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So I have owned this thing for 25 or so years. A few years ago 2 of my kids were locking each other out of the passenger side door and it got stuck locked. I have a slim jim but, still can not get it to unlock from either side.
Any one have any ideas?
You tried with Key also? Maybe one of those nylon retainers were broke in the tussle and rod jambed. Roll window down and remove the lower window dew wipe/es. You may be able to look at lock with flashlight. Back in the day a locksmith with a slim jim could unlock a door that mere mortals had fought with for hours. Also have seen the aftermath of destroyed weather strip on an occasion.
Can the interior door panel be removed with the seat still in? If not, the seat can be removed, and although it will be a pain getting to that passenger side rear seat track bolt, it will give you a good space to work. That would probably be my chosen path.
If something didn't actually break and just came loose you should be able to get unlocked from top but could be hard ,if you can get the panel off would be helpful
You can get the door panel off with the seat installed, but what a giant PITA. And you still can not really easily get to the back corner of the door panel. X2 remove the seat, (to get the slider tracks rear bolts straight on, slide the seat all the way fwd, then tilt it fwd and get behind the seat with 12" extension). Get them kids back there. Lol
Then remove the door panel and get an eye in there. I bet the rod (21914) going from the interior handle to the lock assembly or rod (22152) outer handle to lock assembly came off. The little yellow plastic retainer is a culprit many times. Also when you try to open it from the inside, have some one sort of push on the outside slightly to take the pressure off caused by the door seal.
Man you guys are all awesome! I have always had an old friend who has helped me with things like this and I did all of his welding. He stopped working on cars a few years ago so now I have to do my own. Just a little bit of a learning curve for me. Thank you 72rtchallenger for the illustrations that will help me on the repair.
If you have to use a slim jim to get to the lock operating rod, lower the window first - the bottom of the window will definitely be a hindrance and you will have a much easier time with the window down. If you can get the door panel off (yes, it IS a pain) raise the window all the way up to give better access to the lock - you can see in the drawings above that if the door operating rod is your problem, it's easier to reach from below.
Thanks Houston Dave. l thought window up would give me more room with the slim jim. l have to weld on the exhaust tomorrow so will give it a try. Thank you for your reply! l get the best help from you guys. l am trying to avoid pulling seat and then the door panel.
The door panel really isn't that bad, once you figure out where all of the screws are. There are two screws securing the 'finger cup' in the arm rest, and then one on the window crank, and one securing the chrome latch handle to the inner latch lever pivot deal. After that, it should just be a matter of push pins.
Thanks Meangreen! l did mess with it for yesterday but, it was misting and didn't enjoy getting that wet. l didnt have any luck with the window down and using the slim jim so it looks like door panel removal is in my future.
