Ok guys, I need your help..
My passenger side door will not open and I am assuming the "hook/lever" inside must have rusted or unclipped.. thus, the door cannot be opened right now..

now in order to fix this, I have to remove the door panel to get access to the "inside" of the door, but how do I do so if I can't open the door to remove the panel?

any help would be appreciated..

thanks

kL

 

you can take the drivers side apart and take a look at how the latch mechanism works and then try to pop the passanger side open with a lock out kit or coat hanger or something to that effect.
another option (as a last resort) is to try to get the panel off enough to get to the latch.this would probably mean trashing the panel .
hope this helps and good luck

 

Agreed, slim jim-ing it would be the only way I can think of. Im not sure what kind of access opening the rear door gives you?

 

thanks for the suggestions guys..
I don't think slim jim would work since I think it's the rod that connects to the "latch" mechanism that rusted/fell off

I will keep trying tho.. thanks guys..

anyone else have any suggestions?

 

only suggestions in can think of require destruction of your door panel...

See you can find a pic of inside of the door panel and see if you can activavte the handle/latch be some rod using a slim jim type device

 

Um, is there any way to take the door off? I mean, I know its a PITA but im not sure of the process so maybe its doable?

 

At the dealership I worked at we had a lady(rather heavy-set lol) who somehow managed to slam her door so hard with the seat belt clip IN the door sill that she completely jammed the door on a 2008 MDX. There was on way to get the door open, and after about an hour of messing with it the technicians finally had to just destroy the panel... I think it was like a $1100 bill!

It was just kind of a funnny story b/c the lady had to climp up and over the center console and out the passenger side a couple times which was no easy feat for her...

Hopefully this is not the case for you! The first thing that came to my mind was the partial access you may get by opening the rear door all the way, but it's pretty obvious I'm sure you have already tried it. Good luck...

 

funny story but $1100.00 bill.. ouch..

I'll try the opening rear door approach again..

but here are pics of what I am dealing with.. and no, I have nothing "jammed in between the doors" that would not let it open

here are the pics...

the first pic, I can remove the bolt/screw, but cannot remove the black plastic piece ( think the silver piece behind it is the door computer for the door lock and power window)




the 2nd pic is the handle pocket that I removed thinking I might be able to reach the rods, but no avail

 

Sorry, but you're not going to be able to open it without damaging the panel or the door. You won't be able to remove the panel with the door closed. At least not without damage. I don't have leather interior, but maybe the small leather piece can be pulled off. If so you can cut a hole into the door panel, behind where the leather piece went. Just make sure there is enough material left to glue it back on. Worst comes to worst, just go to the junk yard and get another panel. It's cheaper than a damaging the door.

 

if you take the driver door apart so that you can see how the latch works then you can use a slim-jim to pop the latch. it doesnt matter a whole lot if the rod is off or not. the slim jim can be used to move the actual latch mechanism and open the door. you can do this by trial and error but sometimes that takes a while...hence pull of the drivers door panel so that you know whats going on .

 

Alset has a point. However, if that doesnt work then you might try to use a coat hangar or similar up through the door handle or 'change holder' hole.

 

thanks for the input guys.. yay. looks like I'll be busy tonight...

 

try opening the back door to give you some room, remove the fender lining and unbolt the door from under the fender..

 

well, so far no luck.. but at least I came to this conclusion..
it's the unlocking mechanism not grabbing " slipping" so it will not pull on the latch to unlock the door ( I can feel it slip when I try unlocking with the key)..
what I will attempt tomorrow is to unhook the door skin at the window sill level and hopefully that will give me enough play to pull up on the "rod" to at least open the door and try to resolve the rest after..

once again guys, thanks for the inputs.. really don't want to destroy my interior door panel..

 

Well, even if it comes down to destroying the panel, they aren't that expensive....less than $50, IIRC.

Maybe I'm not remembering the door situation correctly, but you can't just pull the panel off inside? Is there something blocking it in? It would be difficult because of the chair (which you could always just unbolt and move), but have you tried it?

 

no, panel can't be simply pulled of
part of the dash and door frame ( b pillar?) are blocking as well.. sigh.. I think I will have to bust my panel.. such a shame.. it's in mint condition as well..

 

Remember to take the leather part off, that way when you buy another one, you can just get a cheapo black and grey one, then take off the grey and install your leather in there.

 

or you can take off the courtesy light and fish a hanger inthere and pull down on the latch..

 

Good Idea.. I tried that, but wasn't successfull.. but I will definately try it again..

 

Tengo un buen idea.

I think.

Try removing your insert, be it leather or cloth. Then you can(if need be), drill a hole behind where the insert goes.

 

EUREKA!!! I managed to removed the panel enough to get the door to open up..with minimal damage to the door panel..

what I did was open the window all the way down and started to pry the door panel at the window sill level .. every approx 3-4 inches, I used a screw driver to keep the panel proped up so it won't settle back down and latch itself on the window sill again.. once more or the less whole lenght of the top of the panel has been propped up, I started pushing the panel inwards ( towards the inside of the car, I was working from outside of the car).. the panel bent/kinked enough for me to slip my hand, remove the C shaped styrofoam and grab the rod to "unlock" my door..

turns out it was the lock/unlock rod near the bottom of the door that was not moving correctly...

The idea of going thru the courtesy light hole.. that's no go. also, going thru behind the inside handle is a no go as well since there is a huge black plastic piece blocking acess and all the rods are on the oposite side..

I'll try to snap a pic of the "damaged" panel with little damage on it..
now all I gott do is "reshape" the panel where it hooks on to the window sill..

 

 

 

well at least you got it!
good job at not totally destorying your panel.
thanks for the update

 

Told you you shoulda just taken out the insert

Nice job man, Im glad you got it fixed. Now hopefully when it goes back on, it wont be too distorted.

 

I have the same dam issue facing me so I'll be trying this later.
Been searcing this site for a few days now. Once again, the Org cxomes through.