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Liftgate won't open!

B

BDHershey

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Lexington, SC
Guy's I need some help please. I just got back home from vacation. While out of town (in Bryson City, NC) myself, my wife and daughter went for a ride through the Greast Smokie Mountain National Park. Beautiful! Anyway, we went from the Chatalochee Valley over Mount Sterling to Tennesse on Cove Creek Rd. When we got back into Cherokee (ha! to Cherokee in the Cherokee) the liftgate wouldn't open! No damage, no bumps, no noises. It had been "tricky" to open for some time, requiring sometimes two or three tries. It just felt like the latch wasn't "grabbing". This is what it feels like now. There is still spring tension, but you never feel it grab. I can only describe it like a firearm trigger, there is usually some take-up followed by an increase in resistence, and then a "break" as the latch releases. Now there is no increase in resistance. If I could get it open, I could remove the trim panel for a better idea of what the problem is, but with it stuck closed this is impossible without destroying the panel. Any ideas? Help!

-Hershey
 
Just a thought.........if you can have an assistant push on the liftgate portion while you push the button it just might take enough stress off of it that you will be able to open it, BUT if you do, make sure you leave the trim panel off until you can get it repaired.
GOOD LUCK!
 
I just took a look at my '88 and I don't see any way to get a tool in there to pop the latch from the inside with the interior panel in place. I have seen this problem listed here several times before. The next time I take the panel off I want to see if there is some way to rig up a release handle that could be actuated from the inside with the panel in place. My Aerostar van is the same; no inside release for the hatch. I hope to never be in such a situation, but another way out of a vehicle in an emergency is always a good thing...
 
I had that problem a couple of times. The reason why it wouldnt open is because lots and lots of dust accumulated in the locking mechanism and would not release properly. I managed to finally get it open with a little push and release technique after a few kicks. :)

I removed the hatch interior cover and removed the latch mechanism; cleaned it with compressed air and then covered it in silicon spray. Havent had an issue since.
 
I don't have any personal experience with this technique, or if it is even possible, but I have heard that you can access the nuts that hold the latch striker to the body from under the rear of the vehicle. Remove the nuts and open the hatch with the striker and latch still locked together. Might be worth a look.
 
MJmk said:
I don't have any personal experience with this technique, or if it is even possible, but I have heard that you can access the nuts that hold the latch striker to the body from under the rear of the vehicle. Remove the nuts and open the hatch with the striker and latch still locked together. Might be worth a look.
Click to expand...

IIRC, this won't work on the 97+. Perhaps on the older models. definitely worth a shot though. I could be wrong...again.
 
Yea , mine did the same thing all i did was hit the hatch just above the handle while pulling the handle and it would open evry time, but yea like they said u need to clean the latch mechanism.
 
Forgot to mention that mine is a '99 Sport with power locks. I have tried the push, pull, kick, push, curse, pull method. So far unsuccessfully. But I'll keep trying. Yes the car is unlocked, confirmed with key and fob. I'll check in the AM for the bolts underneath for the striker. Otherwise I'll keep trying. Anything in particular to clean or just generally everything?

-Hershey
 
XJ Jeepin Girl said:
I was almost gonna ask that.. : / Hey, I forget it's locked all the time!
Click to expand...
Anytime someone posts about rear brakes being locked up when they are trying to work on them, I always ask, is the parking brake off? 1/4 of the time thats the cause.
 
JEONLYEP said:
For grins and giggles, have you tried locking and unlocking it? As I think more about mine, that maybe how it finally unlocked after a couple extra turns of the key...

Worth a try anyway.

DAryl
Click to expand...


Tried it. Thanks!

-Hershey
 
I just took the latch and lock off the lift gate of my XJ, JEONLYEP has a good suggestion.

The way the latch locks on my '95, which is probably the same for 84-96, is the lock cylinder just turns a little finger on the end of it. That little finger just moves a slide on the latch that disengages the latch and then theres no link between the lever connected to the button that you press to open the liftgate and the latch itself. Turn the lock cylinder the other way, with the key of course, and the finger moves the slide back and re-engages the linkages make it work again.

The slide has plenty of room to move on its own, its not hooked to the lock cylinder, the finger has to turn to and come in contact and then push it over. So it looks very possible, that a weird bump in the right direction could get that slide to slide over on its own and disengage the linkage.

If that happened, just turning the lock cylinder with the key, to locked and unlocked would pop the slide back where it should be.
 
Happened on my '99 as well. I pulled the rear hatch inner cover off from the inside. I did exaclty what everyone else did cleaned and lubed all the mechanisms worked for a while but it came back a few months later. Pulled the inner cover off again and watched from inside as someone outside operated the latch. What had happened was where the threaded rod connects the the latch had come loose - wouldn't tighten anymore - used some mechanics wire wrapped it tight and haven't had a problem since.
 
It's fixed! I went out last night to pull it back up in the driveway to fiddle with it some more. I was talking on the phone describing the problem to my dad, and the first time I tried it, it opened right up! I was a little surprised, after all that I didn't expect it to open without some more pushing, cursing, pulling, etc; but I just pulled the handle and vioala! Anyway, I did take the trim off and clean and lube everything. Nothing looked terribly dirty, dusty, or gummy, but who knows.... There was some rust on the part of the latch seen from the exterior when the liftgate is open. I don't know if that was enough to make it stick or what, but its working better than it has in years now! Now to take it in and get the A/c fixed which fizzled out on the trip too. I out a new compressor and evaporator, etc in it late summer '04, and now its out again. Seems like the clutch isn't engaging on the compressor. Switch.... Anyway, thanks for all the help! Oh, and the bolts for the striker plate are acessible from under the rear of the vehicle, although with the bolts still running through it I'm not sure if it would open or not. Thanks again guys!


-Hershey
 
Wow it's amazing what you remember after reading the same thing.

Mine self fixed once also. But then a couple of days later, when I was going to disassemable it, it wasn't working again.

Glad to hear that you got it open.

Hope the cleaning worked.

DAryl
 
reviving... my 01 has been stuck for a couple months, finally got enough courage to pry off the inside panel. removed the screws around the window, then pulled the bottom portion until enough of the plastic connectors popped out of the door that I could reach in and pull up on the mechanism to open the door... then I unscrewed the rest of the screws and took it completely off while I try to figure it out. *sigh* only took a few minutes to do it
 
Cleaning is good but you have to tighten the mech to ensure that the hatch will open again. There is a actuator rod with detents that is snaped into the lock mech. Move the rod to a tighter detent and you will have worry free operation. Keep the panel off and try it a few times first before you put it back together though...hahaha.
 
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