Rear door is impossible to open.

[TurboDennis]

Long story short: previous owner decided it was a great idea to install generic door lock actuators on all the doors (likely to fix the problem with original ones being slow/intermittent). Install involved hacking up the door cables, wiring, drilling holes into panels to mount generic actuators, etc.

Before i had a chance to bring it all back to factory spec with original actuators, some part of this hack job failed on the rear drivers door. Now the door won't open at all. It feels like the the lock is not working and is stuck in "locked" position, despite the manual locking knob moving OK (both manually and by the electric actuator). Nether the interior or the exterior handles open the door. I tried banging on it, and messing with the handles/locking knob in every way imaginable to no avail.

I can't gain access to look inside the door to see what's going on with the linkage/actuator, because the door card is impossible to remove with the door closed.

Any tips on how to proceed? (other than angle grinder with a sawzall)

 

[kevgentile]

Okay, went back through the post. You might try and access the latch through the courtesy light hole. It'll be a chore but might work if you can find the cable closest to the latch. Other option, might be able to remove the window switch panel and go through that way. They are a bit of a pain to get out too but not impossible with the card on.

 

[kevgentile]

Another option if those two fail, access through the speaker panel. You can cut it out of the way and remove the speaker. This way you don't destroy the entire card and can probably epoxy the speaker grill back on and recover it.
You'll need a something lengthy to reach that far up in there but it's doable.

 

[Trapper50cal]

You could also roll the window down and remove the window belt trim and attempt access via that route.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

There's a thread on someone having to access the internals with the door close, they were able to get the interior panel off.

 

[kevgentile]

There's a thread on someone having to access the internals with the door close, they were able to get the interior panel off.

Unfortunately, can't be removed with the door closed. The card has push pins/clips that are attached through the sides of the card.

 

[TurboDennis]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

So I was able to get the door open.
Before posting the thread, I already tried accessing the linkage through the switch cover, but it's just too far and not reachable.

I also removed all the trim around the door on all sides, as well as the weather stripping, hoping that it would allow me to remove the door card. But it's just not possible - I was able to get the push pins out with the trim around the door removed, but the 2 screws on the bottom of the door card
are NOT POSSIBLE to access with door closed.

What ended up working was removing the door hinges and bolts (accessible through the drivers door). This allowed me to wiggle the door quite a bit and apply pressure on the locking mechanisms. While applying pressure and moving the door around, and pulling on the door handle, the mechanism finally released and the latch opened.
What a pain..

 

[Trapper50cal]

That aftermarket solution looks "interesting"...

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Unfortunately, can't be removed with the door closed. The card has push pins/clips that are attached through the sides of the card.

Removal of interior door panel when door is stuck closed?

forum.ih8mud.com

During the process I learned that the interior door panel can in fact be removed with the door locked in the shut position with some creative prying, etc.

 

[DuckLN]

Happened to me about 15 years back. I drilled a bunch of holes in the outside door handle and eventually got it open. The handle was available oem pre painted to my paint code. It sucked.

 

[TurboDennis]

That aftermarket solution looks "interesting"...

Indeed. I can't find the words to describe how i feel about these types of hack jobs...

The idiot that did this removed all the "jacket" around the core of the cable, to attach the rod of the aftermarket actuator directly to the core. All the support of the cable was removed/broken off as well. So what was happening is the core of the cable in the exposed area would just flex/bend instead of moving inside the jacket, which prevented the linear motion in the cable from reaching the door lock/unlock mechanism.

Removal of interior door panel when door is stuck closed?

forum.ih8mud.com

During the process I learned that the interior door panel can in fact be removed with the door locked in the shut position with some creative prying, etc.

There is no way to remove the panel without SOME sort of damage. It's possible to remove everything except the 2 screws on the very bottom of the door card. But if you take a look at those screws, their heads are bellow the level of the floor/carpet, and can only be accessed when the door is open. Perhaps "creative prying" means just prying on the door card hard enough so that the heads of those screws tear through the door card. This could be "fixed" rather easily later by putting a washed under the screw when installing. However even prying that hard on the door card would be a challenge, considering that you cant really use any kind of prying bar/tool on the bottom of the door when it's closed.