1988 YJ...Full doors.

I haven't had this problem before, or any with hte doors for that matter.

Tonight it is roughly 8 degrees outside. I am not sure if that had anything to do with it. I went to open the door and the handle made some wierd sounds, almost like something came loose, or jammed. Well, the handle stayed stuck open, and I could not get it back to it's normal position.

I then went to the passenger side and the same thing happened. I had to climb in the back hatch.
Then I had trouble even getting the doors to open from inside.

Anyone have thie problem before?? :confused: :confused:

Thanks,
Steve

the handle on my half doors stopped working before. I had to open it up and fix the linkage.

Like everything else...It waits till the worst time to screw up.

It's fricken cold outside!! Not the best for doing repairs.

Anyone else have this happen?

Originally posted by Kicker
Like everything else...It waits till the worst time to screw up.

It's fricken cold outside!! Not the best for doing repairs.

Anyone else have this happen?
lol take the door off and fix it in the living room ;)

Yep...Yesterday was a long day...It took me till today to remember the doors come off.

I have them warming up in my basement right now.

It's been a long week and it's only Wednesday!!

Thanks,
Steve

Probably part of the mechanism in the cheesey door handle broke.
[master of the obvious]
I had that happen to TWO on my CJ hard doors (same type mechanism basically) and replaced both, and one broke last winter.
Waiting for the other to break.

Some kind of part thats made out of "white metal" was the culprit in mine.

Have fun...I'm good at taking them apart now...had to learn the hard way though.

MJ

Got any tips for me?? I haven't pulled on apart before...

..

Well I'm not even sure if the YJ ones are the same as the CJ ones...never had YJ door apart.

Pull the inside panel off and take a look.

Might just be a "rod" that broke, or popped out of place....its pretty simple once you get in there to figure out whats wrong and how its all put together...its taking it apart thats a bear...just be patient is my advice since I can't see your doors.

MJ

:D

Your going to have to remove the fabric from the door......it pops off with about 8 plastic plugs (very easy to break pull it slowly, if they come out they can just be pryed out and twisted back in the fabric skin).

Once the fabric insert is off you will notice that there is a small metal "plate" above the door mechanism. It should have two torx bolts on the side and 3-4? philip screws on the plate.

Once you remove the plate you will be able to see inside. The doors work by an "arm" moving a "pin" to the side. Use the inside door handle to see what moves. The common problem is the arm has gotten caught on the wrong side of the pin, thus making the outside door handles useless. Use a screw driver to pop it back to the right side.

Now the pin may have been bent (typical wear problem) Using a punch or the screw driver and a hammer, hit the pin so that it is straight (or even better) slightly bent making move of a contact point with the arm.

This is a good time to shoot the inside with some WD40.

Of all the Jeeps I've owned I've had to do this. It takes only a few minutes when you used to it. But its a pain in the arse when its cold. It could be worth the time for CJ & Yj owners to look and see how your looks, climbing from the tailgate is not fun...........and very embaressing.

CJ Shark...You were right on what happened.

The arms were on the wrong side of the lever/pin on both doors. Kinda weird how they both decided to do at the same time.

The drivers side had to be bent back in place, as I moved it but it went back to locked. The passenger side worked the first time.

Thanks for your help guys.

And yes, climbing through the hatch is quite embarising. Especially when your inlaws who don't like your Jeep see you doing it :D