xxlcherokee

The door won't open from the inside or outside, and the rear unlock lever won't move. Is there a trick to getting the door opened?

Jordan1996 ZJ

mine does this sometimes too, i just keep locking and unlocking it and it usually works

xxlcherokee

The problem is that the rear lock on that door does not move. It feels stuck?? Darn

Bustedback

You'll have to carefully remove the door panel and take a look inside the door, lube the linkage and lock cylinder with WD-40 or something close, then work the lock and linkage to free it up.

black_police_xj

^^^^^^^
Agree completely. its pita! took me a few hrs but got'er done. I took a cheap flat blade screwdriver and bent it 90 degrees about an inch in. used that to slip in behind the panel all around the door.
i did take the other side apart first to see how it comes off.

rideordie66

If you want to practice taking the door apart first, you can go to a junk yard and tear apart a few cherokees to see how they come apart. I took my door pannels off and found out that if I would have done it diffently I could have saved the pannels.

joethepartier

Did this to mine and soaked over an hour in wd-40, then when I put it back together adjusted the linkage a little tighter to make sure it would have pull. Also I didn't check to see what year yours is but on my 98 there are a lot of screws holding the panel on. Make sure you take those out first.

As far as getting the door open to get to them try lifting up on the handle with one hand and having your palm of the other hand on the door and bounce it. Should pop out with a few of those.

sc7sc

if you lift the door handle and push in on the bottom part (that doesn't move) that always worked for me, soon as you get it open remove the rear panel and wiggle the handle until you see the bar that looks like a wire hanger with thread on the end, its located towards the drivers side. remove that peice and put it back with the threads moved farther up, worked for me. Good luck

xxlcherokee

Sc7sc
You are literally my new hero. Wow it worked and once you said that I tapped on the handle firmly, and whammo it opened. Oddly enough the lock is not stuck on that door once it opened.

THANKS A TON GUYS

Sent from my iPad 2 using CherokeeFM

smitty93

I was having a problem with the right rear door of my 98 xj not locking and unlocking with the power locks, (small problem I know) so I had the great idea of, ...maybe I can fix that, so I take the latch out of the door, take the latch apart, put everything back togeather just so, put latch back on jeep, seemed to work, close door, end of story, door wont open what so ever. I really want to get it working but that latch is in there and I have no idea how to get it out.

trig1q

smitty93, I just did the same thing last week. I bought new actuators so that I could work on the locks this weekend, but having a heck of a time getting into the one that I jacked.
Please let me know if you make any headway with yours.

Later today:
Okay, I got mine out. I spent a couple hours with a power drill and a Dremel (No damage to the door).
The door panel actually came off pretty easy since I just had it off last week, and I bought some tools from Amazon to make the effort go a little easier.

Let me know how yours turns out.

mratko

Sorry to be chiming in so late. So I did some work on my door mechanism and now it will not open from either handle. I think I know what I did to cause it and there is no way to get the mechanism apart when it is installed in the door and the door is closed.

I am interested to know:

1) how you got the door panel off? (Mine is loose enough for me to put my hand/arm in but not to work on mechanism. There are a couple pins in the front edge of the door panel.)

2) What did you do with the dremel and drill to get your mechanism working? I would like to have this fixed before work on Monday ;^)

Thank you in advance for your help.

Mike

dave1123

Did anyone mention you have to take that side of the seat out? No! The bottom part, that is.

mratko

Thanks. I will keep that in mind.

dave1123

I got new (used) lock mechanisms from Pick&Pull for $7 each. The dealer wanted $157 each for my WJ and they had to be ordered.