cool3865

okay thanks, will let you know how it goes this weekend

cool3865

what im not understanding is when you guys say open the rear door. where is this lock for it since technically i cant open the rear door due to the driver door being shut and not opening

Grace_Excel

iTrader: (5)

Just pull the lever for the rear door as you'd normally would open it. It cracks both door to give you some space to work on. Please read through the thread starting with my post in page two. Take your time, it will cause you frustration but once you understand the details, it'll be smooth sailing from there.

cool3865

lol well my driver side door now opens, on the other hand it only did that cause the outside door handle broke off. so something about that door handle was keeping the door lock. i can now open the door from the inside.

Rorschach

iTrader: (3)

Reading through this thread all I could think about was this.

TylerKuno

hey, i need some advice.. tonight my car will only unlock with the key in the door. the buttons in the door, and the keyless entry will not unlock the drivers door. the pass door works all the time, its just the drivers door. thanks

cool3865

mine did the same thing until i pulled the driver outside door handle off, now the door works fine

last king_89

Red_rx8_red_int your awesome!!

sowleg2419

I know this is an old thread but this just recently happened to me where my door would not open. I read this and it helped for the most part but I would just like to clear some things up that were confusing to me for anyone else with the problem.
first you do not need to take the window out or anything crazy like that. what i did was I unscrewed the screw for the plastic surrounding the inner door handle and removed that then i took out the screw inside the door pocket on the left (this was a pain because of the angle it is in at) then i popped off the plastic piece with the window control and lock controls on it and inside you can see one or two screws that you need to take out. then I popped off the triangle plastic piece with the tweeter in in on top of the door. then I pulled on the rear door handle and both of the doors pushed out a couple of inches. then I pulled like hell on the door panel from the handle and from the back of the door panel up and out. I got it to separate about 8 inches from the door. then I took off all of the nuts and bolts I could see on the inner plastic door panel about 8 or 10 that I could reach, I think they were 10 mm. then I pulled that out about 6 inches and could reach my hand inside if you follow the wires/rods from the door handle down into a black box about 3X6 inches big in the back of the door on the outer part. if you take a razor knife and cut as much of that box apart as you can you can then see a squareish white plastic piece attached to a rod i pulled that up and down and the door opened. then with the door open i took out the three screws on the edge of the door by the latch to release the box from the door. I found the broken retractor spring put a new bend in it and re attached it. the spring should run with the width of the door attached to two metal pieces inside of that box where you can hook it one i could see the other i had to just feel until the spring hooked. and boom problem fixed. I hope this helps someone, I know I needed it.

Mr.Mango

iTrader: (2)

Its your actuator with the 2 cables running to the handle/lock. Replace that unit and it will work perfectly, just be sure not to pull on the cables to latch them into the mechinism at the handle or else it stretches them and you will likely find yourself taking the actuator apart to fix it.

RADDMAN99

I Goggled my problem and got this link should have checked here first. Did my left side this weekend and what a pain in the ***! Took about 3 hrs to get the door open. The dealer told me it would take several hours as well and there was no way I was going to pay them $96.00 an hour just to get the door unlocked and then another $140.00 for the actuator lock assembly because they don't sell just the spring, plus putting all back together. Sure I saved several hundred dollars for a $1.29 spring. I used a Dremel with a flexible extension shaft attachment with a drilling cutting tip to access the plastic box. You do have to remove the window. I was able stand outside the car with good visibility to cut it open very easy after the window was out. Thank you for this thread.

Grace_Excel

iTrader: (5)

You're welcome! Glad you were able to find this and fixed your door.

It will save time to have the glass window removed rather than trying to guess how to cut on the black plastic box if it is the first time for anyone to ever work inside the door for this specific problem. It took me about 10 hours over all in three weeks tinkering with this stuff, trying to figure out on my own three years ago when I first posted in this thread. And during that time, there weren't really much to go with, so I also took the time of taking pictures to post here during my ordeal.

FLCL

77,000 miles, 2004 falls victim to the spring........well im pretty sure after reading this thread

GREAT thread by the way, thanks.

I am having a really hard time getting the door panel off around the speaker area. The part of the panel that is closest to the foot pedals, i got the fastener undone but it just does not wanna stretch by there.......its so tight btwn the dash and the door that it won't come out all the way....

any clarification on that little part would be most helpful.....thanks!

