I have an 86 Jetta that the rear passenger did not open when I got it last year. Yesterday, the other back door refused to open. I had replaced the outside handle on that door a few months ago, and it was the best working door on the car!
So I have 2 doors that won't open from the inside, or the outside. How do I get them open to fix what I have to fix?
Any clues?
The rear latch has child levers on them, so in one position kids can't open the door from the inside. Keeping the latches and handles lubed is really simple and should be done yearly. ( imo) It's not impossile to get the rear doors inner panels off so you can get to the release lever but it is a huge ( PITA ). If you have a parts/salvage yard that allows you to pull your parts it would be worth your time learning what exactly you need to do on one of theirs.
I am with samstone on the lube. They need periodic lubrication especially when they feel a little stiff. If you "play" with spraying lube in the door handle towards the latch and keep working the lock knob and both inner & outer handles while thumping on the door near the latch, you may get lucky enough to get them open. That has usually worked for me almost 100% of the time. Of course we are ASSuME-ing that the trigger on the outside handle is not broken and the child lock is not on. lol If the trigger is broken you will need to cut the handle in the middle and snap it off the rear without damaging the door. Then you can get inside with more lube on the latch and your fingers to work the release.
Sometimes the spring inside of the latch is broken and still my method "may" work. Cursing at it may help you feel better too while you spend 20 minutes going through the above procedure!
Good luck and let us know what happens. Oh and WD-40 AIN'T it and neither is PB Blaster in HMO! lol Marvel Mystery Oil works much better and seems to last so far. I have other favorites but I can't seem to find them easily. :-(
OH ! yeah , sure now that I know how easy it is to keep them lubed and it won't happen to me , :-) I'll have to try this on a bones car just to see though.
The broken spring in the latch is the tough one. Only through luck, a lot of time and some serious use of certain language can I get those doors open. Hopefully I catch handles before their triggers crack.
Yeah try it out and let us know! ;-)
Hey! I have a 4 door car again.
Pulling the trim piece off, I undid the forward phillips screw, With a little bending and pulling, I was able to snap the front part of the handle out of the door. With that out, I was able to snap the pot metal at the rear latch and remove the door handle. With that out of the way, I was able to spray enough joy juice into the lock mech from the inside, and voila! the door is open.
Of course it helped that I had purchased a set of door handle, and had them on hand for the replacement.
Thanks for the help folks...
lol...........so the door handle removal (although a vicious procedure) worked huh? congrats to you also!
perodically use that "joy juice"! ;-) BTW which juice worked for you?
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