Matthew Brown Posted March 2, 2016 Report Share Posted March 2, 2016 Hello, I am having some issues with the electrical in the liftgate of my 2012 Dodge Journey Crew I noticed about a month ago that the liftgate no longer locks. If I close the liftgate and press the lock button the doors all lock but the liftgate does not. I did some testing there was no sound from the actuator when lock or unlock were pressed but when I used a multi-meter. It actually appeared that was constant power to the actuator and when the buttons are pressed the power leaves for a second. I mentioned it to a friend and he seemed to think it just needed a new actuator. I pulled the latch assembly out to try to find a replacement but didn't have enough money to replace it at the time so I reinstalled it. A while later I noticed the button on the liftgate that locks and unlocks the door stopped working. If you press it none of the doors will lock or unlock but they still do with remote and front door handles. A couple days after that it was raining and I tried to put on the rear wiper and it wouldn't come on. Now I don't really care about the rear wiper or the button to lock unlock but I would kind of like my liftgate to lock! My issue is.... if I spend the money to put in a new latch assembly will it even work? I have a friend with experience in car wiring. Does anyone have a good link to a wiring diagram? Any thoughts where to start? One of my thoughts was I noticed a second wiring connection in the latch assembly. I assume it's there to tell if the latch is closed. I'm wondering if I damaged those wires when I removed the latch assembly? dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted March 2, 2016 Report Share Posted March 2, 2016 (edited) There have been reports of the wires inside the wiring harness going through the liftgate getting chafed/broken. Might want to check that. Welcome to the forum. Edited March 2, 2016 by jkeaton OhareFred and dhh3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhh3 Posted March 2, 2016 Report Share Posted March 2, 2016 Exactly ^^. Check the wires inside the accordian boot where the wires go from the car to the gate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Brown Posted March 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 Thank you! We took a quick look at that and there is nothing noticeable. The boot is in good shape and no noticeable markings on the wires. At the end of the day we are going to pull it in the warehouse and go through it a bit more in depth. dhh3 and jkeaton 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryl Posted March 3, 2016 Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 (edited) I had the harness break in my 09 RT you cant really tell as the wire breaks inside the casing Edited March 4, 2016 by larryl dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 best way to check wires with a meter and have some one twist or bend the wires gently while you are keeping a good eye on the meter as the wires mostly are separated inside of their plastic casing.. good luck dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Brown Posted March 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 The car is at the shop today getting oil change and brake work. The mechanic offered to take a quick look at it for me. If he doesn't see anything then hopefully Saturday I will be able to test the wires with my multi-meter. I still need to get my hands on a wiring diagram.... I'm thinking alldatadiy is probably best for the diagram unless someone can suggest something else? dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Brown Posted March 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Turns out it was multiple broken wires causing all my issues. The garage fixed it for $90 cad ($68 US). Only problem is one of the pushpins that holds the interior panel in was lost in the process. So I need to find one of them now, dhh3 and nmsuman 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Should be easy enough to find one. Parts store maybe? Glad they fixed the issue. Thanks for reporting back. dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_T Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Should that not have been covered by warranty? I find it very surprising that a car relatively new has this sort of issue. dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 (edited) Unless he purchased an extended bumper to bumper warranty. Power train warranty would not cover this. Edited March 7, 2016 by jkeaton dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhh3 Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Little things like this are why I did purchase an extended warranty larryl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_T Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Little things like this are why I did purchase an extended warranty Makes me glad I did too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arches Mechanic Posted January 3, 2021 Report Share Posted January 3, 2021 Here is my in depth replacement on this wiring harness. What happens is the wires bend apart over time. They can be fixed but the only permanent solution is replacing the harness. Enjoy! 2late4u and Miguel Pereira 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted January 4, 2021 Report Share Posted January 4, 2021 interesting but still glad i bought my mopar max warranty so i dont have to fool with this stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superc603 Posted November 29, 2021 Report Share Posted November 29, 2021 First post here just for this topic. I bought my '12 used with 56K in 2017 from a used car dealer that I have bought a total of 4 vehicles from. I purchased an extended warranty for it when I made the deal. Shortly after driving it for a bit the rear liftgate would not lock and occasionally the doors would not want to lock completely. I would have to hit the lock button 3-4 times to completely lock them. I took it to the used car dealer and they claimed to replace the body control module under the extended warranty. Fast forward until several months ago, the rear defrost stopped working and then the rear lock stopped working again. The final straw was I had a taillight stop working and my state inspection is due in a month or two. I took a look at it this weekend and found where they used a couple of butt connectors and mended three wires in the harness boot where the door meets the body. I spent the next hour fixing it right by adding primary wire and soldering and heatshriking the connections then wrapping the entire wire bundle with electrical tape as much as I could with the boot being compressed back as far as could manage. I feel like this is better than factory with the extra support of the tape splinting it all together. Now everything works as it should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted November 29, 2021 Report Share Posted November 29, 2021 welcome to the group, 2 places for likey broken wires you found one of them and the other places is at the rubber boot between the drivers door by the hinge,glad you were able to fix it right, most repair places only do what they have to do to get it back out the door,,,take care and hope you have many yrs of driving Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.