i have a 2000 dodge dakota. the front driver's side door is closed. no bars or handles are broke. the actuator is stuck closed. might be stuck in the lock position. the door ajar light is on and i have no idea how to get my door open in order to replace the actuator. any help is greatly appreciated. also, why would the door ajar light be on?

 

Is the door latched tight?

May have to pull the seats from the passenger side, so you can remove the door panel... (I don't think you can get it off with the seats in place.) See what's going on inside.

 

You can't even pull the door panel off when closed - pretty sure there is a screw or two on the bottom against the floor. Hopefully for your sake, I am wrong.

Have you tried lifting the door up or pushing it down to see if it will unlatch the arm?

Door Ajar Switch - Door ajar switches are integral to each door latch. These switches provide inputs to the chime warning system indicating whether a door is opened or closed.

DOOR AJAR SWITCH

DESCRIPTION
The door ajar switches are integral to the door

latches on each door. The switches close a path to ground for the Central Timer Module (CTM) when a door is opened, and open the ground path when a door is closed.

The door ajar switches cannot be repaired and, if faulty or damaged, the door latch unit must be replaced.

OPERATION
The door ajar switches close a path to ground for

the Central Timer Module (CTM) when a door is opened, and opens the ground path when a door is closed. The passenger side front door and both rear door ajar switches are connected in a parallel-series circuit between ground and the CTM, while the driver side front door ajar switch is connected in series between ground and the CTM to provide a unique input. The CTM reads the switch status through an internal pull-up, then sends the proper switch status messages to other electronic modules over the Programmable Communications Interface (PCI) data bus network. The door ajar switches can be diagnosed using conventional diagnostic tools and methods.

DIAGNOSIS AND TESTING - DOOR AJAR

SWITCH
Refer to the appropriate wiring information. The

wiring information includes wiring diagrams, proper wire and connector repair procedures, further details on wire harness routing and retention, as well as pin-out and location views for the various wire har- ness connectors, splices and grounds.

WARNING: ON VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH AIR- BAGS, DISABLE THE AIRBAG SYSTEM BEFORE ATTEMPTING ANY STEERING WHEEL, STEERING COLUMN, OR INSTRUMENT PANEL COMPONENT DIAGNOSIS OR SERVICE. DISCONNECT AND ISO- LATE THE BATTERY NEGATIVE (GROUND) CABLE, THEN WAIT TWO MINUTES FOR THE AIRBAG SYS- TEM CAPACITOR TO DISCHARGE BEFORE PER- FORMING FURTHER DIAGNOSIS OR SERVICE. THIS IS THE ONLY SURE WAY TO DISABLE THE AIRBAG SYSTEM. FAILURE TO TAKE THE PROPER PRE- CAUTIONS COULD RESULT IN ACCIDENTAL AIR- BAG DEPLOYMENT AND POSSIBLE PERSONAL INJURY.

(1) Disconnect and isolate the battery negative cable. Disconnect the door latch pigtail wire connec- tor from the door wire harness connector. Check for continuity between the ground circuit cavity in the door wire harness connector and a good ground. There should be continuity. If OK, go to Step 2. If not OK, repair the open ground circuit to ground as required.

(2) Check for continuity between the ground cir- cuit cavity and the driver or passenger door ajar switch sense circuit cavity in the door latch pigtail wire connector. There should be continuity with the door opened, and no continuity with the door closed. If OK, go to Step 3. If not OK, replace the faulty door latch unit.

(3) Disconnect the body wire harness connector (Connector C2) for the Central Timer Module (CTM) from the CTM connector receptacle. Check for conti- nuity between the driver or passenger door ajar switch sense circuit cavity of the body wire harness connector (Connector C2) and a good ground. There should be no continuity. If OK, go to Step 4. If not OK, repair the shorted driver or passenger door ajar switch sense circuit between the door latch and the CTM as required.

(4) Check for continuity between the driver or pas- senger door ajar switch sense circuit cavities of the body wire harness connector (Connector C2) and the door wire harness connector for the door latch. There should be continuity. If OK, use a DRBIII scan tool to diagnose the CTM. Refer to the appropriate diag- nostic procedures. If not OK, repair the open driver or passenger door ajar switch sense circuit between the door latch and the CTM as required.

 

My electric lock was not working on one rear door of my 2004 Dodge Dakota crew cab (full four door, I belive the front latches are very similar). My son disassembled it/reassembled it, and the door wouldn't unlatch anymore and was stuck closed. Latch mechanism is same for this era Dakota and Durango. I had to remove the inner door panel (bent a screw driver to get the rear lower screw out, and ended up prying the door panel upward to free it). Then reaching through the door panel access hole, you can shine a flashlight on the mechanism.

