I locked my drivers door,then closed it. When I went to get back in I unlocked it but it won't open. It won't open with the inner or outer door handle. How do I get my door open so I can find out what's wrong. Thanx

 

Just keep working the lock/unlock. Give an occasional wrap on the inner door panel. You should get lucky.

 

My '79 had (has) the same problem. I just kept pullin' at the inner door lock/unlock **** (that sounds terrible) until it popped out. I can now lock and unlock the door from the inside, but still not from the outside (actually, the key doesn't work on EITHER door. Same thing with my '72 Chevelle - keys hate me).

 

I am having a similar problem. Sometimes, after I get the door open, it wont latch when I try to close it again. It was really exciting the other night when my girlfriend was riding in the passenger seat and her door popped open. Anyone have a permanent fix for this?

 

sounds like the outside door handle is stuck in down position . outer handle will pop back up but lever is still down inside door. this will prevent the latch from going into neutral and door cant be unlocked . if you depress the outside handle and it feels like nothing is happening than that is the problem . sometimes this works try spaying wd40 thru the hinge area of outside handle to hit the lever and latch then try to work handle till lever frees up . if that doesnt work gotta take the door panel off while door is closed then you can push rod back up into handle

 

I had the same problem occur on my 1970. I tried everything but I still could not get the door open. I ended up removing the drivers seat (good thing for the T top) which gave me room to remove the inner door panel. After alot of prying on the door latch unlock mechanism it finally opened. I tried cleaning and re-lubricating the door latch mechanisim several times but it still will not work (tested with the door open). I ended up purchasing a new latch and now its fine. If a rod did not pop off this could be your problem also. Good luck!

 

Both my doors started to stick. I sprayed white lithium grease into the keyhole, the lock mech. on side of door, and into a hole next to the lock mech. but on the inside face of door (gets lub on the lever from the lock to the locking pin in arm rest. Loosened it up nicley. I'm sure this will not work in all cases, but it's easy to try. Good luck.

 

I did this with WD-40 this weekend. Sprayed the springs, moving parts in the outside latches, in the striker latch. Gave everything a good coating, moved all teh parts a bunch and both doors freed up. They are smooth and work like a charm now. Go drench all the moving parts you can and work it in. You might be able to get everything moving again.

 

yeah the door latch assemblies get really tired after 30+ years, at the very least you'll have caked up assembly grease in there in need of cleaning / fresh lubrication. If you're unlucky, you may have some tired springs in the assembly, further complicating the problem. been there.

good luck

 

Mensch53 is on the right track. Being a former locksmith, this is common for older cars. The old lubricants and grease dry out and the mechanisms stick. In most *but not all* cases, you can correct this type of problem. After puchasing my car about a month ago, the locks were sticky and the doors hard to open. I took apart both door panels and lubed all the moving parts and latches with WD-40 and a lithium based grease for some of the intenal rods. The door locks, key operation and door operation work like new now.

Tony

 

Common problems on these old cars, WD40 is good for getting it working. For a perm fix, remove the latch, completely clean it and lube it up internally very well with Lithium grease. WD40 will dry out in a short period and then your back to sticking.

 

"Door lock out" is a relatively common problem. Try the Search function. There should be a lot of good info available.

Ultimately, if the door refuses to open, there are two solutions. (1) insert a metal saw blade between the door and body and cut the striker bolt. (This looks hard to do without accidentally damaging the fiberglass. I've never used this technique.) (2) When the door is closed, a finger like hook, a prawl, (part of the door latch mechanism) is wrapped around the striker. With the window glass rolled down, you can insert a long thin screw driver into the latch and hit a "trigger" that will cause the prawl to snap open. There's a good photo somewhere in the archieves that shows how to do it. One way to find out where the "trigger" is located, is to buy another new latch. They cost about $100. Hold your new latch in your hand and start cycling the latch with your fingers and also use a screwdriver to pop the trigger. Next open your good door, take off the panels and start practicing with your screwdriver on the good door. With the door open, you get a good view of the screwdriver approaching the trigger. When you've trained yourself to open the good door, then go open the defective closed door. This is the way I solved my locked door problem. (After my good door training session, it took about 10 minutes of continued probing to finally hit the trigger.)


