O/T DD Rant
 

The other day the wife tried to open the back door on the drivers side of the 2013 POS sedan and it would not open. Outside door handle acted like the door was locked. Inside door handle was the same. Pressed the lock and unlock buttons on the remote and watched the door lock flipper open and close but no change on how the door handles operated. Started digging and found out that the door lock flipper and both door handles were connected to the door latch assy via cables. Inside door handle and door lock flipper cables were still good, couldn't check the outside door handle cable. I am thinking that the outside handle cable may be bad or that the door lock actuator itself maybe bad but whatever the case I am screwed because the door cannot be opened and the door panel cannot be safely removed without the door being open so that I can work on the inside components. I don't expect any suggestions on how to repair this, just wanted to vent a little frustration. I usually take the DD to the dealer but it went out of warranty last month so the $$$$$ repair bill is now on me...UGH. It cost me $130 to write an estimate for $650 to replace a part that they can't see yet...oh yeah, the door panel MAY be damaged in the process, another $650 on top of the original estimate. The wife says "forget about it, nobody rides I the back seat anyway"...she's a good woman!

The scenario at our house with the wife's DD is when the tires are worn out it is time to trade. It was a joke started by me, but her last 4 or 5 have followed that trend. Last fall she started talking about her car was noisy. Road noise....so in an attempt to keep her happy, I spent near $900 on tires and alignment. she fell back in love with the car. I thought "Whew...good to go!" In March we bought her another car....I'm not buying new tires for her ever again...
What kind of car is your wife's?
Mine (wife) is driving a 2016 Fusion 1.5 ecoboost. She loves it (today) LOL

Charlie, just be glad you don't have a VW with the air-operated door locks. What a great idea that was.

It doesn't pay to look into repair procedures (and costs) on modern vehicles, it will just keep you up at night. Jeff, do you know on Focus's and Fusions you have to remove the front doors to replace a heater core?!?!?! That's in addition to the nightmare that is rolling the dash..... If my Focus's core ever blows, it may just get a case of spontaneous combustion and burn to the ground.

Charlie, I agree with your sentiment but believe the $$$$ repair bill you estimated may require an extra $ or two.

I purchased a new 2016 SS Camaro; the shop manual(s) alone cost $799.00. I have always done repairs on my cars throughout the years except when the vehicle was under warranty. It appears my backyard mechanic days are over.

I like Jeff’s solution; trade the car in and buy a new one with the warranty. My Camaro has less than 2k miles so I might make it to 3k before I trade it in. I got my eye on the new mid-engine Corvette. Like the Camaro, the good part is it only has two doors.:)

Go to a locksmith - towtruck get him to open the door sounds like power door lock to me

The dealer can tell you if there is a service bulletin on the problem you have. It's worth a conversation to learn if there is a manufacturer's solution/program available. Good luck.

I have contemplated a few solutions; one is to drill through the door jamb to gain access to the child safety lock switch so that I can turn it off. This makes the assumption that the safety lock is in fact "on" and that this is why the inside door handle is inop...lots of work without a clear resolution guaranteed. Two is to go into the rear wheel well and cut out a section of the wheel well to gain access to the mounting bolts for the latch/loop that mounts to the door jamb. If I grind off the mounting bolts then the latch/loop will be free and the door will no longer have anything to hold it closed. Repair of the access hole will be simple and require little finish work since it is behind a plastic liner.
The car is a Hyundai Azera. Here is the part that is defective, notice that the latch itself is in a sealed unit...no access even for a slim jim.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...ab9e6ffa19.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...4dcda2fc01.jpg

You sure you can't get the inner panel out of there? Maybe pull the rear seat cushion to get some room for "flex"?

The story about my wife's daily driver, Chrysler Town and Country, is this. When we turn on the fan to the heater or AC there is a flapping noise. I think it is the diverter for the defroster/heater flapping open and shut. Then it stops after a while. Sometimes i walk by the car and I hear it flapping.

My wife calls the car Thumper. I took it to the mechanic that works on our cars. He said the part is cheap but the labor will knock your socks off. You got to take out the whole dash.

So the wife wants to get a new used van this summer. After having Plymouth or Dodge mini vans since 1989 she now like the Honda Oddysey.

Newer cars have a lever on the R/L rear door faces for child safety locks. If those levers are flipped, lotsa luck getting the rear doors open. Look in the owners manual to see how they operate.

That was my thought as well but the doors have a double weatherstrip, the inner strip seats against the door panel. The more I look at it the more I see that even if the door panel were removed I couldn't remove the door lock actuator because the screws that hold it in place are in the door jamb (see the second pic). Very frustrating.

But it made it past that warranty didn't it ! Give me a dent side any day. I do feel your pain though.

Here is a shot of the latch/loop on the door jamb (passenger side). Plan is to come in through the wheelwell and grind off the two screws holding it in place and hopefully open the door. Couple of other projects in the works right now, I'll let you know how it works later this week. Here's another pic of the door lock actuator as it is mounted in the door showing the three mounting screws and the child lock...all in all a real PITA

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...d98cc1dfcf.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...6ebce09a0a.jpg

Sounds like a plan, as long as there isn't some huge reinforcing bar welded behind it.

What would a 'boneyard' door cost? What would cost to go thru the skin and then reskin and paint? Only if going thru the wheel well does not work.