[Hair-son]

So a little while back (ok, quite a while ago now), my rear hatch mechanism stopped working. The door opened/closed fine, but the latch wouldn't actually engage and definitely wouldn't lock. Chrysler (Canada) wanted $165 for a new mechanism and the local junkyard wanted $95. I opened it up today only to find a whole lot of rust in the mechanism. Some work with the ol steel brush and sandpaper, plus a good dosing of grease, lubricant, and WD-40, and it works fine now! I put some sealant around the mechanism to reduce the chance of water getting back in there. The lock still doesn't work, but I'm not too worried about that right now as two of my side doors don't lock either!

Sorry Chrysler, no $165 for you! :cheesy:

 

[IndyDurango]

All of our locks tend to have a 7 - 10 year life span before one or the other stops working. I had the hatch lock replaced years ago and this replacement one now doesn't allow the key to work. The old one was acting just like yours. I should have tackled it myself back then I guess instead of letting the stealer replace it. Congrats on the fix!

IndyDurango

 

[MWeed]

A lot of us have found that the tiny bleed holes in the bottom of the door, that let water out of the interior of the door have been covered by tape from the factory. This prevents the hatch from draining and allows rust to form on both the door bottom and possibly on the latch assembly itself. Good job on the fix, by the way.

 

[Hair-son]

Thanks guys.

I did see the tape covering the holes, but I didn't think anything of it at the time. I'll open it back up soon and remove the tape!