Rear passenger door is stuck shut....

[whitewhale2010]

Okay, so I did something incredibly stupid. I took all my door handles off to paint them (which turned out great btw) and when I was putting the rear passenger door back together something happened with the door opening thingy. Idk if maybe a cable came loose or something but neither the inside or outside handle can open the door. And I accidentally closed it so now I can't take the panel off to fix it! What do I do?!?!?!

The locks, windows, speakers, lights, etc all work, it's the the handles not working.

 

[whitewhale2010]

I guess what I really need to know is there a way to remove the rear door panel with the door closed? Or a way to force the door open w/o a handle?

 

[Jerrydog]

You need a locksmith to reach between the weather strip and the glass down to the latch and pop it open for you. Its the easiest way. I'd also bring him a schematic of the door mechanism....

 

[Presta24]

You need a locksmith to reach between the weather strip and the glass down to the latch and pop it open for you. Its the easiest way. I'd also bring him a schematic of the door mechanism....

I agree, your local stealer parts dept can print you out a diagram of the inside, latch mech. Sounds like the clip that holds the rod latch on fell off your handle.

 

[riceandpho]

this is gona be tricky, but do this, open the windows, then remove the screws that holds the panel, the one in the armrest and the lever i think, then try to pop the panel off, pull it towards u and then lift up, just make sure u got all the clips off, its gona take some skills but i have tried it b4, also take the back seat out for some extra room to reach at the bottom. ur gona need to reach up from the bottom to pull the cable.

 

[whitewhale2010]

this is gona be tricky, but do this, open the windows, then remove the screws that holds the panel, the one in the armrest and the lever i think, then try to pop the panel off, pull it towards u and then lift up, just make sure u got all the clips off, its gona take some skills but i have tried it b4, also take the back seat out for some extra room to reach at the bottom. ur gona need to reach up from the bottom to pull the cable.

So you've done this before and it is possible?

 

[whitewhale2010]

this is gona be tricky, but do this, open the windows, then remove the screws that holds the panel, the one in the armrest and the lever i think, then try to pop the panel off, pull it towards u and then lift up, just make sure u got all the clips off, its gona take some skills but i have tried it b4, also take the back seat out for some extra room to reach at the bottom. ur gona need to reach up from the bottom to pull the cable.

You were right, it's possible. It's a HUGE pain in the rear though. I had to take out the back seat, remove the door weatherstripping, the middle pillar, passenger seatbelt, and floor things, but I finally got it out. And luckily I was able to fix the handle problem, turns out it just wasn't attached to the opening mechanism thingy. Door's back to normal now and I didn't have to pay anyone to do it!!! yay!!!! lol

 

[whitewhale2010]

Btw, here's what the handles look like if anyone wanted to know

 

[riceandpho]

nice.

 

[riceandpho]

the trick was to make more room inside to get the panel off.

 

[whitewhale2010]

the trick was to make more room inside to get the panel off.

Exactly lol