go to the books, see that there are fuses under the hood, check the pertinent ones and they're all good.
Take the multimeter to the XJ along with the owners manual with the fuse box diagram open. Wonder why none of the JY's have a fuse box cover.
Realize the fuse I replaced is the wrong amperage for the slot. /sigh
Get out and read the DMM instructions again. Ground the black cable to bare metal on the door and try to test the voltage at the red wire in slot 14 of the fuse box. No reading on the DMM.
Stick the red probe into slot 14 of the fuse box. Then take a few minutes to let the probe cool down and read the instructions on the DMM again while the burned insulation smell dissipates.
Check all the fuses again. None are broken.
Put the probe into the correct hole on the DMM and cautiously try probing slot 14 again. DMM shows around 3 volts from the slot.

Last edited by Zoider; 11-25-2011 at 10:22 AM.

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