FJ62 Stuck door latch (1 Viewer)

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Aug 16, 2018
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62
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Mass/NH Border
My passenger door is stuck shut and is frustrating beyond belief. I shut it, drove home and it wont open again. Got the door panel off inside the truck and everything looks okay. The locks actuate up and down and work as they should. Both handles pull and actuate the thing that pushes down on the release. I tested this on the drivers door. The little thing pushes down but no release of the latch. I've tried pushing it back up and down and it seems a little sticky and the spring will not return it up, but that shouldnt matter. Prying it down more should allow the latch to release but nothing. Ive shouldered it and been in and out a million times. I can access it from the lock home on the outside and from the inside but nothing will happen. See the pics below. Maybe someone can add something to help me get this open. I have spare doors so I can swap out the latch mechanism once I get the door open. But the door must be open to do so. It always worked fine, and now it just will not open no matter what I try!!! Please help, I am so frustrated!!
This first picture is looking in through the key hole. The thing with the red arrow should get pushed down and unlatch the door.
IMG_1362.jpg

Same thing from this angle in the truck looking in the door. That little tab should get pushed down by the handles being opened and unlatch the door.
IMG_1363.jpg

If this is incorrect, please tell me what I need to do to unlatch this door!! Thanks for all your help in advance
 
Spray a liberal amount of penetrating oil down there and keep working the release mechanism. Some times pulling from outside or pushing from inside helps. Kroil, liquid wrench, pb blaster etc are your best bet.
 
Thank you for your input, Seth. Upon your suggestion, I have drenched it in WD and also some Fluid film I had. Both claim to penetrate and free stuck bolts and latches. I cant find my can of PP-Blaster(thats what I call it)
So I soaked it and have tried to exercise the up and down movement of that latch that I believe releases the latch. Still nothing. To top it off I think I sold all my latches and power door lock mechanisms to some nice guy on here who wanted to convert his 60 to power door locks. Now I have nothing I can yank out of other doors to examine exactly how it works.
I really didnt expect to have this much trouble. I thought for sure I'd have the door open in 5 minutes after getting the door panel off with the door closed.
Does anyone else have any suggestions? I'll gladly listen and entertain any suggestions.
Thanks!
 
We’ll go fix it, then tell me what you did!:bang:
 
Have you tried reaching into the door and manually pushing or pulling the actuator rod...bypassing the handles completely.

Oh...also....this only affected my outside handle...but on my drivers door the lock cylinder rotated slightly and this cause it to be a little hard to open.
 
its also possible that your locking mechanism hasn't unlocked fully.
 
I think I know what your saying, but the thing that pushes down the release tab kind of swings out of the way when the lock is down. This keeps it from making contact with the tab and releasing the door. I have the lock out and can fully actuate the lock up and down even further than you can with the lock cylinder in. I have even got a flathead screwdriver to sit on the tab so when you pull either door latch it wants to push that tab down even further. But still nothing. I’m quite sure the tab is getting fully depressed but it just isn’t releasing the actual little latch wrapped around the striker on the door. So annoying. Might just say that’s a no access door. Or I’ll bite the bullet and ask my buddies at the shop to give it a go. I hate paying for stupid things.
 
I never had this problem, so this is just a guess. Are you sure the door isn't binding in the jamb or the lock against the striker? can you put a jack under the frame at the B pillar and lift it a bit. this might release stuck together parts. Or try putting a non-marking lever in the bottom door to body gap on the lock side and lift the door up a little.
 
@2mbb Thank you for the suggestion. I never really thought of that. I did kind of start prying the door(near the striker) out of frustration a little, but backed off so I would not bend the door or damage the new paint. I'll first give the non marring pry from the bottom a go, then if that fails go the jack route.
If I understand correcty, put the on say the frame rail under the b pillar(right between the doors) and jack it up a little. The thinking may be that the door or the body or what have you may have sagged a little and then when the door shut it jammed up on the striker? Could certainly be.
I'll report back. Lets hope this works and I can adjust the door and keep this from happening again. So strange it just happened all of a sudden. My dog hates when I make him jump out the drivers side.
 
You can always take apart the drivers door and observe the mechanism working there just to make sure you are not missing something. I have a sprinter and just had the rear door latch do stop working. I had to go in through the inside and was able to open it. Had to pull the assembly out, lube and clean and finally discovered a tab had gotten misaligned.
 
good luck. My only experience is that some of my cars, when I have them on jack stands, the doors stick a little when opening/closing These may be unibody not frame-style body, but you get the idea. And on a little sports car I had painted, I got the doors a little stuck when I was trying to put the doors back on and align every thing.
 
Did you ever figure this out? I'm in the same boat but with the rear driver side door. Worked great until it decided to never open again. Everything looks fine inside and I've also tried a liberal amount of penetrating fluid.
 
NOPE! I challenged a lot of smart people to try to open it. I work at an auto shop with a lot of mechanically inclined folks. Multiple people involved at once...
I sold the 62... and I still regret it all the time. The door was not the reason I sold it.
 
NOPE! I challenged a lot of smart people to try to open it. I work at an auto shop with a lot of mechanically inclined folks. Multiple people involved at once...
I sold the 62... and I still regret it all the time. The door was not the reason I sold it.
I appreciate the reply. I'll comment back here if I ever do figure it out. I've considered selling my 62 but know I'll regret it if I do, so I haven't yet lol.
 

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