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General Forums => The Mess Hall => Topic started by: Mozman68 on May 24, 2014, 11:32:19 AM
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So...finally decided to change out the handle on my passenger side to match the nicer unit I installed on the driver side last Fall (FYI...don't buy handles from Quadratec/4WD...cheap, rusting crap...Deppo from Amazon is the way to go).
Was also fixing the lock on the driver side and fine tuned the one on the passenger side. Not sure what happened, but after locking the passenger side door when I went to airport, came back and couldn't open the door. The lock is somehow stuck and won't unlock no matter how much I try.
I was able to peel away the door panel from the inside to have better access and have tried everything I can to get the f-ing door open...to no avail...
Is there any trick to releasing the door latch that I am missing? I have poked and prodded at everything I can think of.....maybe a schematic of the latch mechanism? I'm missing something.
Never locking it again....
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Are we talking full doors or half?
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If you open other door panel you can look at a working mirror image. You should be able to see what is not moving that should be.
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Hah...yep....other panel is off and was one of the first things I did after a coat hanger wasn't successful in pulling the mechanism up from the window slot.
I guess what I'm not able to see is how the lock actually prevents the mechanism from releasing. That happens inside the "catch."
Full doors Jeffy...
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There is one vertical rod that goes from the lock to the catch, IIRC. It should be visible once you take teh panel off and can see into the catch area.
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I remember being able to see rod movement when I flipped the lock. Iirc there are 2 rods pretty close together. The thinner one was the lock.
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I've got all that covered...angled rod from the inside lock and vertical rod from the outside lock. Neither of those are the issue.
The issue is how the lock switch on the inside of the door works with the door latch inside the plastic latch housing. Something in there is preventing the lock from "unlocking."
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Well the pop the rod on the lock side and see if the cylinder turns freely. There's only two parts that could go wrong the cylinder and the catch, I think.
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Yep...hard to explain...I'll try and post pics later.
There must be some action internal to the lock catch that is stuck or blocked. I have complete access to the lock...has nothing to do with the lock cylinder, internal switch or either of the rods those utilize.
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So you took the rod off and manually pushed the rod to open? Also, it's connected to the lock switch for the inner handle. That rod sometimes binds.
It's the top threaded rod. The lower one is for the actual inner handle, IIRC.
(http://www.jedi.com/obiwan/jeep/doorlock/yj_door_lock25.jpg)
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Yep...definitely not the rods.
TJ latch is much more "sophisticated..." And not as exposed as older Jeeps.
Hard molded plastic housing that is hiding how the lock actually integrates with the catch. At this point, I've been shoving a flat blade screwdriver in certain areas to see if there is a release that I'm just not seeing.
If I can't pry it open, I may end up just breaking the catch and buy a new latch. :brick:
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The TJ catch doesn't look that different other then having more plastic. I would assume the plastic arm is the one that controls the lock while the metal one is the one that actually opens the door. Can you manually force it into the unlock position? Or does the lever just flap around freely?
(http://d7fz7zn8l0fsa.cloudfront.net/99tjdola.jpg)
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So...the picture would be turned counterclockwise 90 degrees....the l shaped plastic piece is the lock mechanism and it is positioned in the unlock position.
I can grab that arm and try and force it into the down position, but something internally is preventing it from "clicking." Even in the picture above, I can't see what it does internally to prevent the latch from releasing.
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We had something similar happen to our '98. What took care of the issue was cleaning and lubricating the lock mechanism and the linkage pivots. Everything inside the door was caked with years of desert dust and crud. Hope that fixes your problem too, 'cause it was easy and CHEAP!
Wheezer
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We had something similar happen to our '98. What took care of the issue was cleaning and lubricating the lock mechanism and the linkage pivots. Everything inside the door was caked with years of desert dust and crud. Hope that fixes your problem too, 'cause it was easy and CHEAP!
Wheezer
I wish...it's not...something internal physically preventing the lock from "unlocking."
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Door...is...open....
Isolated the one spot on the inside of the latch that seemed to move slightly when I tried to move the lock arm. Shoved a long flat bald screwdriver below that spot and pried really hard. Heard a snap and then tried the door...voila....and I don't think it is even broken.
Never locking my doors again.....
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So...the picture would be turned counterclockwise 90 degrees....the l shaped plastic piece is the lock mechanism and it is positioned in the unlock position.
I can grab that arm and try and force it into the down position, but something internally is preventing it from "clicking." Even in the picture above, I can't see what it does internally to prevent the latch from releasing.
Yeah, that's a Driver side door catch, I believe. So rotate is 90* CCW
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Door...is...open....
Isolated the one spot on the inside of the latch that seemed to move slightly when I tried to move the lock arm. Shoved a long flat bald screwdriver below that spot and pried really hard. Heard a snap and then tried the door...voila....and I don't think it is even broken.
Never locking my doors again.....
Soak the area with something like Breakfree CLP not WD40. Get the old grease out of there as it hardens and holds crud to it.
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if your opening handle from either outside or inside is tensioned you won't be able to activate the lever (move it to unlocked position), my guess when you installed it you have somehow made either one to hold pressure on it, take both the opening rod from the inside handle and check the opening mech of the outside handle (or take it off if you can), once that is not tensioned you shoud be able to unlock the door.
this is like when you have someone coming to your pass side door and pull the handle before you have a chance to unlock it, you can't and the handle has to be released before you can move it.
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Man, I've never read so much about locking and unlocking Jeep doors. Built my first Willys in 67-68 and still drive a short-wheelbase Jeep; '98 TJ.
In 46 years, I've N E V E R locked my doors. The soft-tops are too easy to cut to get to stuff that ain't there.
Hunter