jonathanrn

I have to admit, this is my own doing. The motor on the door lock of the rear passenger door stopped working and I read a thread on these forums about how you can "simply" replace the motor itself within the actuator for around $10. That sounded great to me so I got a motor a proceeded to tear down the door to do the repair. Prying the plastic piece apart to get at the motor was not possible (I pretty much destroyed the plastic with my attempts) so I put everything back together (except I left the plastic part out) so my wife could drive the car around until the new part arrived. So when I closed the door, I realized I couldn't open it with the either the interior or exterior handle. I'm not exactly sure why not, but I know I messed up.

I have the replacement part and am ready to finish the repair BUT I CAN'T OPEN THE DOOR TO REMOVE THE INTERIOR DOOR PANEL!!! :-( I took off the trim around the interior door handle and I can see that the mechanism works fine from that end (i.e. the cable is being pulled). I am hesitant to do much more without some expert advice from you all! Am I screwed? Am I going to have to destroy something to get the door open or is there a way to jimmy it open without using the handles? I can't for the life of me think of a way to open the door!!

Please help!!!
Jonathan

Jayss01

You can get the door panel off its just hard to do...i had this happen to me when i replaced my door lock actuator and i was able to get the door panel off from inside the car. You probably made the same mistake i did when you put everything back together there is a lever inside the door that you cant really see and a plastic bracket that it slides into if you didnt slide it into thst bracket your door handles wont work. Once you get the door panel off you should be able to reach inside the door and move the lever enough to get your door open

jonathanrn

Well that gives me hope! I'd be happy to hear any tidbits of advice (like if you found a particular tool to be useful, or whatever)!

Jayss01

no particular tools i just unscrewed the three screws that hold the door panel on and then just pulled really hard til all the little pushpins broke off and then i was able to pull the panel off enough to reach the lever inside the door. I had to bend the door panel some to be able to reach in there but it didn't damage it luckily. The lever will be to the far right in the upper area of the door. Wish i would have taken a pic but i didn't unfortunately.

jonathanrn

Oh man! So I got the door panel off. I was able to use a set of needle nose pliers and a bent paperclip to remove the four pins. I was able to lift the door panel off from there (making sure door panel slides over the interior door pull was the hardest part). So I'm sticking my hand down into the crevasse and turning everything I can get my hands on without any success. Does anyone have a detailed diagram of the assembly? I even removed the door panel of the other door and pulled the assembly most of the way out to see what I need to flip/pull/push to get the door to open.

Jonathan

salimshah

Cables from release lever area (lock, release) .... wire against the sleeve.
Inner release lever is decoupled inside the actuator by child safety-lock.
Rod from the outside handle.

If things fail to add up, you can always open the other door.

Salim

Jayss01

Good to hear you got the panel off. I really wish i would have taken a pic because its hard to explain. I honestly just kinda reached up in there blindly and happened to hit it. Its in the upper area of the door and honestly once you find it you will feel kinda dumb for missing it, i know i did.

jonathanrn

I did it! I finally ended up opening the other door like Salim suggested. That helped me blindly locate the unlock lever and I got the door open! I left the panels off for two days just to make sure it all still works and put them back on last night.

Thank you both for your help!
-Jonathan

Jayss01

good to hear that you were able to get the door open

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Jonathanrn: What part did you replace?