On my way to work this morning, made a left turn and the driver door flew open. I realized it didn't shut when I got in the car this morning. I had trouble shutting it (as I was driving, it wouldn't latch), after I got it closed, now it won't open by either handle inside or out. I noticed when I opened the door for the first time this morning it didn't feel right. Now my question, "HOW DO I GET THE DOOR OPEN TO FIX THE LATCH?" If it is the latch. It might just be the linkage. But the fact that both handles don't work leads me to believe it's the latch itself. I don't know. I'll try to take the door panel off and take a look at it. Any tips are greatly appreciated and encouraged!!!

85 GS 12A no power locks or windows.

 

take the door panel off if can from inside the vehicle then u gotta pull on the little lever running down to the latch mech in the rear of the door.... then fix it!!!

 

...and if you can't get the drivers side panel off, take the passenger panel off and look at the mechanism, there's generally a bar somewhere that moves up when the handle is pulled. then just get a straightened coat hanger with a little hook on the end, shove it down where the window goes and try to get that bar to pull up.

 

The lever to open the door goes down, not up. Study the mechanism in the passenger door and make sure the door lock is up. Sounds like the plastic clip broke, it's similar to the one the holds the hood prop to the body. You may need to remove the seat to get to all the screws/push clips on the door panel. Good luck.

 

have u tried to use a screw driver under the outside handle to open the door?

 

Thanks for the responses. We got the door open. It turned out to be the lock mechanism. When I couldn't get the door open, I locked and unlocked the door from the inside and then did the same from the outside with the key (several times, both ways). Before we removed the seat and the panel, my son crawled in and messed with it while I gather some tools to remove the seat and then the door panel. When I came outside with my tools my son was standing there between the open door (drivers) and the car with a s@#t eatin' grin on his face. I asked what he did to get the door open? "You got to be smarter than the door! I unlocked it!" Well he did say that it took him about ten minutes of playing with the handle and the lock button. Simply locking and unlocking the door didn't work, but when he worked both the handle on the inside and the lock button it finally unlocked. Kinda perplexing, but I'm glad I didn't take the seat out and remove the door panel to find out it was the lock itself. Oh well, another lesson learned.

Man, it was hard to crawl in and out of that thing from the passenger side. I'm getting too old for that kinda stuff. (and I'm not that old........shut up!!!!!)

 

Take your son out for something special for his efforts. I know about the crawling thing. Try it with 2 bad discs in your back and I am getting old, lol.

 

Mr 83 RX7 has similar problem. It seems that the door handle on the outside will no longer push the rod to open the door. Mechanism works fine from the inside, and door's lock works fine. It seems that the lever that the outside door handle operates is too loose or something. Does any one have drawings or pictures of how the door handle mechanism is supposed to work? Many thanks for your help.

 

just pull the door panel off. You should be able to figure out how it's supposed to work.

 

& you can always look at the other side, too...

 

I had to replace the passenger door handle a little while ago. The handle itself broke on the inside where it connects to the vertical threaded rod . If you remove the handle be careful of the little plastic gromit. It was brittle snd broke causing a thirty minute job to take three weeks while I tracked down a new gromit. Good luck.

 

I've had a handle break off at one of the pivot points before, and another the broke off right at the hole that the operating fitting goes thru. These handles do have a reputation for failing. Always worthwhile to pick some at the junkyard when found.

 

Yes, that's what happened with mine. Pulled the panel off, had a look, and discovered that the metal section of the door handle that actuates the rod that actually opens the door had flat broken off. So...I bought a new a handle and had it installed and working fine in about ten minutes. End of that saga, anyway.

 

A little lubrication as preventative maintenance goes a long way. My locks, latches, and hinges will long outlast my 12a haha