Tl* the contact owns a 1996 jeep grand cherokee. The contact stated that the driver side door latch fractured and allowed the door to open while the vehicle was in motion. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 315,977.
1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee: doors won't lock, open or latch
11 of the 892 complaints about the 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee describe doors won't lock, open or latch.
- owner complaints
- 11
- of this car's complaints
- 1%
- typical mileage
- 155,000
- recalls
- 0
Is there a fix? 1 service bulletin covers this area of the car. See below
Doors won't lock, open or latch by model year
What owners say
Tl* the contact owns a 1996 jeep grand cherokee. The contact stated that the rear hatch door failed to open and close properly after the vehicle was serviced under the federal safety agency campaign number: 13v252000 (fuel system, gasoline , structure). The contact mentioned that the rear hatch door was not aligned properly with the door lock. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 193,871.
All electronic door locks fail to work. Cannot lock or open them with the key either. This means I cannot lock my vehicle at any time since it will mean locking me out and requiring calling assistance to open my vehicle door.
Driver front, and both rear door lock actuators have stopped working correctly.
Problem... Driving down the road or stopped at light or in the middle of a turn or on expressway... It would shut off without warning, sometime it would restart immediately, sometimes not!!!... Extremely dangerous situations developed, which I was lucky!!! 1996 jeep grand cherokee, 4.0 , 6 cyl.... Spent 6 months doing repairs/ replacement parts and many ,many dollars spent tracking down part after part. Using diagnostics machine to determine faulty part... Problem was the power control module ( PCM or ecu same part) was defective and either was misreading codes or giving out bad codes to parts (like to the crank shaft position sensor or the coil, or the 01 or 02 ox sensors or it goes on and on and on). Not sure how it works but you get my drift. Since signing up with cnet.com, have found many people across america with the same issue on jeep with different years (1994/2000) and models. To search... Look up jeep stalls or jeep fixed and you will see other topics and forums around that topic and you will also see where the manufacture doesn't know how to address the problem either. Another possible recall issue is the screws that hold the PCM might be too long and are grounding out the unit after paint wears off on firewall... Important to read all articles and different forums!!! ... Is a must lastly... Instead of replacing PCM's, is it possible to have the PCM re flashed under recall??? I'm stretching, but maybe electrical power storms and rain is causing parts to defect??? Lastly... Jeep parts consists of module power units that work or don't work but the PCM reads the codes and adjusts the workable of the motor... Another issue is that there are several issues that will shut down the motor besides the fore mentioned parts... Ie... Asd relay, the security system, door locks, steering column, the electronic key, the back windshield wiper...
This complaint was sent by a web user via e-mail. While driving the driver's door opened and would not close. Luckily no accident occurred, because consume r was able to control the car. Upon inspection noticed that the door latch inside the driver's door broke off from door frame by itself, was hanging, and not connected. When trying to shut the door it wouldn't shut. Consumer took the car to a dealership, and they said there was nothing they could do. Consumer took it to a body shop, and they said it would be $1636.75 to replace the door and latch. *ak
Driving down freeway and drivers door pops open and won't shut. Have to pull over in a hurry to avoid accident. Found door latch hanging from door frame. Weak weld of latch had given way and door popped open. Very dangerous. Local chrysler dealership couldn't help financially or otherwise and sent me to a body shop. Body shop said this is a regular problem on chrysler products. They use a cheap metal and welding to attach door latch. I would like to be refunded the $1800 it is costing me to replac the entire door. Car is a 1996 jeep grand cherokee. I would think this should last more than eight years.
Driver's side door latches are inoperable on an intermittent basis. Dealer has been contacted. Please provide further details.
Air bag light comes on, door locks cycle and windows will not operate. The onboard computer records the fault. This has occured many times over the last 28,000 miles. The dealer has replaced most of the air bag elements twice and the door lock switches. The jeep has been to the dealer 9 times, worked on for 59 days, driven by the dealer 1141 plus miles and the failure observed by the dealer. The failure still exists.
Sunroof rusted out- replaced by dealer, automatic door locks failed and vinyl paneling peeled- both thing replaced by dealer. Check engine light came on for no reason- sensor replaced twice by dealer.
The latch assembly fell into the door interior after the metal on the door assembly failed. The vehicle was taken to the body shop at dirk waltz chrysler-jeep, midland, mi. The estimator ( mario?) said that they had seen a rash of these failure recently. The service manager, scott therryl (?), looked at the door. Gregory taylor, damlier-chrysler district ser. Manager, was contacted. The recurring problem was described by the estimator as a failed weld at the lower hinge that causes the door to mis-align. The mis-alignment causes the latch assembly on the frame to strike the door latch incorrectly. The repeated mis-strike causes the metal to fatigue, and the latch detaches from the door suddenly. There was no obvious problem until the failure occured. The door could have easily poped open in a very low speed collision. Damlier chrysler has denied any responsibility for the problem, even though the problem appears to be related to a poor weld design in the door box.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee door locks
Is doors won't lock, open or latch a common problem on the 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
11 of 892 owner complaints about the 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee (1%) mention doors won't lock, open or latch. The model year with the most reports is 2005.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
There are 0 recalls and 1 service bulletin for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Fuel pump 61Stalling 59Won't start 19Power steering loss 16No deployment 13Slipping 13Fire or smoke 11Transmission failure 11Grinding brakes 10Pulling 10Check engine light 9Engine failure 8Headlights 8Loss of power 8Ball joint 7Brake failure 7Knocking 7Jerking 7Overheating 7Steering lock-up 6Sudden acceleration 6Tire blowout 6ABS 5Adaptive cruise 5Rollaway 5Won't shift 5Wipers 5
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