Door locked and unable to open Corrado

[Jo-Corrado 0]

Please help door (driver side) problem!

Dear fellow Corrado drivers please help driver side door does not want to open after being closed. It is about a 2.0 16V bwj 1994. With central locking. When I opened the Corrado with the remote control, the top of the door was pulled back a little after opening. When I closed again and then opened it again, the door with the inside and outside handle did open. Until last week it suddenly stopped working. Passenger door and trunk are normal. Because I could not open my door on the driver's side from the outside, I tried to open it with the inner handle and it then shot through and is now hanging loose. We were able to remove the screw that holds the outer handle and so we got the door handle out, but still no possibility to open the door. Until today after many times opening and closing and opening again (by coincidence mss) I was able to open the door via the outside handle. Now it is possible to open the car again only from the outside but do not dare to close it anymore. Do any of you have an idea what the problem could be? Please help Thank you very much in advance.

[Philly-R6 0]

It could be several parts of the locking system, so try an eliminate each item in turn:

• Outside door handle (most likely)
• Inside door handle
• Latching mechanism (probably isn't this)

 

With the door open, remove the outside door handle (door handle removal! - Exterior - The Corrado Forum (the-corrado.net) more fiddly than anything else) and see if the door closes and opens by pushing the levers inside the door. If the door opens and closes reliably the latching mechanism is fine and the problem is probably to do with the outer door handle.

It can be repaired using Dave16v's repair kit Door handle repair kit..........THEY ARE NOW AVAILABLE - Suppliers Forum - The Corrado Forum (the-corrado.net).

 

Ensure the inside door handle is located correctly and latched in to the locator hole on the door frame.

[Lelige 0]

On 2/2/2021 at 3:12 AM, Philly-R6 said:

It could be several parts of the locking system, so try an eliminate each item in turn:

• Outside door handle (most likely)
• Inside door handle
• Latching mechanism (probably isn't this)

 

With the door open, remove the outside door handle (door handle removal! - Exterior - The Corrado Forum (the-corrado.net) more fiddly than anything else) and see if the door closes and opens by pushing the levers inside the door. If the door opens and closes reliably the latching mechanism is fine and the problem is probably to do with the outer door handle.

It can be repaired using Dave16v's repair kit Door handle repair kit..........THEY ARE NOW AVAILABLE - Suppliers Forum - The Corrado Forum (the-corrado.net).

 

Ensure the inside door handle is located correctly and latched in to the locator hole on the door frame.

And what if it is the latch mechanism? Is there a way to open the door? I can see the inside handle pulling on the mechanism but the door wont open. Ive tried manually moving the levers with a long screwdriver and no luck there either. It seems to be jammed locked because I cant get the lock lever or the pin to move fully up. 

[1xshaunx1 27]

8 hours ago, Lelige said:

And what if it is the latch mechanism? Is there a way to open the door? I can see the inside handle pulling on the mechanism but the door wont open. Ive tried manually moving the levers with a long screwdriver and no luck there either. It seems to be jammed locked because I cant get the lock lever or the pin to move fully up. 

There is a dead lock lever that the outer door handle operates. If you have removed the outer door handle you should be able to operate up and down 

[Lelige 0]

10 hours ago, 1xshaunx1 said:

There is a dead lock lever that the outer door handle operates. If you have removed the outer door handle you should be able to operate up and down 

I cant remove the door handle because the screw is on the inside of the door frame which I cant get to because the door is stuck closed. Is that the lever with plastic bit on it that doesn"t seem to be attached to anything? 

[fendervg 32]

The striker on the door handle rotates to push the lever plate.  A metal ruler or coat hanger with a hook made into the end of it should be able to sort this out - you'd  be surprised how handy the local police and AA are at this - must be from lots of helping people who have got locked out of their cars.

These VWs of that vintage are among the easiest of all cars to break into.

[Lelige 0]

That's the part that seems to be jammed. I got a coat hanger around the lever plate. No amount of force would get it to budge.

[easypops 8]

This might not help, but it might. The yellow arrow points to the lever that opens the door, nearest the outside, pushes down to open.

The blue arrow points to the locking lever...... down to lock, up to open.

 

Just in case you are trying to pull the front lever up the way, it needs to be pushed down 

[fendervg 32]

I've seen before that two parts can break - most often the handle striker, and also the arm that holds the release plate.  Not near my car to check - but is there enough room go use something to release the lock catch between B-pillar and the door edge, from the inside?

[Lelige 0]

The lever pointed out in blue wont go up all the way. Ive gotten a coat hanger around it and pulled to no avail. The yellow lever moves but doesnt do anything with the door locked, neither does the interior handle. Looking at the working driver door, it doesnt seem possible to get to the latch from the inside.

[easypops 8]

I wonder if, as fendervg has suggested, that the lever(or a bit of it) has snapped off and is now jammed in above the locking lever? Maybe try pushing it down and see if anything drops out. I know it’s not exactly scientific but there isn’t much you can do except try a variety of what you’ve no doubt already been trying.

Can you get any pictures? 
Can you see inside?

[Lelige 0]

Heres the photo I got. You can see the push pin slipped off the lever but that isnt the problem. The lever with the notch in it is stuck in the lock position. I got a clothes hanger around it to pull it up and a screw driver to push down. It wont budge in either direction. I ripped the weather stripping out to get to the latch from the outside and try and manually get it to release. I practiced on the driver door and it is theoretically possible but I could not get it after trying for 2 hours. Looks like my next move will be to call a locksmith and if that doesnt work, start cutting. Anyone have any other suggestions?

[Dox 23]

If this was me I’d remove the door card on the working side and observe it’s workings, then see what’s not happening on the locked side - mirror image obviously 

[Lelige 0]

I've 'solved' my problem. The issue ended up being something with the lock actuator. It was stuck in the down position and holding the latch locked. 

I gave up trying to open the door and brought it to my bodyshop guy, fully prepared for him to cut the door open. He more or less did the same thing I and several others tried with the levers but somehow he got it open. I replaced the old latch with a new(used) one and immediately noticed turning the lock was still difficult, but ONLY after the door was locked and unlocked. I had to tickle the handle to get it to unfreeze itself but its the passenger door so no way could I expect everyone to be so gentle. I detached the actuator and everything became 10 times smoother and never got hung up. I took the actuator apart to try and see if there was something visually wrong but didnt notice anything in particular. Also, the central locking has never worked on my car so the actuators are  really putting some extra weight on the key turn. 

A new problem arose however. Something with the door handle wires is messed up. When plugged in, the window will always roll itself up if the keys off; and the car will incessantly chirp when both doors are closed.