Hesselrode

iTrader: (3)

This is a difficult task. You have to be rough with it and "open" the back door and push against it while trying to maneuver the door panel out.

Grace_Excel

iTrader: (5)

If you cannot remove it don't force it; you will likely break something else trying to completely remove the panel. It's a lot of work and you need to better use your time and energy on the actual problem. Just view the pictures I have posted, the area of interest is between the rear and front doors not at the hinge of the front door.

FLCL

I did end up getting it all the way off, had a friend outside the car pulling with caution on the 2 doors while I sat in the car pulling like hell, which gave just enough room to barely get it around the speaker and off. Next time I think ill just leave it on there, as Grace_Excel stated you can get to the issue without completely taking off the panel.

Found the spring, bent a hook, hooked it back up and BLAMO! Fixed

What a task, and what a great thread, saved me $400

Grace_Excel

iTrader: (5)

Glad this helped you, FLCL. I don't particularly want to spend that much, I'd rather do the "all in a hard day's work".

FLCL

I found the 1-1/8" extension spring from Grainger (website linked) but there are 6 total choices for that size, 3 are 302 stainless steel, and 3 are High carbon steel.

My main thing is what the diameter of the spring in the locking mechanism is???
there are 3 diameter choices: .300 in, .240 in, & .180 in
anyone know? I could find out by tearing down the door again but was hoping...by chance.....someone would know and I wouldn't have to go that route.....

Grace_Excel

iTrader: (5)

Courtesy of 9krpmrx8, the only close-up picture we have.

Vizard424

iTrader: (1)

I actually just had to remove the door lock actuator over the past couple of nights...most frustrating thing I've ever done, probably more troublesome than swapping in the engine >_>

If anyone still needs the spring specs,

Extension Spring
Ultra Precision
High Carbon Steel (a.k.a. music wire. I went with this instead of stainless for the better fatigue life, just make sure to coat it thoroughly with grease)
Full Twist Loops
Overall Length: 1" (this is measured from insides of the loops)
Outside dia.: 0.360" (I've found that it's actually more around 0.375" but this is the closest)
Wire dia.: 0.045" (might be fractionally thicker than the original spring)

Vizard424

iTrader: (1)

Just a word of caution, I used the spring from Grainger and it is slightly too stiff. It works wonderfully but it's slightly stiffer from factory resulting in heavier door handle and lock actuation.

Paco664

did this today... reused old spring....

complete and total pain in the ***... the engineer who laid out the design for the door can eat me...

Drakan290

Sorry to bump this thread of yore, but I am having some troubles opening up my drivers side door.

Went through the entire post of cutting the plastic box in the door frame, still nada. I can feel both of the plastic bits, and when pushing down on them, it _sounds_ like the latch is opening, but the door still doesn't open.

I'm at a loss of where to go from here, I feel like I have 3 options (all shitty).

1. Go to a shop and see if they can fix it
2. Open up the rear door so the doors are in a /\ position, and kick the latch broken to open it
3. Continue to get in the passenger door and keep knocking all the ***** and bits off of my radio


What would you guys do? Have you seen something like this before? My google searches have ranged from 'rusted shut door latch' to 'door latch stuck inside door', but all anyone suggests is a slim jim; I can tell you for a fact that a slim jim wouldn't work.

Thanks for the help to whomever responds.

Drakan290

Looks like my stupid *** hit a map light at some point yesterday and now the car is locked on both doors with no battery. What do I do from here, I can't slim Jim the drivers door and now the passenger door is locked

Vizard424

iTrader: (1)

I'm at a total loss for how to get in if you're locked out of both driver and passenger side but if you can get in, you're going to have to wiggle and mess with the lock wheel. If you can pull it out it makes a lot of sense but basically you're going to have to turn the wheel, flip the lock and pull on the handle all at the same time (or something like that don't remember too well)

Basically the idea is that there's a pin on the wheel and when the door is unlocked the pin gets pushed by the wheel (turned by the door handle). When the door is locked the pin is shifted out of the wheel so turning the wheel (using the handle) does nothing. There's a spring that's supposed to automatically shift either the spring or the wheel (forgot which one) back into position so when that spring breaks the pin gets stuck and the door no longer works.

Hope this helps, not the best at explaining things. Maybe someone else here can post pics.

Good luck with getting in tho!