Driver Side Door Won't Open

[jrmiller84]

So I have a bit of a chicken and egg situation...

The other day I go to leave work, I unlock my door and go to pull the handle and the door doesn't open. The locks are working fine since I can get in through the passenger side and I can see it unlock on the driver side (electric locks).

What I believe is the problem is the actual handle mechanism is not working because it doesn't give me the same feel of resistance when I pull the handle to open the door as it does on the passenger side.

I'm positive I could fix it if I could get the door panel off, but I can't do that if the door won't open...

I did a bit of searching and most of what I came up with was peoples locks not working, which doesn't seem to be the problem here. Any suggestions?

[slider2828]

I think you can get the panel off with the offer opening up... Just a bitch though cause there isn't can room.... but try to take off the panel... you might not need that much space.... Might unbolt the driverside seat....

[NotoriouS14]

yea..i would also unbolt the drivers seat..take it out and try it....
gl with that

[jrmiller84]

I think you can get the panel off with the offer opening up... Just a bitch though cause there isn't can room.... but try to take off the panel... you might not need that much space.... Might unbolt the driverside seat....

With the offer opening up? I'm not entirely sure what you mean.

From what I can gather from looking at the passenger side panel, all of the bolts that hold the panel on are hidden by either the where the dash and the door meet (no way of getting to that I'm afraid) or where the edges of the panel meet the door jam.

I'll take another look in a bit to verify, but I believe that's the case.

[g6civcx]

Any suggestions?

Year/make/model?

Do both the interior and exterior door handles not work? Try unlocking with the key while working the interior door lock manually. Maybe you can get the lock to release correctly.

I would suspect either the lock isn't releasing or the latch mechanism needs to be adjusted.

Probably your only option would be to pry out the door panel very carefully, or even cut a hole, and stick your hand in and release the latch with your fingers.

Sorry but I don't know of any other way other than cutting the door itself.

[slider2828]

if S13 from your picture.... you can remove the handle near the arm rest on the door. There is on 1 f...ing scrw which is hidden in the dash when closed. pull the panel outwards from the bottom and pivot it upwards. There are no screws at the bottom. Its just tabs you pull towards you...

[jrmiller84]

Year/make/model?

Do both the interior and exterior door handles not work? Try unlocking with the key while working the interior door lock manually. Maybe you can get the lock to release correctly.

I would suspect either the lock isn't releasing or the latch mechanism needs to be adjusted.

Probably your only option would be to pry out the door panel very carefully, or even cut a hole, and stick your hand in and release the latch with your fingers.

Sorry but I don't know of any other way other than cutting the door itself.

It's an S13, '89. Both interior and exterior handles do not work.

I was able to pry the top of the door panel out some on my lunch break so I may be able to get some kind of tool in there to pop the door open. I'm trying my best not to have to cut into my door panel but if I have to it won't be that big of a deal since I could do with a new one anyways..

[Marc240]

There are 2 screws. One is the inside hand grip to close the door and the other is located behind the dash. You can carefully pull the door panel out just enough to reach in there and pull down on the actuator lever.

It might be better as others have mentioned to try to get your DS seat out of the way if possible. You will need to remove the handle screw, window lever, and door latch plastic peice for it to pull away from the door.

[g6civcx]

Whatever you end up doing, you need to check 2 things on the door latch: 1) make sure that the lock is fully released, 2) hit the latch release mechanism to release the latch.

Hopefully if you jiggle the lock enough, then the lock will release and the door handles will work.

If not you have to hit the latch release manually and pray that the door will open.