1996 f250 xlt. The door locks move up and down when the button is pushed,so I don't think the lock is sticking. every now and then if you hold your mouth right,the door will open. The door latches seem to be working fine and aren't broken. What could be causing it and how hard is it to pull the door panel off and maybe see what is broke?

 

From the inside, you could have a stretched cable or torn sheet metal where the handle mounts.

Door panel comes right off after pulling out some screws. Slide it forward off the inside handle. If you have armstrong windows then of course you'll need to pull the crank off too, one bolt in the center.

 

Doubt it is a stretched cable since there aren't any. The handles, lock actuator and lock button are connected to the latch using rods retained by plastic clips. Sometimes the rods aren't adjusted correctly in the clip or it slips inside the clip. It could still be the latch hanging up. Try spraying it with white lithium grease.

 

Yes there is. OBS trucks use a cable from the inside door handle to the latch mechanism. The outside handle and lock mechanism does use a rod.

 

Haven't had the door panel off in a while. Had to look at LMC parts breakdown. I stand corrected. I can honestly say I have never replaced one of those cables.

 

^^^^^ Vicious cycle - cable stretches, reduced "response" from handle. Rather than diagnosing, operator pulls handle harder. Stretches cable more, puts more stress on handle mounting point on door structure. Operator pulls handle harder still. Rinse, repeat. Until mounting point fails. So once you get it apart, if the handle mounting is damaged, it can be repaired, but at FIRST sign of inside handle ops issues, open it up and adjust/repair before it reaches this point.

At this point, getting the interior panel off is possible, but a tight-quarter operation with the door closed. Look for screws along the bottom of the panel, "hiding" in the carpet/fabric of the panel. Disconnect and remove the window/lock switch panel first, of course.

"Hail Mary" option - in case it's just a latch adjustment issue, have an assistant hold the button on the exterior handle and pull outward, while you throw your shoulder linebacker-style against the door from the inside.

 

My bet is on the latch going bad or in need of lube since the OP said it won't release from either handle so that rules out the cable IMO. Guess I don't yank that hard on the handle to open the door.

By the way what is an OBS?

 

The OP's symptoms don't rule out the cable. We have no idea whether the door failed to work inside first, then outside, or vice-versa, or if both failed at the same time.

OBS - Old Body Style - 1992-1996, 1997 "real" F-250 and F-350

 

That acronym doesn't make any sense to me but ok. What is an '87 - '91 called?

 

1987-1991 are referred to as Brick nose. 1980-1986 as Bull nose.

 

ok,haven't had the chance to work on the door or mess with the truck since I posted this. Went out just now to tinker with it. Now the door opens fine from the inside but still doesn't from the outside. I never did anything to it to make the inside handle start working. Why would the inside handle just start working for no reason?

 

ok,now it gets even better. Both handles work like they should....and I didn't fix a thing. Would it be possible for the lock not to be unlocking all the way on the driver's side? The lock on the door seems to be a little (maybe only 1/4") higher then it was when the door wouldn't open. I had tried to grab it with a pair of needle nose pliers the last time I messed with it,but there wasn't enough sticking up to grab.

 

I had the same problem with my truck when I first got it we just pulled the door panels cleaned everything up with a wire brush and sprayed it with some liquid wrench and its like new

 

The latch is old and stuck. Push the rod down. this will reset the latch. then open the door with the either inner or outer handle. After you get the door open, remove the panel and watch a youtube video on how to remove the latch. Clean the latch and oil it. If that doesn't work, buy a new latch, they are on amazon or LMC truck for $80.

 

Last post was Aug 2015