Driver's door will NOT open at all
06-20-03, 04:00 PM
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Driver's door will NOT open at all
Well, I have a nice problem. My driver's side door spontaneously decided not to open via either handle, inside or out. Both handles still have what seems to be normal tension on them, and if I look down into the armrest inside, I can see the little cable moving. However, the door is still shut and latched. The problem is I can't get the freakin' door panel off until I open the door, and I can't open the door until I fix the stuff inside the door panel. Its one of those damned puzzles.
Anyway, does anyone have any ideas as to how to open the door or otherwise fix this without opening the door? I'm stumped...I can get the plastic bits on the armrest off and see down there, and I can probably take the back plate off and get to the exterior door handle...haven't yet but I will...but it doesn't feel like any of those things are going to help, as the handles both feel like they're working.
Oh, one other anomaly: With the car off, and me sitting in the driver's seat, if I push down on the lock lever, I hear a beep and the passenger side door also locks. If I pull up on it everything unlocks. However, if I then pull on the lever to open the door, it beeps and the passenger side door locks again. Somehow it seems as if the two mechanisms are tangled, but I can't see how or...well, I can't see anything!
Any ideas will be greatly appreciated!
jds
Anyway, does anyone have any ideas as to how to open the door or otherwise fix this without opening the door? I'm stumped...I can get the plastic bits on the armrest off and see down there, and I can probably take the back plate off and get to the exterior door handle...haven't yet but I will...but it doesn't feel like any of those things are going to help, as the handles both feel like they're working.
Oh, one other anomaly: With the car off, and me sitting in the driver's seat, if I push down on the lock lever, I hear a beep and the passenger side door also locks. If I pull up on it everything unlocks. However, if I then pull on the lever to open the door, it beeps and the passenger side door locks again. Somehow it seems as if the two mechanisms are tangled, but I can't see how or...well, I can't see anything!
Any ideas will be greatly appreciated!
jds
06-20-03, 04:07 PM
#2
While we are on the questions, my passenger side door won't stay locked. You can lock it, and the lever will go down, but you can open it from the outside still. Does anyone have experience with how the door locking mechanism works?
06-20-03, 07:20 PM
#3
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This is too simple. Happens to me all the time.
Just take off the triangular plastic piece on the inside of the door at the rear to expose (2) 10mm nuts. Remove the nuts and your outer door handle will come off. It is just jammed up and needs lubed. Spray some WD40 or PB Blaster along all the linkages, visually inspect all the "keepers" that hold the cables in the right places, fix any that have come out of their proper places.
Make sure that the door latch starts functioning properly before you put it all back together. Once you are satisfied with the way it is working, simply reinstall the latch mechanism back to the door.
Just take off the triangular plastic piece on the inside of the door at the rear to expose (2) 10mm nuts. Remove the nuts and your outer door handle will come off. It is just jammed up and needs lubed. Spray some WD40 or PB Blaster along all the linkages, visually inspect all the "keepers" that hold the cables in the right places, fix any that have come out of their proper places.
Make sure that the door latch starts functioning properly before you put it all back together. Once you are satisfied with the way it is working, simply reinstall the latch mechanism back to the door.
06-20-03, 08:44 PM
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When this happens to you you really can't open it from the inside either? Because I've had plenty of experience with the exterior handle...I've repaired or replaced that thing any number of times...but in all of those cases the interior handle would always open the door.
jds
jds
Originally posted by bajaman
This is too simple. Happens to me all the time.
Just take off the triangular plastic piece on the inside of the door at the rear to expose (2) 10mm nuts. Remove the nuts and your outer door handle will come off. It is just jammed up and needs lubed. Spray some WD40 or PB Blaster along all the linkages, visually inspect all the "keepers" that hold the cables in the right places, fix any that have come out of their proper places.
Make sure that the door latch starts functioning properly before you put it all back together. Once you are satisfied with the way it is working, simply reinstall the latch mechanism back to the door.
This is too simple. Happens to me all the time.
Just take off the triangular plastic piece on the inside of the door at the rear to expose (2) 10mm nuts. Remove the nuts and your outer door handle will come off. It is just jammed up and needs lubed. Spray some WD40 or PB Blaster along all the linkages, visually inspect all the "keepers" that hold the cables in the right places, fix any that have come out of their proper places.
Make sure that the door latch starts functioning properly before you put it all back together. Once you are satisfied with the way it is working, simply reinstall the latch mechanism back to the door.
06-21-03, 09:30 AM
#5
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Originally posted by bureau_c
When this happens to you you really can't open it from the inside either? Because I've had plenty of experience with the exterior handle...I've repaired or replaced that thing any number of times...but in all of those cases the interior handle would always open the door.
jds
When this happens to you you really can't open it from the inside either? Because I've had plenty of experience with the exterior handle...I've repaired or replaced that thing any number of times...but in all of those cases the interior handle would always open the door.
jds
No, when it happens to me, I can always open from the inside. Sorry....I didn't read your post close enough.
06-21-03, 02:09 PM
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Well, just as an update...the door is fixed. The bad news is I have no idea why. I pulled apart the outside handle and pulled up the plastic trim to see the cables in the armrest. I played with the linkages and cables,wiggled stuff, tried to pry it open from the top enough to see down....basically, I gave up, cursing, and then on one last pull o f the handle it worked. It seems completely fine now. A broken piece of plastic with two screws fell out when I pulled off the trim panel in an effort to see what was what....maybe whatever that was became lodged in the linkage somehow. Anyway, the problem is gone...at least for now.
Thanks,
jds
Thanks,
jds
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06-21-03, 11:56 PM
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The only thing I can think of is that, similar to my situation, there may be some kind of interaction with the cables and/or linkages that control the latch, etc. They run pretty much in parallel from both the interior door handle and lock and the exterior handle and lock. As I mentioned, I still don't understand exactly what was happening in my situation, however if you remove your inside door panel and peel back that clear plastic, you may be able to see what is going on by peering inside the metal door while opening the "locked" door. Somehow, the action of the handle linkage must be pushing on the lock linkage in such a way as to cause it to unlock as it opens the door.
jds
jds
Originally posted by Shinobi-X
While we are on the questions, my passenger side door won't stay locked. You can lock it, and the lever will go down, but you can open it from the outside still. Does anyone have experience with how the door locking mechanism works?
While we are on the questions, my passenger side door won't stay locked. You can lock it, and the lever will go down, but you can open it from the outside still. Does anyone have experience with how the door locking mechanism works?
