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2001 Cherokee Door Lock Issue

jlmxj49

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Alabama
First off, I did a search, read through some threads but didn't find this particular issue. I have an 01 Sport that I'm having a power door lock problem on. I can unlock all of the doors from both sides, but can't lock them with the drivers side master switch. I can lock them from the passengers side switch or with the remote. Everything else works, windows, mirrors, etc. I bought another used switch that was supposed to be good and swapped them out. It won't lock or unlock anything. The windows and mirror switches work, but not the lock. I'm thinking this may be just a switch problem but don't know that for sure. I was going to just buy a new Dorman but they're close to $90 at Rock Auto and I hate to buy a new switch only for it not to fix it. It makes no sense my switch will unlock but not lock. Anyone else have this particular problem?
 
So the passenger side control is what controls the locks.
So you saying they work with the remote and from the passenger side makes sense.
At least to me.

Best I can tell from the schematic out of my '01 FSM is that a orange/violet wire off the driver's side switch goes to the passenger side switch to lock.

That makes me think that issue lies with the drive's side control, just trying to lock, or that one wire.

So I guess if this were me I would find that wire in the connector to the passenger side switch, put a meter to it, and see if power is coming through when you hit the switch.

Or check for continuity for that one wire from the driver's side to the passenger side at each of the connectors.

If that does not pan out then maybe try resoldering the driver's side switch like guys do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBNIC_2H_JQ&feature=emb_title

Switch could just need a good cleaning too.
 
Ralph I'm glad that this has been figured out before me, because I found it the hard way a few days ago.

My window switches would work flawlessly... right until I absolutely needed them to work. Driving around on a sunny day? No problem. All day long windows go up and down. Rain clouds start moving in? Nah dawg. Can't move. I chased the problem forever until one day it just wouldn't work at all and I finally was able to troubleshoot it down to the switch. I started looking for a new (passenger) switch and found that they all had terrible reviews so I cracked mine open and saw those cold solder joints. I re-soldered them and now my power door locks (and windows) work, which was an added bonus because they never did before (but I honestly didn't care enough to fix it).
 
They are also notorious for just basic wiring issues, my 2000 has been locking/un-locking the doors by itself for the last couple of years, I been avoiding it about as much as I can.
 
Ralph nailed it. Faulty solder joints or failure of the driver door master switch assembly is common. A two way switch can fail on only one side. Drivers door and tailgate wire harness failure causing short circuits and open circuits is also very common.
 
Tim, any way you can expound on the trunk wire harness short? Is there a common spot for it to short out? I traced a short on my dome lights to a splice under the passenger door sill. I didn't feel like tearing out the whole interior to find it so I just cut the wire there and left it. Turns out it's for the hatch light but it's somewhere between the hatch connector and that splice.
 
So I took apart the replacement switch I bought just to see if soldering was defective as mentioned in the video. I can't see anything wrong with any of the soldering. Also, the little arms are making contact with the little pads so the connection is being made there. I can see some of the circuitry runs from the lock switch to a black box between the window lockout button and auto window button. I guess something could be bad in it. As I mentioned previously, my switch will unlock but not lock. Looks like if it was a wire it would behave the same with both switches. At this point I guess I will buy a new one and hope it solves the problem.
 
It's 2 separate wires; one for lock and one for unlock. It also goes through 3 connectors to get to the passenger side switch (5 if you count the ones at each switch).

A simple test would be to back probe the driver's side switch with it plugged into the harness to check for power coming from the switch. If you have +12v coming from the orange/purple wire when you hit the lock button. If not, it's a bad switch. If you do, you're probably looking at pulling the door harness out and repairing broken wires. It's very common for them to break where the door hinges.

Like Ralph said, you can check for continuity between the switches too. You'll have to pull off both door panels and unplug both switches, then check resistance between the orange/purple wires. Less than 1 ohm is the expectation.
 
Wire failures are most often inside or very near the rubber boot.



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