The above approach suggests buying a new latch. You should probably do this to prevent the problem re-occurring. (assuming the door lock wasn't a simple case of a rod from the door handles falling off). Why do good latches go bad? Inside the latch there are three levers stacked on a pivot, one above the other. The top lever is moved by the door handles. To open the door this lever rotates counter clockwise, until a tang on this lever touches and moves against the bottom lever, when the bottom lever moves it hits the trigger mechanism and SNAP, the door opens. Now the problem. The second lever (nestled between the top and bottom levers) acts as a "de-railleur" (de-railer). When the door has been "locked" this second lever moves in such a way that the first (top) lever tang can never contact the bottom lever. If the second lever has become bent, or is out of position due to wear at the pivot, the door can never be opened in a normal manner. How does this lever get bent? I think if someone tries to forcefully lock the door and the same time is trying to open the door, you can bend this second lever. It's made out of 0.070 inch thick soft steel. Also, the pivot is exposed to dirt and grit so that after 30+ years, the pivot becomes sloppy.

After having this problem with my 68, I bought new latches for my 70. You can't buy new latches for a 68. I finally found a good used low wear one for about $150.00. (Paragon wants $200.00) If you really have to, you can use a 69 and up latch in a 68. However, the external key lock won't function.

 

I don't know if this will help you, but I had some troubles with my drivers door latch earlier this year. Here is a link to the thread. I doubt you have the same problem, but there are some really good pictures of the door latch that might help you figure out what you need to be pushing and pulling on.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1352420

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulywannafly

sounds like the outside door handle is stuck in down position . outer handle will pop back up but lever is still down inside door. this will prevent the latch from going into neutral and door cant be unlocked . if you depress the outside handle and it feels like nothing is happening than that is the problem . sometimes this works try spaying wd40 thru the hinge area of outside handle to hit the lever and latch then try to work handle till lever frees up . if that doesnt work gotta take the door panel off while door is closed then you can push rod back up into handle

This is EXACTLY what your problem is. Mine did this sat night. You can take a long screwdriver, go inbetween the door and door panel if the window is down from the outside, you can push down on the door latch lever that sticks out the back of the main latch assy. Even if the door is locked, you can push hard enough on that lever and it will open. then unlock the door. My problem was JUST like mentioned above, the handle assy screwed up and eventhough the handle returned, the mechanism at the bottom of the handle assy was stuck.This is where the spring is. Once I got the handle out of the door, I adjusted the spring and got it to work better. I guarantee this is your problem. If you need me to, I can take a pic of the lever I am talking about on the door mechanism, where to push with the screw driver.

 

If you push a flat head screw driver in the middle square hole where the little flat lever is and push straight down, it will pop the latch open. Its the square hole just to the right of the 1/4" round hole.

 

Actually that latch looks a little different then my 71' did, I will take a pic tonight and mark where to push down.

 

OK Right in the middle of this assy there rectangular hole that goes up and down, in that hole there is a lever that pivots on the latch and has a hole on the end of the lever, thats where the door handle hooks to. If you take a long flat screw driver and press down on lever on the inside of the latch hole(rectangular hole) it will open the door, even if its locked.

 

This will work........I was able to do my passenger door his way. I was able to find used door latch on e-bay for $49 that was cleaned and re-lube.For what its worth you will get your door open just take your time and follow the tread and pratice on your good door.Good luck

 

New forum member. My son just bought a 78 and with him knowing nothing about cars, I plan to bring it to my place and work on it. One priority is to get his passenger door open.

The above will help. Can I reach that mechanism with the door panel in place? If not, is it your normal plastic poppers holding it or are there some hidden torx/allen/phillips screws.

 

pull the seat out, lots easier. There are usually 3 screws, one at the top rear edge of the door on top, one at the bottom rear edge next to the seat, plus the 2 in the arm rest and maybe one at the front edge of the door. Panel off and seat out and you can get to the latch mechanism pretty easily. If its giving trouble, pull it out, clean thoroughly and regrease with lithium grease.