If you get a used latch and play with it you can quickly figure out how to open it. If you unfasten the two pivot screws, don't remove them and be careful because the back side (which is closest to the rear of the door) metal plate can separate from the plastic latch body and two springs/latch/latch release may shoot out and go rolling across the floor. Stick a big screwdriver in a vice to simulate the striker and you can practice latching/unlatching the mechanism. I should have taken a picture of the back side, but the upper pivot has the latch, and the lower pivot has the latch release. From the front (first picture below), under all the layers of mechanism, the pin that the screw driver is pointing towards is the only thing that needs to move to actuate the latch release. You can bend a scredriver as shown and reach it through the door panel but it is extremely difficult to move it from inside the tiny door space.

The door won't unlatch for one of two reasons: Hopefully it's because the lock won't release - that's the white lever shown in the 3rd and 4th pic below. Push it up and inward (away from the ouside of the car door) to release it. Must have a gap at the bottom as shown in the fourth pic below to be unlocked. It should be in that postiion if you pull the inside lock lever rod forward. If one of the numerous pieces is disconnected from the white linkage you can just reach in and push the linkage up (under the metal plate, you can just see/feel the white sticking down in the locked postion). Then actuate the door handle (outer is easier because you know the child lock didn't effect it) and it should open.

The other reason it won't open is harder to reach through the door panel with the door locked. If the small black plastic cam comes off the pin in the first pic, nothing will unlatch the door unless you move the pin down (I could do it with a bent screwdriver). Practice on a latch mechanism on your workbench (about $20 from a junkyard or $55 new). Good luck - I could get mine on the workbench quickly enough with practice but never got it through the tiny door panel opening (I have big hands and I think the cam was disconnected and blocking access).

Once you get it unlatched, unbolt it from the door (three T30 bolts) and make sure you have the linkage all back together correctly and working (test it multiple times) before you shut the door again!

I ended up running a cutting torch around the two pivot screws and the latch popped open. Would have been better with a plasma cutter as the torch set the plastic latch body on fire. Have plenty of water and a fire extinguisher on hand if you do this. I tried to use the smallest torch possible, but the longer it takes, the longer it will burn so you are better off just zipping through it quickly (nasty job in a confined space surrouned by flammable materials). You might be able to dremel/drill it out, but you need to get the pivot bolts freed at a minimum and possibly the three torx screws to dissassemble the latch if it's stuck locked. It was very slow going for me until I took a torch to it. Some people cut the door panel out from the outside or cut out the striker from the back side (see similar issues in neon/pt cruiser/minivan/etc). Thats a lot of damage to fix and you will probably mess up your door jam. If I had a replacement door and striker, I might have cut the lip of the door off for access and tried a cutting disk on the striker. Installed the junkyard latch mechanism and now experience the bliss of a working door.
If you loosen (don't remove) the pivot screws, you can remove everything on the forward side of the lock (the five upper pieces shown in the pic below), you are then down to the lock body and can see the latch release pin as shown above: Of all the mechanisms in the door, this is the only one that has to move to actually free the latch. You can reach it with a bent screwdriver as shown even with the rest of the parts assembled but it is really awkward - Push it down to unlatch. Careful if you loosen the two pivot screws: you can separate the plastic lock body from the rear metal plate - two springs/latch/latch release might go shooting out/rolling across your floor.


The lock mechanism disassembled in order from top to bottom (front to back in the car): inner plate (three mount screws as well as two pivots are screwed into this, green is is inner lock release, red is inside door latch lever connection), lock spring, lock actuator linkage (two black plastic connected by white lever), outside door handle linkage (green with actuator rod), small black lock release cam (hooks to pin in lock body), and black plastic lock body. Hole in the four pieces slide on the lower (left in this pic) pivot. Upper lock linkage (with sector gear on it for power door lock shown here) is the only piece that slides on the upper pivot on this side of the lock. Reassemble bottom to top as shown in pics below.


"locked" white lever is down/outside, screwdriver points to gap above white lever so door latches witll not actuate lock cam. To unlock, push white lever in/up - then move either door latch actuator.

"unlocked" white lever is up/in, gap is visible at bottom so door levers will actuate lock release cam. It's covered up by the inner metal plate normally but you can barely see/feel the edge of the white lever through the door panel if you flip the lock linkage forward/back (assuming it's hooked up and working).