Drivers door will not open from inside or outside

[welshside 10]

Hi, I've never had a problem with the door handles/lock before but from reading around looks like a common thing to go.

 

I tried opening the drivers door earlier today and it didn't open, the central locking popped up the pin but there is no tension on either the inside or outside handle like something has disconnected.

 

I've done some searching and found out you can get to the mechanism through the gap in the window, so tried that with some hooked metal but not really sure what needs to be pulled/pushed to get the door to open.

 

I've found this diagram and have been trying to pull '28' and pulling up on a black lever which is number '7' I think. There is also a funny shaped metal bracket that pivots which I have tried.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]69214[/ATTACH]

 

Can anyone point me in the right direction to open the door so I can get the mechanism out to take a look and fix and not have to keep climbing in through the passenger side.

[Stonejag 10]

To get the door open you need to push down on the lever sticking out of the catch unit (1 in the lower pic, circled). This is what the door striker normally operates.

 

 

You probably won't be able to get the door card off with the door fully closed but if you can drop the window then you can carefully remove the rubber trim window-scraper pieces to give yourself a bit more room - just pull upwards. Careful as they're fragile and crack if you bend them too hard. Can't see how it would happen without the door handle striker being broken and the internal handle getting unhooked though!

 

Stone

[welshside 10]

Thanks Stone, I was trying to pull that bit up yesterday so was kind of half there. I just pushed it down then lifted up the door lock pin and the door opened by the handle.

 

I've sprayed some wd40 on the mechanism now and it opens fine from inside and outside.

 

I guess it was a one off glitch that happens, but probably a sign something is about to fail. I'll see how it goes now, hopefully it will carry on working and I wont have to take it apart to see what's going wrong.