Hi, recently my passenger door has stopped opening. it doesn't matter if I use the inside, or the outside handle, it just wont pop the latch. Now I'm sure I'd be able to figure it out once I get the door panel off. But I think it would be quite a task trying to remove the door panel properly while the door is shut. Anyone have any ideas? your help is appreciated.


**edit** whoa I just realized my profile info is way wrong, the 2.8 is long gone. i'm running and 87 iroc now if it matters.

 

Was the door sticking before?

Ive had doors that were difficult to open just because they were wedged in there, try giving it a swift shove open

If your latch is not releasing then there is no way to access it without destroying either your panel or exterior skin

If your rods are out of alignment and your latch still functions you can pull the trim around the interior handle and fiddle with the rods and you might luck out and get the door open with no damage

Good luck

 

it hasnt had problems before, i was working on the interior and after i got the passenger seat out and shut the door, it hasnt opened since

 

alright problem solved. I found out at one point the passenger window was broken. Whoever replaced the window didn't do a great job of cleaning up the broken glass... it seems that the lock was prevented by opening all the way by a small little piece of glass in the latch. popped the lock in the open position with a screw driver and no problems whatsoever now. For anyone else having this problem I found a way to get the door panel off with no problems at all (almost). I removed the top trim piece first. cutting the little plastic clips with one of those mini-hacksaws and continued to cut all the little clips off and slid the panel straight up. sure I broke all the panel clips, and one of the retaining clips for the top trip piece, But thats nothing considering I saved the door panel. Hopefully this can help anyone else looking for a way to get the door panel off while the door is stuck.

 

Still ended up sacrificing the upper trim piece

Good job on the minimal damages to get it open