Door lock problems

[Parag0n]

So I've been reading solutions all day long about two problems I have - neither have any solutions that fit my story perfectly, so please help if you can.

Door #1: Driver side door. Its a '98 Explorer, I bought it used, its never locked since I bought it. I have no idea why. Took off the door panel, the latch works, everything appears to work, just not when the button is pressed.
This is minor compared to Door #2.


Door #2: Passenger side door. The other day it started acting "Weak", the lock wouldn't pop up entirely. I managed to get by, by pulling on the door handle while unlocking, eventually it would catch and it would work. I read around on here, and thought it would be the actuator - cool, I can fix it.
Then I read some more, thought it could be a spring, I can fix that, too!

Well, problem is, the door won't open. I mean, it WON'T open. So I can't get in there to do anything. We tried a slim jim for about an hour, literally pulled on the lock so hard the entire ROD came off.

We believe the problem is in the latch itself, that it's not coming off, which we are relating to a broken rod.

On the end of the rod that is part of the lock, the yellow plastic piece was missing. We don't know if that was the reason.

But regardless of all of this, the why's and what not, the door is still LOCKED and cannot be opened.

Does anyone have ANY idea what the problems could be, or how to fix it? Preferably the cheap way, but I know that's not always possible.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[RickOTR]

Not trying to be a smart a$$ but did you try getting in through the lift gate. Is this a 2 or 4 door? If the yellow clip is gone then you won't be able to open the doors. That piece is easily broken. The yellow clip is what connects the rod to the actuator. If you press the door lock switch, do you here a clicking sound. If not, then the problem is more than just the clip.

 

[Parag0n]

Yes I can get in through the lift gate, but I can also get in through the driver side door. Neither of those solve the problem of fixing the passenger side door, though.

I do believe the clip is broken. I need to find some way to get the door open so I can fix it.

 

[RickOTR]

I talked to a friend of my and said you will have to cut the door skin off in order to access the clip. He said he has had several vehicles he's had to do this too. This will give you enough room to reach in there and manually operate the actuator. I know it's expensive but it does not leave you much choice.