Tailgate Door Doesn't Open

Thought I'd share a problem and a lucky fix with the group.

I got home last night and the tailgate door wouldn't open on my '03 Jeep Liberty Sport. When I pulled the door handle, the glass popped open as normal, but the door wouldn't budge. I hit the unlock button on my key fob but still no open.

After reading several threads on here about bad actuators and broken mechanisms and how to access them through the pop-off access panel on the inside of the tailgate, I decided to go have a closer look today.

I removed the access panel, lifted up the insulation and cut the black plastic lining enough to move it out of my way and saw nothing. As it turns out, the access panel really does nothing more than allow you to slip your hand in the door to feel the mechanism.

I hit the unlock button again on the fob and could clearly hear the solenoid functioning just fine. I then had my wife pull the door handle from the outside of the vehicle as I laid in the back with my hand on the mechanism inside the door. After several of these, I could feel where the mechanism was lifting but not moving the actual door latch. I then could unlatch the door with my hand in the door, but because I couldn't see how it was linked I had to make a guess as to what was wrong.

My fist thought is that something may have broken off the latch mechanism. I began feeling around the bottom of the inside of the door panel for any loose parts that may have broken free. I found a screw and pulled it out. Of course I dropped it a couple of times from my two finger grasp. I examined it once I got it out and it looked like a thumb screw that could solve my problem. I reached back in the door and felt for an empty screw hole. Found one and then screwed the found screw into it as tightly with my fingers as I possibly could.

My wife pulled the door handle again and the door opened just fine. I thought today was going to cost me some money and it turned out to be just a loose screw inside the tailgate door panel.

Thanks for posting ... this is one of those posts I hope I'll never need, but keep crammed in the back of my mental filing cabinet ... just in case

Cheers,

Interesting... I will have to look at the diagrams in the FSM if there is any on the rear gate latch and see where that is and what the deal is on that...

Good info though thanks!!

If you could find something that would be great. I looked in the 2003 service manual and couldn't find an exploded view of the latch assembly. It sure would've helped to know what I was touching since I couldn't see it.