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Driver's Door Latch Stuck

davidb0986

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Fort Collins, CO
I need to find a way to get my door open!

It is a 2000 XJ Limited 4x4 4.0 AW4 NP242 with power everything.

The backstory:

My front driverside door power lock stopped working a couple days ago, so I pulled the latch assembly out, lubed it, and put it back in. It still was not working, but I did not have time to pull it again.

Fast forward to today, I pulled the latch again and checked the mechanism, then replaced it, and without thinking to check for good operation, I closed the door. It did not open, so I pulled the trim as best as I could from the interior and got access to the rods. Unfortunately, moving them does not seem to do anything.

Is there a way to remove the latch mechanism without destroying my door? There is an Allen head screw that looks to be an adjustment screw, can I somehow adjust it to fully open?

Thanks!
 
Have you checked to see that you have power TO the lock/latch unit?

Maybe you could simply jumper the latch/lock unit at the connector to make it operate and get the door open?

It doesn't make sense that the rods won't manually operate the latch/lock but I guess the internals are bound up - possibly because the striker in the door sill moved or got bent somehow.....

Seems to me that if the rod going from the interior door lever feels like it's catching on the internals of the latch/lock (has some resistance) then all you should have to do is keep it pulled, then put your shoulder into the door or have someone outside be helping pull on the door to force the latch/lock to un-bind.

IIRC, '99 - '01 used a latch with a built in electric lock servo right? One black plastic box looking unit?

If you need a replacement, I should have one from a '99 I parted out.
 
002-2.jpg


disconnect the rod completely from the top lever and manipulate it through it's full range of motion by hand-- you've probably got a bent rod that's not moving it fully. not the best pic, but you're looking at the latch from inside the vehicle (this is actually passenger side, though)
 
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Ok, just had time to pull my door apart again, and I still cannot get it.

The problem is not a bent rod, I have the rods pulled and I am moving the latch itself by hand. The problem is within the latch mechanism, the closest thing I can figure is that the lock disconnect mechanism failed in the locked position. The only part I cannot figure out is that the lever that the interior handle attaches to should trip the lock mechanism to the unlocked position when it is pulled, and it does move the lock lever, but I think that something inside is no longer functioning properly.

I pulled my passenger side assembly apart to look at it, and I still cannot figure out what is not working properly.

All that to say, I think I am going to have to remove the latch assembly from inside the door. Does anyone have any ideas on how to do that? Air chisel? Dremel? My door is in great condition, so attacking it through a hole from the outside is not really an option that I am willing to consider.

Yellaheep - It does feel like there is some resistance (something catches a little) when I operate the lever that the interior rod attached to, but having someone pull hard from the outside while I move it did not do anything. Also, I already have the new latch assembly, because I was planning on replacing it anyway.
 
This threads a little old but i just got done getting my door open after fighting with it for quite some time today. Here's a couple of pictures to help everyone out with the quickest and easiest way to activate the latch regardless of whether it's locked or not. In the pics the yellow arrow points to the latch that needs to be activated and the red arrow indicates the direction it needs to go. Both pictures are of the latch oriented the way it would be inside the door.

imga0481rr0.jpg

imga0480nq4.jpg


Hope this will ease the process for alot of people. If I had known this when I first started, after pulling off the door panel it would have been a 5 minute job instead of 3 hours.
 
I forgot I had started this thread. For future reference, mine was broken internally, therefore moving the latch that the yellow arrow points at did nothing for me.

I took a 1/2" drill bit and drilled through the area just to the right of the latch that the yellow arrow is pointing to. It took a few tries to get the right spot, but after drilling a 3/4" area out just behind that, something gave and the door popped open.

Hope that helps anyone in the same predicament.
 
The part of the latch that the yellow arrow points to is the direct catch that when the striker enters the latch it closes and that catch holds it in place. By moving that latch up if it does not pop the door open then the only other thing that could be wrong is the spring inside is damaged, but even moving that catch up and then pushing the door open would take care of it.
 
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