Door won't open!

[97 Eddie Bauer v8]

This is so annoying...

I cannot open my passenger rear door! Inside or outside, it won't open! It wasn't in an accident or anything, it just stopped working! Could it be some rod or something popped off the handle mechanism or something (does the outside handle share the same level though?)

Maybe the outside lever popped off and it was some how put on child safety so it won't open from the inside?

I'm open for suggestions, because I don't know if I can pop the interior panel off to inspect it if it doesn't open, without removing the rear seats which seems like a REAL PITA!

Thanks fellas!

 

[Ford_Racing_Guy]

is the lock disengaging?

could be corroded inside or something

 

[Electrohacker]

sounds like you're gunna have to pop the interior of the door off... it's held by like 2 screws and a bunch of plastic tabs.. once in you can pull the rod that opens the door... if that oesn't work I'm not sure what's next...

 

[97 Eddie Bauer v8]

The door lock does pop up...don't know if it does anything internally though. I guess the only way to do it is pop the panel, I just thought there was a magic trick since I'm in denial of having to do it. Thanks! I'll follow up when I figure out what's wrong.

 

[Robb]

Holy Long Sig Batman!!

Do us a favor dude, trim the signature down to 6 lines max @ 600x800.

Good Luck with the door!

 

[bob47907]

Mine does the same thing-on both rear doors. I took some time this afternoon to dig into it, and found that, on both door handles (the assembly that the interior door handle is mounted on) has a broken plastic piece. This is evidently a fatigue issue, and can be expected on explorers in which the back seat is used frequently.
At this point, I think I will need to replace both door handle$.

 

[taylor7]

probably a broken spring...

I discovered mine was a broken spring inside the locking mechanism. For $45 from ford I bought a new locking mechanism for the front driver side. I guess I coulda scrounged up a new spring somewhere....but I didn't feel like screwing with the internals of the locking mechanism.

 

[jayhawkexplorer]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110163

That thread will help ya out

 

[Baileybc]

Left rear door is stick in locked mode

At 90,000 miles on the odo, the left rear door went into permanent lock mode. I cannot open the door from the inside or outside and the lock lever button appears to be in the down and locked mode. All three other doors can be manually locked and unlocked from the lock extension rod button, or via the electronics. Something in the lock fastener has siezed and trying to remove the panels without destroying them will be an heroic effort. Mark in Bend Oregon baileybc@bendcable.com