Hey All, I have a 1985 IROC-Z and my passenger door has locked itself and will not unlock for anything. I can't unlock it with the key from the outside, and I can't disengage it from the inside either, and as a result I can't get the door to open for anything. It happened this past Sunday, I have a short somewhere and so my power locks havn't worked right for quite some time. I take the fuse out, especially during the summer months when I don't need my rear window defogger, because if the 30 amp is in it drains my battery because the power locks constantly try to lock and unlock themselves. So on Sunday I put the fuse in so I could use my defogger and when I had driven home (10 minutes, 5 miles) the door was locked and my buddy had to climb over the center console with a broken foot to get out. Embarrassing, I know. So my question is, will I be able to get this lock disengaged without being able to open the door, or am I going to have to take this thing to a shop or call in a locksmith to open my door? I'm thinking I may be able to take off the door panel without being able to open the door if I take off my dash pad, but I want a few different opinions. Thanks!

EASY!..........Simply roll down your window. Look down from the top of the door to where you can see the back of door lock inside the door. Note the locking rod from the door lock that runs from the door lock down to the door latch. Reach down inside the door with a long pair of needle nose pliers (or any similar device) and grab this rod and try to move it up and down. See if it releases the lock so you can open the door.

And try next..........The manual lock pull below the door handle. you may have to take off the plastic thumb piece and get to the actual metal rod that it is attached to and try to move that also to release the door lock.
Check the how to section to remove the thumb lock button slider
Look under door panel removal.

When these cars get old the unlock motor don't have the grunt to fully move the unlock thumb button and rod far enuff either way to lock or unlock the door so you have to move the thumb button/rods by hand force to unlock/lock the door.
A PIA for sure as my 84 has the same issues so been there and done this!

The problem is common to our cars. Usually a thorough cleaning and relubing will fix the problem.

JamesC

Welcome to the site. Let us know how you made out.If you get the door open,put some white grease on the latch to help free it up.

Thanks everyone. I havn't gotten a chance to try these yet, but I'll definitely let you all know how things turn out.

Hey all,

I know it's been a while, but we've got this going. Turns out the cylinder froze in place. The motor ended up having to be taken out and will be replaced when I get the chance. I appreciate the advice from you all!