Son of a... Stuck door lock - FIXED

[Mantonite]

So I went to get in the '94 Loyale yesterday turned the key in the lock and it moved, but I could feel the rod bending but not unlocking. No luck unlocking from the inside either. Two questions:

- Can I get the door panel off from the inside with the door closed?

- What can I expect to be the problem... once I get the panel off?

 

Thanks in advance for the help!!!

[idosubaru]

might be as simple as frozen internals. any reason why water may have gotten down in there recently? if so, pull it in the sunlight for awhile. or blast the heat inside.

 

i don't think the interior panel will come off with the door closed, though it may. the hand up will be the edges, i believe most are lipped and seal around the body when the door is shut. but give it a try, they come off easy enough to make it worth a shot.

 

otherwise there are plastic clips and gadgets in there, not sure which could fail. someone that's had this happen before will hopefully speak up.

[WagonsOnly]

You can get the trim off from the inside. Get a very small pry bar, curved screwdriver (with a 90º tip) or trim puller. Remove the plastic "cups" on the armrest, use a Phillips screwdriver to take the armrest off, remove the door handle cup (the little plastic piece) with a flat screwdriver (or a stiff piece of mylar or heavy plastic kitchen scraper to avoid scratches). Then pry around the bottom of the panel with the trim puller. There are about 10 plastic press-fit fasteners all around the panel, and starting from the bottom you should hear them all snap. Your only problem will most likely getting the triangular "sail" panel off without breaking it--it's supposed to go straight up, but you won't have that range of motion with the door closed. (Any gray sail panel '87-'94 will fit though.) After the sail is off and the fasteners removed, lift the panel straight up and out of the window channel. There will be one quick disconnect for the power window switches; unhook this. You'll be set, other than the plastic you have to remove to get at the door lock assembly.

[Bill90Loyale]

Wait for a warm spell. Bad stuff can start happening when you pry plastic in Michigan in the winter.

[Mantonite]

Thanks for the help... it'll be in the (relatively speaking) heated garage, so I'm not too worried about the cold plastic cracking issue.

 

I'll let y'all know what I find/how it goes. Hopefully will get to it tonight... climbing in the passenger side is a PITA!!!

[robm]

I have had similar problems. Fiddling with the door latch inside while manipulating the handle outside can clear it. Pulling off the door liner with the door closed is not easy. I tried, but I don't think I managed it. It wasn't required in the end, anyway.

 

To prevent this from happening, never lock the car.

 

Rob.

[Mantonite]

To prevent this from happening, never lock the car.

 

Yeah... but I like my skis and want to keep 'em around a while. That's the only time I lock it.

 

I'll try the handle fiddling thing (sounds dirty:-p ). That could save me a couple hours.

[Mantonite]

Well, the fiddling worked. I was ready to take the inner panel off and I don't think it would have happened with the door closed. One guy fiddling with the lock and handle on the inside, one doing the same with a key on the outside got 'er open.

 

The lower pivot was froze up. Some WD-40 got it working again, but I'm gonna have to seal up the holes in the door or else I'm sure it'll happen again. For now, I'm running with no interior door panel... just in case.

 

Thanks for the help y'all!