Drivers side rear door stuck locked... | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Drivers side rear door stuck locked...

VICIII

Member
Joined
October 18, 2007
Messages
26
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City, State
east central FL
Year, Model & Trim Level
97 XLT
My driver side rear door will not unlock. I tried to open it or unlock it but nothing has worked. I was going to take it off the hinges but thought the door would not come off the locking clip or the part that unlatches the closed door.

So how would you get the door open or off so I can try to fix it??
 



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My driver side rear door will not unlock. I tried to open it or unlock it but nothing has worked. I was going to take it off the hinges but thought the door would not come off the locking clip or the part that unlatches the closed door.

So how would you get the door open or off so I can try to fix it??

Try working the outside door handle and pulling up on the lock knob on the inside at the same time. This works for mine.
 






this happened to my old car and i had to pull the door panel off with the door closed (i'm sure you could see how this would be a difficult task)... its a last resort option, hopefully someone has something better for you as i jacked up my door panel doing that.
 






I am going to have to take off the door panel from the inside. I can get a arm in there but cannot unlock it. Love this car but hate this kind of stuff..
Any other options?
 






on my old car, i just reached up in the door and unlocked it by turning the mechanism... did you try unlocking it from the inside and outside at the same time as joemahma suggested? (lol @ how funny that sounds) IE one person pulls up on the lock duhickey and one person turns a key from the outside...

got a wife, kid, or cute neighbor with small arms that could maybe help reach into the door?
 






First off, its the rear door, so no exterior lock. Once you get the interior panel off, its possible to manually operate (ie pliers) the linkage. First off, is the lock stuck, or is the actual latch mechanism what failed? If the mechanism failed, things will get interesting. Basically, can you lift the handle on the inside and outside? Can you pull the lock pin up? A little more information and I'd be glad to help.
 






First off, its the rear door, so no exterior lock. Once you get the interior panel off, its possible to manually operate (ie pliers) the linkage. First off, is the lock stuck, or is the actual latch mechanism what failed? If the mechanism failed, things will get interesting. Basically, can you lift the handle on the inside and outside? Can you pull the lock pin up? A little more information and I'd be glad to help.

I had a pair of pliers and could not disengage the lock. Not sure If I was pulling on the correct parts either. I was in a hurry so just put it back together and left it for another time. The lock pin is stuck in lock. I ripped it off the threads with my hands after a good pulling. I can lift the handle in both the inside and out side. Just seems like the lock is winning.
What is even better the inside passenger door handle on the other side has broken so I can only enter and exit from using the outside handle on the passenger side rear door.....
 






hum, sounds like something in the latch is either busted or seized. when you move the handles, is there any tension like a regular functional handle, or do they just not lift to the unlatch point if that makes sense? The lock pin, which is directly attached to the latch mechanism, must move at least 2/3rds of the way to to be able to release the latch.
 






hum, sounds like something in the latch is either busted or seized. when you move the handles, is there any tension like a regular functional handle, or do they just not lift to the unlatch point if that makes sense? The lock pin, which is directly attached to the latch mechanism, must move at least 2/3rds of the way to to be able to release the latch.

All latches move with full range with regular pressure but fail to engage the lock. The lock has no movement at all.
I would guess that the lock system has failed to the point of being seized.
It looks like I will have to take the door panel off to get to what I need to.
 






I have the same problem, a back door (driver's side) that's stuck in lock. I got off the door panel with a short nail puller type tool. A tip from the dealer was to unclip the actuator cylinder from it's two clips to relieve pressure against the locking mechanism. Didn't work and seems to be just the opposite mechanically. Brought it to a mechanic friend, took me 1/2 hour to get the actuator clipped back into it's cradle! Friend messed with the lock rods etc for about 10 minutes and managed to press back and up (hard) on the rod from the inside door handle and with me opening the door handle on the outside (I broke the inside one trying to free the door a day earlier) I was able to open the door. Haleluya. So with door open, I used keyfob and locked and unlocked door (now, the lock button actually went up high enough). As soon as I closed the door - I was stuck locked again! Mechanic says he'll have to pull out window glide and rods and lock mechanism and replace it. I've seen the other thread that shows pictures of the lock mechanism regarding spring replacement. There are two pictures almost identical, but just different enough to make me confused (I think from BarnOwl). Most guys had the front drivers door lock problem. It shows lots of room to get into the door + pictures. The back is mostly closed up, so you're reaching into darkness. I think I'm going to be stuck paying the mechanic as I don't know how to remove all the window and lock mechanisms.
 






