Drivers rear door latch jammed

[T4RBoarder]

Hey guys,

Yesterday while fiddling around trying to get my all my speakers to work (whole different story ) I noticed that I could no longer open my rear door. When pulling the outside handle it seems as if I could not pull it as far as usual and any combo of pulling the outer or inner handle would not make it budge. I searched and found some threads about it being a broken spring inside the latch and a new one is the only course of fixing it. I did some prying and got the top of the door panel off to access the inside latch but for the life of me I cannot figure out where to pry or push to get the latch to unhook. With this pic any ideas or guidance? Yes I broke the plastic behind it and there may be a few pieces bent, I have a whole new latch on its way.

 

[blkprj80]

I would think the rod should go into the hole as shown below. There should be a clip like the green one (maybe a different color) to hold that rod in place. Look for it in the bottom of the door.

Or, just pull the part with the hole in the direction of the arrow. Probably toward the front of the truck?

You could take your opposite door apart to see what it should be like.

 

[T4RBoarder]

I would think the rod should go into the hole as shown below. There should be a clip like the green one (maybe a different color) to hold that rod in place. Look for it in the bottom of the door.

Or, just pull the part with the hole in the direction of the arrow. Probably toward the front of the truck?

You could take your opposite door apart to see what it should be like.

View attachment 1430949

I actually disconnected that rod myself...it should be totally unlocked, I couldn't get the part that connects to move anymore.

 

[T4RBoarder]

Still no luck any ideas?

 

[jpoole]

I had a similar problem recently with my passenger front door which was caused by a broken lock spring, as you've read about elsewhere. The spring on the locking/unlocking mechanism broke and disconnected itself. Without that spring the door lock stuff couldn't actuate and no combination of inside/outside door handle or door lock toggling would open the door. I was able to use a coat hanger bent to what I needed, a light, wedges for visibility from above, etc. to actuate the lock and get the door opened. Once the door was open it was easy to rebend/repair the spring and resume normal operations.

So, possibly nothing specific here to help but keep the locking mechanism in mind as the source of the problem. As mentioned by someone else here looking at the working door would probably be worthwhile in helping you pinpoint what should be happening in there. Also, if you haven't tried it, looking down from above after wedging between glass and window seals can give you a helpful perspective. I'm pretty sure that I had to go in from above to get my door open when the spring broke. Be careful with over-wedging of course and don't expect to have much of a gap to work/look through. Finally, this can sometimes be visually easier at night since you can shine the light into the door and your eyes don't have to compensate for glares/bright lights outside etc. and can focus inside the door exclusively.

 

[T4RBoarder]

Ended up having to destroy the latch internally, took about an hour of prying and breaking through the latch but it is open now and ratchet strapped to the other door until I get the new part.