Serious driver's side door problem

[FeBolas]

Hi all! I did a search for this problem, and didn't see it... so here goes.

A couple nights ago, I drove a friend and myself home from a bar... and when I got home, I couldn't open my door. Neither the unlock button on the panel, or keyless entry will make the lock pop up, even when the lock is tugged on with pliers (I didn't tug too hard for fear of breaking it off). The key will not unlock the door from the outside. The outside handle has no tension whatsoever, and the inside handle is completely tensioned to the point that anything more than a slight tug makes it feel like it's about to snap.

I'm sure I can fix this myself if I can only get the door open... but I'm at a loss thinking of how to do so. Has anyone else experienced this? Is it possible to remove the door panel from the inside?

Thanks!!

 

[Boudin]

ive been having the same problem for 2 years, took the panel off and its hard to see or get to anything that might be the cause. love to figure it out but it doesnt look like i can do it myself after having no luck the first time i tried to fix it.

 

[Boudin]

i dont have a problem opening the door from the inside tho.

 

[budwich]

its the "standard broken spring" problem.... search and ye will find many a post.

 

[FeBolas]

its the "standard broken spring" problem.... search and ye will find many a post.

Heh, I WISH that's what it is. The door is completely taken apart right now, something's broken inside the actual latch assembly... and it was a pain in the ass to get out.

I took some pictures, and will post a detailed description of this job in a few days when it's back together-- I ordered parts off the internet since they were significantly cheaper, and nobody has them in stock anyway.

EDIT: After a bit of calling around, I ended buying all the parts from a local dealership. They were only slightly more expensive than internet sellers, and actually had the parts in stock! Nobody had white door handles, I had to paint it. No biggie.

 

[hunterdan]

I had that problem a few years ago, the spring in the door handle was gone for some time, but the door still opened til one day I heard something fall out and could no longer get the door open, while still inside. Narrowed it down to the actual latch assembly. I also ordered a new door handle from Ford while at it. The actual replacement isn't too terribly hard if your hands are small. Instead of using rivets in the door handle, I used small bolts with red lock tite to keep it in place. Only took about 2 hours to get everything back together after I had all the parts.

Dan

 

[FeBolas]

Solution

I had that problem a few years ago, the spring in the door handle was gone for some time, but the door still opened til one day I heard something fall out and could no longer get the door open, while still inside. Narrowed it down to the actual latch assembly. I also ordered a new door handle from Ford while at it. The actual replacement isn't too terribly hard if your hands are small. Instead of using rivets in the door handle, I used small bolts with red lock tite to keep it in place. Only took about 2 hours to get everything back together after I had all the parts.

Dan

That's pretty much what we did too. Agreed, it's not *too* difficult, especially if you cut a hole in the door like I did. I went ahead and replaced the interior and exterior handles too, just to be safe... thought the exterior handle already had one spring broken, and obviously needed replacing anyway.

Ok, so here's a description and a few pictures of this process, in case anyone else has this problem. The summation of the problem is that something broke inside the door latch mechanism, causing the driver's side door to not be able to unlock, or open, by means of any method: fob, keypad, unlock button, and key were all unable to unlock the door, and the handle would not open the door from the inside.

With the help of my mechanically-inclined father, this project was not so bad. Since the actual latch-replacement is covered very well in some other threads, I'll just describe the process of getting the stuck door un-stuck.

1. Remove the driver's side seat: 5 bolts, total (2 in front, 2 in back, plus the seatbelt bolt). The plastic covers for the rear bolts slide towards the rear of the truck, don't pull up or you'll bust them (though they're pretty unimportant anyway). Detach the two wire harness clips if you have power seats.

2. Using any sort of pry instrument (we fashioned our own out of a piece of aluminum that we had laying around), pry off the interior door panel; it's probably easiest to start at the lower left corner. If the door is stuck closed, you probably won't be able to get the whole panel off.

3. Rather than trying to blindly reach towards the latch, we decided to cut a piece out of the door; this adds some work, and some fire danger, but I think it made this a LOT easier. I'm sure it's possible to get the door open without cutting, but I recommend going this route if possible.

Do note that you'll want to reattach that piece of metal; there's a yellow plastic guide for the door handle to latch mechanism located on that square of metal that seems like it should probably remain. We put down a thin piece of wood to help protect the carpet from sparks. After we finished the project, we welded the plate back on.

4. The tricky part: once we had the hole cut in the door, it took about 5 minutes worth of playing with the latch with a big screw driver before it just kinda popped open. Not sure what I did, since the latch is broken on the inside, but poke it enough, and it'll probably open.

Here's what the latch looks like from the inside:

and a closeup:

After the door's open, it's not too difficult. Follow the instructions of the main door-latch thread on here, it was really helpful... take note of exactly what you're disassembling, and how it's going to go back together.

That's it!

 

[silver surfer13]

well i tried to get in there, felt the one spring broken...i dont want nor have the abilities to cut the door nor a rivit gun..wonder how much to have fixed at ford stealership

 

[gijoecam]

I did mine without cutting a hole in the door... But I was able to yank up on the knob hard enough to get it to pop to the unlocked position and get the door open. Mine, too, had the broken spring inside it.

Oh, and for the record, there are two spring issues the doors have. One is the handle return spring... that's just an annoyance. The handle can flap and rattle in the breeze. The other, more critical issue, is the broken spring in the latch assembly. The spring that breaks is about 3/16" diameter at the coil, and about 2" long. One of the two 'hooks' a tthe end breaks off and when you try to unlock the door, the link it connects to can't swing out of the way inside the latch assembly. It's amazing that a 3 cent spring can so completely cripple the use of a vehicle. I did the Dukes of Hazzard entry and exit for a week while I waited for the part.