Paint and Body DRIVER'S SIDE DOOR LOCK STUCK IN DOWN POSITION

[jrichker]

As the title says. the driver's side door lock is stuck in the down position. The electric actuator doesn't seem to want to move, it is is one of the Chinese ones that seem to last forever. Beyond WD40 and Visegrips to pull up on the door lock pin I don't have any bright ideas at this time.

 

[2000xp8]

I've been on this forum a long time.
And honestly, i don't think i've ever seen you ask a technical question.
Thought i was seeing things.

With that said, did you try going in under the door handle from outside with a long screw driver?
How about pulling the door panel inside the car? In my head (without looking) i can't think of any reason it wouldn't come off with the door closed.

 

[General karthief]

Once the vice grips worked for me, after several times the grips slipped off and it did ruin the threads but I had spare doors for parts, the other time I took the seat bolts out, huge pain, then wrestled it into the back seat then pulled the door panel off and popped the lever off.
I just had a thought, maybe pull the switch and zap it with 24 volts just using the wires and not going through the switch?

 

[KRUISR]

If you can get door panel off reach in and see if one of the rods/clips is jammed. If door stuck closed you may be able to see down through the glass to see if things look aligned.

 

[Noobz347]

Use the screwdriver method and see if you can get enough leverage from the outside to push it "up".

Short of that, pull the door panel and the rod pin from the actuator.

 

[7991LXnSHO]

Do you know someone who is good with a Slim Jim? If you pull too hard on the rod, it can come out of the clip and you’ll bust a knuckle and say many swear words. That’s what I did when the factory style power lock seized up from old, cold white grease jamming up the door mechanism on a cold day.
A light moly grease is what I am using on car body parts that will not be near clothing. Lubriplate/White Lithium grease dries and cracks.

 

[jrichker]

Wednesday morning must have been colder that usual. Combine that with all the rain and wetness probably put a lot of water inside the door and on the linkage inside.

God provided some sunshine to warm things up into the low 60's and the linkage worked freely when I got home after 5:00 PM. today. A generous dousing with WD40 spayed down the push/pull rod for the door lock knob and the lock mechanism should help prevent it from happening again.

Thanks to all of you for your input, this turned out be a lot easier than it could have been...

 

[dgollem]

Glad you got it. If it happens again and the screwdriver, slim Jim methods don’t work you can pull the door panel with the door closed and without damage. I had to do it on my 1986. It helps a lot if you pull the seat out first, For me it I didn't think it would work without destroying the door panel but with the right balance of finesse, brute force and choice words it did work way better than I would have imagined.