No it was off on of the racks in the aisle.

 

Dorman 703-240 (1/4" rod)
GM 16675980 (5/32" rod)

 

My liftgate recently got stuck closed and I had to open it from the inside to do this maintenance. Upon inspection, my rod had not moved within the clips like this how-to addresses, but rather the lever was just not able to pull the rod up to actuate the latch release. I took the latch out and it had some corrosion on it which made it hard to release. A few squirts of PB Blaster with some manual exercising of the latch release and now all is well again. The moral of the story is the security of the rod to the lever is not always the problem, but rather a symptom since a tough release mechanism can put extra pressure on the rod and clip thus causing the clip to slip.

I don't like those plastic clips though.

 

I’m used to the ol’ ‘left hand push, right hand pull’ maneuver. I know one day it’ll fail me, but until then…

 

Didn't see this anywhere but in my attempt to fix my rear hatch handle I pulled the rod connecting the latch to the handle and checked the threads, on my 2000 XJ the rod IS threaded and the thread pitch is 10-24 machine thread. My factory handle also had the gray plastic connector shown in the pics above so what I did was set the rod in the plastic clip to where the handle easily released the latch, placed a #10 washer over the rod on top of the plastic clip and tightened down a 10-24 nyloc nut over it, works flawlessly now with 1 finger

 

Thanks for the write up and fixing this extremely common problem!

 

This write up was extremely helpful for fixing the rod issue. The factory rod was ribbed and I replaced it with an OEM one that was threaded and added a locknut to it so it wouldnt slide on the catch move.

7 years later, my liftgate gets stuck again but I can't figure out why. I adjusted the locknut but it didn't change much. The only way the liftgate opens now is to push on the right side of the license plate light frame (shroud? whatever the light is mounted in) while pulling the latch handle.

When pushing that piece there is an audible click.

Has anyone had this problem and found a solution?

 

Your 'locknut' may have failed.
We have an OEM release rod in our 2000 and it is concentrically ringed. Not threaded.
We had to push the gate in until I repaired the problem which was the rod gripper and nothing else.
Your tailgate rubber cushions could also be adjusted out too far.

 

Lubrications performed at each possible access time. ♥

 

I recommend removing the latch assembly for a thorough cleaning and lubricating.

Opening the rear gate on my XJ has been somewhat of a rollercoaster. I have done all of the recommended steps above but I still had difficulty opening the gate from time to time. Recently the latch was so bad I had to spend a couple of minutes messing with it to get it to open. Before it remained closed forever, I decided to remove the latch mechanism and inspect it. What I found was an issue not mentioned in this thread.

The latch release lever was prevented from moving its full travel because of an accumulation of solidified dust. I found that cleaning out the chunks interfering with the lever and other dust and dirt accumulated around the bottom of the gate (to prevent an early return of the issue) solved the problem. I took the opportunity to lube up the latch with a dry lubricant and reinstalled. It now opens with the lightest touch.

I believe the reason the clip on the rod slips is because of the latch release lever being bound up by dust or corrosion. This may be the root cause for the rear gate latch issues.

The latch is easily removed by unbolting the three mounting screws, releasing the clip on the release rod, and unplugging one wire connector.

 

To keep the rod in-place, I used a little wire clamp - works great!