As soon as my wife purchased her "New to Her" 98 Cherokee Sport
it of course started to act weird. The rear right door look would sometimes
work and most of the time wouldn't work from the drivers side central lock
button. It wouldn't of been a big deal other than that's the exact location
our 1-year old boy sits. I looked around and checked with the dealer and I
wasn't in the mood to pay what they where asking. I was quoted over $100 from
one and close to $150 from another. I would of paid it if I was 100% sure
it was the locking actuator and not the wiring in the door. I jumped on Ebay
and found one for $30 shipped. Of course I was taking a chance that it didn't
work or my wiring was shot. Cheap leap of faith. =).
Tools:
Time:
Sharp Knife or razor
knife
Phillips Screw driver
#20 Torx
Approx. 30 minutes
Needless to say the lock was bad and the new one does exactly what I need
it to do. It locks and unlocks and the wife is happy. Written by kizer,
if you have any questions or comments about this install visit
Using a Phillips screw driver remove the screw just above the door handle.
Use a Phillips screw driver to remove the two screws under the arm rest.
Pull the interior door skin away from the door staring on the very outside edge of the door working your way down along the bottom towards the interior door hinges.
As soon as you remove the door skin you will see two connection points. One is electrical and the other is the arms that operate your lock and your door opening latch.
Looking down into the door skin disconnect the plug by pushing down on the little tong on the plug and pulling out.
This is looking down at the lock and door opening latch.
Grab the back of the yellow lock down device and twist it up. Its on a pivot and will seem snug, but it will rotate around the pin on the rods.
This is just a photo to remind myself how the rods where installed. Top one pointing up, bottom one pointing down.
Take a sharp knife or razor and cut the black sealant holding
the plastic to the door. I cut in the middle to leave sealant
on the door and on the back of the plastic. Remove as much as
you need until you have access to the locking mechanism, which
is at the outer most point of the door.
Reach in and unplug the electrical connection to the door lock actuator.
This is the Junkyard one I picked up. It was a lot cheaper than buying it brand new. I would highly suggest testing the new unit prior to installing it. If it doesn't work you'll have to start all over again. I simply plugged in the electrical connection and cycled the lock from lock to unlock several times. It worked flawlessly so I knew it wasn't my door wiring, but the lock.
It works so lets continue with the removal of the old.
Looking inside the door unclip the top just like you did on the door handle release and door lock. I choose to unclip the top most clip.
Now with the electrical connection and top most clip disconnected
use a #20 Torx bit and remove the 3 bolts on the outside of
the door.
Reach in and pull out the locking mechanism. What you will have
left inside the door is the back side of the door handle that
is operated from the outside of the Jeep.
This is what was pulled out with the rods still connected.
I found it easiest to place the old unit on a bench and simply transfer the rods from the old to the new. Well working unit. =)
Reinstall your new unit by connecting the upper rod, 3 screws
and the electrical connection.
Slide your rods through the slit in the plastic then starting
from the inner most area pull the plastic tight and push the
plastic onto the black sealant and move towards the outside.
While your re-seating the plastic make sure you take care and
making sure that the holes from the door line up with the plastic.
If not you will have to recut the sealant and adjust the plastic
Just making sure our rods are the right direction. The first time I attempted this I had the arms crossed and didn't realize the arms actually cross each other.
Reconnect the yellow tabs on the upper and lower connection points.
I didn't take a photo for some reason, but don't forget your electrical connection.
Start from the inner door jam and hook the top of your door
skin to the U shaped channel at the top of the door. I found
it was easiest to rock the door panel side to side while pushing
down.
Once you have the upper section on work your way from the door jam down up the outer edge of the door.
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