I had the same problem as well. I was able to get the door panel off with not to much of a hassle. I used a small pry bar that worked out very well! next I had to lay across the back seat and reach into the door and up towards the latch. I am not exactly sure what I had grabbed but I was able to get it to pop every time!!! One quick movement and the door opened!! I have since figured out that it was the power lock mechanism that caused all the problems with the door lock. I was short on cash at the time so just unplugged the wire harness. Besides, up here in Maine you don't really need the locks, theres no one around. Good Luck
 






i had this problem with the driver's side rear door of 97 explorer and fixed it after reading
recommendations here. what i did is basically pulling the rod connecting to the locknob
while someone trying to open the door outside at the same time. Thank you everybody
who posted here for giving me valuable advices. i really appreciate it. and then i lubed
the latch with penetrating oil and it continues working. i hope this method working not
temporally but forever, but i am not sure. probably the best way to fix it would be
replacing the latch, but it is a lot of hassle.
 






I recently had an issue with the passenger side rear door not unlocking & opening from the inside. I pulled the door panel off. Nothing was broken or frozen. There was a rod that was catching on the outside door handle. If someone lifted up, the rod dropped free and worked. I pulled (towards the front of the door) on the rod set-up and everything works fine now.
 






Try working the outside door handle and pulling up on the lock knob on the inside at the same time. This works for mine.

This trick opened my stuck rear door immediately. Thanks!
 






I too have a stuck rear drivers side door. I have the door panel off and I can get my hand in and pull all the rods. Nothing.

I am currently also dismantling the drivers door to replace the door handle and I can see that the door latch mechanism has two electrical connectors on it, as marked 1 and 2 below.
What do they do?
Could they be causing some mechanical pin to stay in a position that restricts movement of the mechanism for some reason and if so would removing the electrical connectors release it (I'm clutching at straws here!!)?

50R71uf.jpg
 






I too have a stuck rear drivers side door. I have the door panel off and I can get my hand in and pull all the rods. Nothing.

I am currently also dismantling the drivers door to replace the door handle and I can see that the door latch mechanism has two electrical connectors on it, as marked 1 and 2 below.
What do they do?
Could they be causing some mechanical pin to stay in a position that restricts movement of the mechanism for some reason and if so would removing the electrical connectors release it (I'm clutching at straws here!!)?

#2 is the door ajar switch. It shouldn't restrict opening the door. The little tip just pushes in and out.

s1097_primary.jpg
 






Number 1 is the ground for number 2 afaik, it's been a minute since I looked into the connections.
 






Thank you.
I am now able to open the door. I disconnected the wires, which I now know makes no difference to the ability to open the door (unless the tip had seized in the out position??)).
A previous owner has clearly been trying to get this door open and failed. The door card was off (a bit broken) so with that out the way I was able to get my arm in while kneeling on the rear seats. Then I was pulling the rod connected to the outside handle up and down and pulling the rod connected to the interior lock (the little black button by the window) vigorously. I had already done that but this time for some reason it opened a tiny bit, then more of the same and it popped open.

In conclusion I think the latch was seized, rusty, gunged up. I got it out the car, put some WD40 on it and some engine oil and gave it a good work out across all the pivots on the bench. Now back on the car and working just fine.
If anyone else has a similar problem then I suggest trying to spray some WD40 into the latch and then wiggling all the rods.

The car was probably cheaper than it could have been because of issues like this so at the expense of a morning, I've solved at least one issue.
 






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