Stuck rear door

Finally some success! The square stock didn't work o I disassembled the door from the inside. Tricky to release the door card clips with the door jammed shut.
About an hour into fussing with the door card I got enough material away from the jam to see like and get a little play. Jiggling did get the job done so I closed my eyes, said a little prayer and gave the door a hard shove and voila! The door popped open. The latch was still inoperable so after an another hour of monkeying around I got the mechanism out of the door. After a lot of wd40 the latch freed up. Not sure if this was the specific problem, but an awful lot of hardened graphite/grease mixture came out with the wd40 overflow. I hope this was the problem cuz I'm going reinstall everything this evening.

Thanks Terry. Now to hunt down some square stock. Glad for the internet!

Bill I agree a screw driver probably won't allow you to turn the locking mechanism. You need more leverage with a piece of square bar bent to a L shape and the short end filed to the same size as the handle shaft.
Get somebody inside the car to hold the door handle while you press on the door from outside and turn the lever. That should work.
I should have mentioned you could use round bar. You just have to reshape one end to replicate the square shaft.

Ok... So the screwdriver didn't work. Might try it again but this time push in on the door to take pressure off the sliding foot of the door latch.


Gary Parsons

uconn_1965 wrote: Have you tried a screw driver. Without the outside handle installed, you should be able to find a flat headed screw driver that you can insert from the outside into the square hole opening of the door latch mechanism. Then just turn the screw driver and latch mechanism and the door should open as long as the inside handle is not in the locked position. Worth a try.

Great suggestion. I would use a square shank screwdriver and a wrench on the hex. Or use a bent piece of square stock fitted into the outside opening. Twist away. Can't say what the reason for not being able to open from the inside


Gary Parsons

Hi! The screwdriver trick was my first "go to". Just tried it again in case I was daft but no go. Thanx for the suggestion.
Bill

Have you tried a screw driver. Without the outside handle installed, you should be able to find a flat headed screw driver that you can insert from the outside into the square hole opening of the door latch mechanism. Then just turn the screw driver and latch mechanism and the door should open as long as the inside handle is not in the locked position. Worth a try.

Hi y'all from sizzling Raleigh NC.
I need help. my rear driver's side door will not open. The interior handle will go into lock position but when pushed down it clicks but won't release the latch. The exterior handle isn't presently installed. I'm looking for what probably is impossible. Somehow releasing the latch without removing the door card, which will have to be done from inside while laying on the back seat of a 90 degree car. Any help or commiseration will be greatly appreciated.
Thanx, Billy Bassoon