2002 Jeep Liberty Tailgate Latch won't open?

Answer 1

Hi, I can only relate to what I found on my Jeep Liberty 2005. If you remove the plastic cover on the tailgate you can gain access to the latch assy. There is a linkage rod that attaches from the gate handle to the latch assy. On the latch assy. the rod attaches to a metal arm coming from the latch. There are actually 2 arms that the linkage arm is supposed to move, the one the linkage arm is directly attached to that activates the glass solenoid, and a second arm that attaches to the first arm through a slot in the first arm by a screw. On my Jeep the screw fell out. There is a small square access hole that is directly in line with this screw. Because the first arm has to move 1/8" to activate the solenoid before opening the latch, I used a countersunk screw to allow the arms to move independently.