Driver Rear Door won't open

[nsmith1088]

Hey,

Yesterday I tried to open my driverside rear door and broke the handle on the outside so I couldn't open it from the outside. I went and bought a new handle, but when I went to open the door from the inside, I heard something snap or pop and now I can't get the door to open at all.

1. Does anybody know how I can open my door to work on it?
2. Does anybody know what could be broken inside?

 

[GETMYBELTSON]

Hey,

Yesterday I tried to open my driverside rear door and broke the handle on the outside so I couldn't open it from the outside. I went and bought a new handle, but when I went to open the door from the inside, I heard something snap or pop and now I can't get the door to open at all.

1. Does anybody know how I can open my door to work on it?
2. Does anybody know what could be broken inside?

I don't think the inside door handle connects to the latch mechanism with a lock rod clip, which would mean the rod came out of its holder or whatever. The outside handle either the lock rod clip broke, or one of the 2 plastic J pieces (connect the actual handle to the spring part... gotta look under the handle to see them and they are painted) broke. If its a J piece it'd be the one that pulls the lock rod.

You'll need to remove the interior panel so you can take a closer look. Doing this without opening the door is kind of a pain the butt, but very doable. First though, check if the J piece of the exterior handle is busted and if it is you 'might' be able to grab it with needle nose pliers and pull it out just right to open the door. If not, roll the window down. Now you have to pry the top of the interior panel off the lip it sits on at the top. Now you have to just pull the rest of the plastic away from the door. You won't be able to use a trim removal tool with the door closed, and the bottom clips are a real PITA. I had to stick my arm between the panel and door and push with the tips of my fingers. Now you can pull the interior panel off around the window/lock controls.

Now you'll want to roll the window back up and look inside the door. Pull the handles and it shouldn't take long to find where the problem is (usually a rod has come out of its clip somewhere). Remove the window track on the left side of the door (looking from interior) by removing the brass colored bolt, and then pulling the track out through the hole. This will give you a lot more room around the latch mechanism.

I took some pictures to help you get an idea what you'll be looking at/for

Latch Mechanism (rod with white netting on it goes towards interior door):
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/6135/img20100914194830.jpg
Broken J Piece (right):
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4576/img20100914194755.jpg
Lock rod clips (you can get these at advance auto in a variety pack):
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/3997/img20100914194907.jpg

 

[nsmith1088]

thanks,

I'll have to look at it soon