Jeep Cherokee 2005 - Locked tailgate won't open, help!!!

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Sat 17 Apr 2010 10:53
Jeep Cherokee 2005 - Locked tailgate won't open, help!!! - quidsin

Help!!! Last night the tailgate on my 2005 Cherokee KJ wouldn't open, took a look at it just now from the access hole. The lever inside feels like its moving ok, but when the key fob is used I can't hear the lock open. Anyone know what the problem may be? All the fuses look ok, could it be a faulty relay somewhere?

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Sun 18 Apr 2010 20:42
Jeep Cherokee 2005 - Locked tailgate won't open, help!!! - quidsin
Right, i've just managed to unplug the connector to the latch assembly, the voltage is working ok to it when the fob is pressed to lock/ unlock. Now i'm challenged with a locked tailgate and trying to get the latch off. Took a look at the service manual and it looks like the latch assembly is screwed from the outside. Any ideas???
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Sun 18 Apr 2010 21:04
Jeep Cherokee 2005 - Locked tailgate won't open, help!!! - tutor52

Not sure about the Jeep but on both my Pajeros I have had this happen to me. I had to ease back the door card and squirt liberal amounts of WD40 into the door space. There are a couple of quadrants which redirect the open and locking mechanism to the rear door catch. Whrere these cross each other they rust together.

If you can reach in to the door cavity you may be able to free the mechanism by hand. Once you have the door open give it a good clean up and a liberal dose of grease on all the moving parts.

One of mine happened 4 years ago and I haven't had any trouble since going through the above.

HTH

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