3rd gen... driver side door not opening :(

[amalik]

hey gents (and ladies)...

97 limited 3.4 4wd...

Today I was blessed with my driver side door unable to open from both the inside AND outside. Unbelievable... It worked on and off most of the day but now is totally "off" if you will.

The other day (In fact, just yesterday) my brother was pushing down the lock and pulling it up and I got a little upset with him since it's automatic locking/etc. What are brothers for, right?

I read some of the forum posts here and saw that the locking actuator could be broken? Anyone have some more information? I have a service manual... and tools... and the desire not to pay $500 for this fix, but I would like to know *whats broken* and also if anyone has removal pics, I haven't come across them on the threads I looked at.

Another symptom is that when I put my key in the Driver side door it turns left or right only after quite a struggle with the key.

 

[kball]

From a quick look it does not seem likely to get the panel off with the door closed. The dash is in the way at the front but maybe you can get the back end of the panel off enough to reach in and pull one of the rods. You will have to get the drivers seat out of the way, either leaning it or taking it out. Here's a write up I did a while back that may help you see what you're dealing with.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/79145-door-lock-replacement-96-runner.html#post676893

 

[amalik]

kball i appreciate the input

it is true that removing the panel without the door open really makes things harder... but say i figured that part out... my problem still remains... what needs replacing?

I've read here on the forum in other posts that people have replaced actuators when the keyless remote wouldn't lock/unlock the driver side door but they could lock/unlock it manually.

Mine is a lot worse; even manual doesn't work -- it sounds like you are telling me to look into the rods and not the actuator.

 

[kball]

Look through the pics in my writeup. There is little plastic yellow clip that hold the rod onto the door handle. It tends to unclip itself and then the rod can work it's way out of the handle. Actually I think the interior handle is a separate actuator from the door handle so maybe you can just pull that interior handle out and pull the rod. Maybe it unclipped from the rod right there at the handle.

 

[amalik]

Kball or anyone else, I'm entirely stuck on removing the door handle (Larger goal is removing the panel).

In addition to the pics in your writeup, I watched a video online on the door panel removal; and in the guys video this door panel snapped off after the rod was pushed a little downwards and the handle pulled upwards. Mine is not budging no matter what.

I didn't try to the Passenger side, but could this be part of the problem?

Pictures brought to you buy a brand new iPhone 5S

 

[Dezert4Runner]

The part of the white clip below the brown handle piece needs to be snapped down off of the rod, then you can pull the handle piece up off of the end of the rod that points up. Then make sure all of the snaps around the edges of the door panel are gently popped loose and pull the whole door panel up and then out away from the door.

 

[amalik]

ok thanks, ill try that Dezert.

as an obvious update -- i can open the door from inside after turning my key from the outisde (Although from outside the key really struggles to unlock).

 

[kball]

Glad you got it open. I thought it was weird that both rods seemed to have failed. You can either do what Dezert says and unclip the handle from the rod or once the panel is loose you can twist the handle with a little force and slide it thru the hole sideways.

 

[amalik]

Ok gentlemen...

With the help from your tips plus a pair of pliers and a can of WD40... I finally got that stupid door handle off... thank God I didn't break the white clip =)

The door panel itself honestly I found it pretty hard to remove, it might be the cheap a$$ tool I was using from AutoZone didn't help, and I got a broken clip in the meantime

Hopefully I'll be able to pick that up cheap from Toyota.

Anyways... on to the issue...

I'm no expert mechanic here, but I know enough to know that when I pull my outside door handle and watch the mechanism inside... it's not attached to any rod at all:

If you look really closely... you'll see that the curved part of the yellow clip that holds the rod (I'm assuming it holds the rod that is right next to it that is disconnected) is broken, it hangs on by a thread. You can't see it clearly in this picture because its covered with dust, but I can tell you that its broken.

I'm assuming the next step here is a new yellow clip... Do I get that from the dealer?

