In a pickle, right rear door stuck shut (1 Viewer)

[Snakeshot]

Hey all,

Yes, right rear door stuck shut.
Electric lock function works fine, and manual door handle has normal range of throw both inside and out. I can hear the mechanism moving back to the latch from the inside.

Sooo,
Since the door is in the closed position, I can't disassemble the inside to the point where I can access the latch.

Tips, tricks, advice, sympathy?

Thanks in advance.

 

[EricG]

So does it look/sound/feel like the lock isn't disengaging? Or the handles aren't engaging the door latch? If it's the lock, maybe you could get at it with a slimjim or such.

 

[Snakeshot]

So does it look/sound/feel like the lock isn't disengaging? Or the handles aren't engaging the door latch? If it's the lock, maybe you could get at it with a slimjim or such.

As far as I can tell, the rotating locking piece at the latch

 

[Trapper50cal]

Sorry I don't have good advice...but at least its stuck closed instead of not being able to close....

actually, i do have some good advice...take the door panel off the inside and watch the rod that moves
upon trying to open it from the inside and try to manipulate that rod further to open it

 

[Snakeshot]

Sorry I don't have good advice...but at least its stuck closed instead of not being able to close....

actually, i do have some good advice...take the door panel off the inside and watch the rod that moves
upon trying to open it from the inside and try to manipulate that rod further to open it

I am still new here but,
can't take the door panel off while the door is closed (see above).

 

[OGBeno]

Sawzall and 4" angle grinder with a cutoff wheel will make quick work of your door problem.

 

[Snakeshot]

Sawzall and 4" angle grinder with a cutoff wheel will make quick work of your door problem.

Yeah, that will work, but is a less than ideal (or elegant) solution.

I bet that I can keep her in un-damaged condition with some creativity.
Hoping to find some previous experience with the same problem.

 

[greentruck]

Same exact thing happened to the last truck I had.

Eventually I sold it and bought an 80.

That did solve the door problem.

Maybe this means you should buy another 80?

 

[Riad]

So what have you tried so far? Have you tried budging it by giving it a hard knock (not damaging to the door ) as you pull and hold the manual door handle? You can try a prybar as you pull and hold the manual handle and try to pry it gently but if that thing is hooked solid to the latch then you might damage the door. All you need is to dislodge that sucker. Now if it is the lock not disengaging then I dunno. I had same thing happened to me in a 40 on the other side of the world. BFH and Prybar fixed the problem.

Good Luck

 

[tblume]

similar happened to me, but drivers front: I had a plastic splitting wedge (for firewood) that I used to open the gap where the window slides, and was able to figure it out with a dental mirror and a couple long needle nose pliers, and a headlamp. there was a spring that had broken and did not allow the action of either handle to throw the latch. I did get the top of the trim panel off also in the process, without breaking it luckily, and there was not much help there IIRC.

good luck.

 

[Trapper50cal]

I don't think you are getting crafty enough, the door panel doesn't need much room to come off, and your rear seats have multiple positions, including removed that will allow access to the door panel. You may not want to go through all this but it is an option. I can't think of any of the screws that you can't get to, and the rest is held by little plastic tabs. It can be done.

 

[mkfour]

This happened to a previous car of mine.

1) If you have access to the hinges from the front door, remove the pins and try to pop the door off. Otherwise the only other thing to do is to go destructo on the door panel, that's what I did.

2) You can try to access it through the speaker hole.

3) If you're gentle enough, you can salvage the exterior (interior facing side) by bending the panel in half. That means, you'll need new panel clips and a new 1/8" backing board which is pretty easy to re-engineer - just stencil your old one onto a board and cut the holes and other dimensions.

 

[The Nak]

No experience with an 80, but had the same issue with a '91 T-Bird SC. I had to remove the seat and that gave me enough room to pull the door panel. Don't know if it's any help, but it's all I've got! Good luck!

 

[offroad 80]

take the back seat out then wind the window down and take the interior door panel off it will come off my left hand door did the same the lock actuator came off and it wont open once you get inside the door youll see whats going on

 

[80t0ylc]

Hey all,

Yes, right rear door stuck shut.
Electric lock function works fine, and manual door handle has normal range of throw both inside and out. I can hear the mechanism moving back to the latch from the inside.

Sooo,
Since the door is in the closed position, I can't disassemble the inside to the point where I can access the latch.

Tips, tricks, advice, sympathy?

Thanks in advance.

What were events leading up to the problem?

Such as:
Kids playing with door handles & electric lock button. I've seen this cause this problem before due to door handle being pulled out by one child while another is working the e-lock button. I'm sure you've tried unlocking and locking both with e-lock button and manual lock lever. Vibration is your friend here. This can be done with some finesse so as not to damage your door. Have someone slapping sheetmetal or door panel while manually working lock lever and door handle. If it's just jammed, this can free it up and get it back to working order.
Or:
Was any adjustment recently made on door latch? If so it might just be too tight. Leaning into door while unlocked and trying door handle at same time will sometimes free it up.

As Trapper50cal said: You're not getting crafty enough.

If none of this works, somethings busted inside and best advise I've seen on this thread was to remove seat and try to get door panel off. Anyway, Good luck!

 

[kerrye]

Not familiar with the mechanism, however, would a slim jim work?

 

[LINUS]

Have you tried keeping pressure against the door skin while pulling latch from outside, or holding tight & pulling on the inside pull while working the latch - if all that doesn't help, worse come to worse you might sacrifice your interior panel during removal to fix.

Maybe a carpet covered 2x4 & a couple taps with a hammer?

Even though they don't effect the outside latch, I bet the child lock is somehow causing this, at least if your linkage is all good.

 

[Snakeshot]

Progress!

Window down (thanks offroad 80!), interior peeled back enough to get in there (with only minor damage to the panel, so far!). Really helps to remove the frame trim just behind the door.

All linkages appear to work fine, it is broken exactly at the latch itself
Now the task is to figure out how to pop it open working between the frame and door, and hopefully without further harming the interior panel.

Thanks to everyone for all of the suggestions, ideas, brainstorming, humor and support!
It will be fixed!