OP
Good idea!
I haven't tried adjusting the pin that was previously mentioned because I just know that when I take off the interior door cover I'm going to break those $5 plastic clips! :-(
Passenger side door kind of hard to open
- Thread starter badlieutenant
- Start date
Good idea!
I haven't tried adjusting the pin that was previously mentioned because I just know that when I take off the interior door cover I'm going to break those $5 plastic clips! :-(
OP
Well, I’m ashamed to say I failed to fix this but I wanted a good opinion...
Not only does it take a good tug to get the door opened from the outside, but now the rocker lock on the inside kind of sticks. It doesn’t smoothly lock or unlock. The key works fine, though.
Related? What y’all think?
Not only does it take a good tug to get the door opened from the outside, but now the rocker lock on the inside kind of sticks. It doesn’t smoothly lock or unlock. The key works fine, though.
Related? What y’all think?
I know its been over a year but how did this turn out? I'm having a hell of a time getting these door handles adjusted.
seventy1
Member
I've done this, fairly simple, just remove the inner panel, locate the adjuster per post #5, and tighten' her up. It's a chintzy looking clip, so no surprise they get out of adjustment.
GreatWhiteTurtle
New Member
If the only problem OP had were a very long pull of the outside door handle being necessary to get the door open, then adjusting that vertical rod inside the door to sit a tad bit higher would solve it. But since his update indicated that the lock rocker switch is/was also binding, the solution is a little bit more involved. I know from experience--my Jeep has two doors and I've dealt with this issue three times, if you could the first attempt to solve it, which was not a solution and wasted about $100 for a new exterior door handle.
The solution the sticking lock rocker switch is to:
**Note: it might be a good idea to remove the inner door handle assembly and clean it as well, but that's probably not going to be necessary, and it's not particularly simple or easy, and it's also rather time consuming. I don't recommend removing the inner handle mechanism at all until you've done all the rest and tested door handles and lock switch. If the switch still feels sticky, you may want to consider removing the inner handle to clean the back. No lubricant should be added once it's clean.**
Anyone who starts to experience that sticky lock rocker switch should do this latch cleaning as soon as possible, because it will not be long at all before you're no longer able to open your door. Once that happens you will have the very unpleasant task of removing the door card from inside the vehicle while the door is trapped shut, and if you'rr not small and nimble that will mean you also have to remove the rear seat to get to the front seat and remove it as well, just to get to the screws at the bottom of the door card so it can be removed. Even then, you run a much higher chance of cracking your door card trying to remove it from inside the vehicle. If you wait to perform this cleaning too long, you might get really unlucky, like a, uh... "guy I know," and have to crawl into the jeep through the rear hatch to get to the inner door to remove the card and start this process. Trust me when I--I mean when the guy I know says that you don't want to be in that position.
This guy Jerry at BSK Garage on YouTube made a really great video showing the process to tackle this. In his case (and apparently several others in the comments), they had little bits of broken glass trapped in their latches. In my case it was just a bunch of accumulated grime.
The solution the sticking lock rocker switch is to:
- remove the window crank (look up a video about how to remove the "jesus clip" that holds it on. It can be a PITA
- remove the door card (5 t20 torx screws)
- peel back the plastic over the big opening closest to the door latch mechanism
- remove the colored plastic clips that hold onto the rods inside the door
- remove the 3 T30 torx bolts on the inner door around the latch (one is slightly hidden behind the rubber door seal--just push it out of the way to get to the bolt)
- remove the door latch mechanism
- clean the door latch mechanism thoroughly with CRC Mass Airflow Sensor Cleaner (gray can) or CRC QD Electronics cleaner (red can)--both can be found at your local auto parts store, both are pretty expensive (~$9-12/can where I live), but both are extremely good cleaners on par with brake clean for this task, except both are specially formulated to not harm plastics, and there's a lot of plastic in the door latch mechanism
- re-lubricate the latch mechanism--use either silicone spray lube or silicone plumber's grease. Don't overdo it because more grease/residue means more opportunity for grime and stuff to gum up the mechanism over time and cause this problem to occur again
- test everything as you're putting it back together. Hang the door back on the hinge and test the ability of both the inner handle and the outer handle to open the door freely from a closed position before reinstalling the door card. If you need to make an adjustment to the rod that was discussed earlier, you're going to be super pissed if you installed the door card before testing.
Make sure you can operate both door handles freely and the lock rocker switch toggles completely and feels a bit "snappy", as it should
**Note: it might be a good idea to remove the inner door handle assembly and clean it as well, but that's probably not going to be necessary, and it's not particularly simple or easy, and it's also rather time consuming. I don't recommend removing the inner handle mechanism at all until you've done all the rest and tested door handles and lock switch. If the switch still feels sticky, you may want to consider removing the inner handle to clean the back. No lubricant should be added once it's clean.**
Anyone who starts to experience that sticky lock rocker switch should do this latch cleaning as soon as possible, because it will not be long at all before you're no longer able to open your door. Once that happens you will have the very unpleasant task of removing the door card from inside the vehicle while the door is trapped shut, and if you'rr not small and nimble that will mean you also have to remove the rear seat to get to the front seat and remove it as well, just to get to the screws at the bottom of the door card so it can be removed. Even then, you run a much higher chance of cracking your door card trying to remove it from inside the vehicle. If you wait to perform this cleaning too long, you might get really unlucky, like a, uh... "guy I know," and have to crawl into the jeep through the rear hatch to get to the inner door to remove the card and start this process. Trust me when I--I mean when the guy I know says that you don't want to be in that position.
This guy Jerry at BSK Garage on YouTube made a really great video showing the process to tackle this. In his case (and apparently several others in the comments), they had little bits of broken glass trapped in their latches. In my case it was just a bunch of accumulated grime.
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Excellent write up. I have done this few times not as well as you but cleaning the mechanism is the key.
I also have a outside door handle which can "camover" if pulled too hard like when the temperature is perfect to freeze the door seal to the door jamb. I drilled two access holes since the mech is buried out of sight.
First time I had no idea what I'd find but youtube offered a how to... as I did the how to I realized sure I can take it apart blind but no way could I reassemble it.... so I drilled 2 holes. Now when the finger slips past the lever it takes a minute to remove the inner door panel and fix the problem.