Also, I assume it just a snap in? Probably use my pliers again.

 

[nevada]

Ok gentlemen...

With the help from your tips plus a pair of pliers and a can of WD40... I finally got that stupid door handle off... thank God I didn't break the white clip =)

The door panel itself honestly I found it pretty hard to remove, it might be the cheap a$$ tool I was using from AutoZone didn't help, and I got a broken clip in the meantime

Hopefully I'll be able to pick that up cheap from Toyota.

Anyways... on to the issue...

I'm no expert mechanic here, but I know enough to know that when I pull my outside door handle and watch the mechanism inside... it's not attached to any rod at all:

If you look really closely... you'll see that the curved part of the yellow clip that holds the rod (I'm assuming it holds the rod that is right next to it that is disconnected) is broken, it hangs on by a thread. You can't see it clearly in this picture because its covered with dust, but I can tell you that its broken.

So... even if I re-attached that rod (assuming thats why my outside door handle doesn't work)... that yellow clip is broken.

What's my next required step?

get a new clip. if thats not an option, you'll need a new exterior handle assembly.

easy fix either way.

 

[amalik]

yeah nevada, i'm calling the dealer now.

the handle assembly itself is a bit harder to take off IMO...theres a bolt that is kinda out of the way, but you have to disconnect and reconnect the pink clip the lock connects to... not a huge deal but in my truck these clips are like soldered onto the rods.

 

[amalik]

$4 for the yellow clip. Snap-in.

 

[kball]

You could just zip tie the broken yellow clip but for $4 you might as well get a new one. The clips and rods separating thing can be a pain. They should just come apart but sometimes they don't want to. It's not hard getting to the bolts for the handle, there's a hole you can stick the socket through to get to the rear one. If I remember correctly....

 

[amalik]

kball -- after taking all my stuff apart and seeing the mechanism... now i know what you mean by the pink clip that the lock itself connects to... thankfully mine is not broken, which is funny cuz the piece I have broken wasn't in your scenario.

Was it hard to disconnect that pink clip and rod on yours?

BTW kball, also wanted to let you know that top speaker on the door is not part of the panel; no need to take it off.

You could just zip tie the broken yellow clip but for $4 you might as well get a new one. The clips and rods separating thing can be a pain. They should just come apart but sometimes they don't want to. It's not hard getting to the bolts for the handle, there's a hole you can stick the socket through to get to the rear one. If I remember correctly....

 

[kball]

Those little clips are always a pain in my book! I just recently had to revisit my broken lock issue and for the life of me I could not get the rod to come out of the yellow clip. I got the lock out with the handle still in the door. Anyway... hopefully for you it isn't that bad but if it is I would just put the rod back into the yellow clip and zip tie it so it can't come back out.

Thanks for the tip on the speaker. I guess I'll just leave it alone next time. I based my write up oin other write ups I found for speaker installs. So of course they took it off..

 

[amalik]

oh man. After this $hi* is over I better not have to revisit it...

Taking off the door panel was so painful, I thought for each clip that came out I was breaking it completely, whereas I ended up breaking only 1.

 

[kball]

LOL, yep I thought I was breaking all mine too but only one was broke. Not sure if I did it or it already was. Yours looks like mine, the mount not the clip broke so there's nothing you can do to fix that. Hope fully it won't vibrate and make noise. Mine didn't.

 

[bp.sh.cole]

Driver's side Passenger door won't open

Hey everyone,

Our driver's side passenger door won't open. We've managed to open it, after many attempts, by pulling the lock up and lifting the handle at the very same time, but most of the time it doesn't work.
It's not the biggest inconvenience ever, and my partner is too busy to have it taken care of, so I thought I would do some research myself.
Should I take the door panel off?
What would be causing this?
Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[kball]

Sounds like something is jammed up in there. Taking the cover off would be the only logical next step to see what's up in there.

 

[kolelt]

Believe it or not. I got the panel of with door closed haha.