Passenger rear door will not open

[K9Guy]

Hi everyone, I know there are a lot of posts about this but I am stuck. Went to open right rear door and the exterior handle broke. Tried to open using interior handle, nothing. Got the door panel off enough to see the works. use the left door for comparison. So right door, child lock off, clip for exterior handle broke, interior handle seems to be doing and working as normal, electric lock seems to be functioning. Is it possible the latch is frozen and if so how would you get around it short of removing the door hinges LOL. Scratching my head. By the way, it is a 1998 explorer limited

 

[Mr. Alligator]

Remove left rear panel from working door, so that you can see how to remove the panel.

You will then be able to remove the panel from the other non functioning door. It is not easy to do with the door stuck shut, but it is very doable.

Then you should be able to both open the non functioning door and resolve the problem.

Good luck.

 

[EB4X]

This may sound lame but is it possible something got stuck in between door and jam last time it was closed....try lifting up on interior handle and giving door a good strong thumb outward.
The metal on my rear passenger door bent out from elect door lock binding and pushing against cheap thin metal there...maybe yours did same ...unlikely but ....

 

[K9Guy]

This may sound lame but is it possible something got stuck in between door and jam last time it was closed....try lifting up on interior handle and giving door a good strong thumb outward.
The metal on my rear passenger door bent out from elect door lock binding and pushing against cheap thin metal there...maybe yours did same ...unlikely but ....

TY I will try that.

 

[Stic-o]

Mine gets stuck all the time...but that's because the truck rolled over on that side once. I just have to be a little more aggressive with it, and it pops right open.

 

[K9Guy]

Mine gets stuck all the time...but that's because the truck rolled over on that side once. I just have to be a little more aggressive with it, and it pops right open.

Well, tried that and no luck. This happened out of the blue, no damage to the truck except for the rear hatch.

 

[J_C]

Can you follow the rod or cable from the interior handle over to the door latch mechanism lever and move that by hand? Did a plastic end cap where they joint, break off? Is that latch mechanism lever stuck?

You could try getting a little can of WD-40 up in there with a straw on it, blasting some into the holes in the latch mechanism, and having someone put some pressure on the door from the outside while you try to move the mechanism by hand.

If the latch mechanism has old hardened grease in it, you might have better luck when it's not cold out (or use enough WD-40 to drench everything in it) though in recent (past couple) days in GA it probably wasn't all that cold out.

 

[donalds]

Easy wife would say ....that dam plastic thingy again...