1991 D21 Seized Door Lock

[trog]

The driver's side door of our '91 Nissan D21 is locked shut and will not unlock with the key from the outside nor can we unlock it from the inside. Since the door is locked shut we can't take the door panel off. Does anyone have any suggestions to unlock it?

[whomadewho]

I had the same issue with my 1997 Nissan pickup. My vehicle has power locks. What happens the lock on the outside of the vehicle corrodes. What I did is sprayed penetrating oil in the lock and carefully worked the key back & forward with a pair of pliers. I repeated the process which took a lot of time and patience, until the lock opened with the key,you might want to let it soak overnight. Once you get the door open,you can spray the door latch without removing the trim card. If you have to remove the trim card,I would purchase or borrow the proper tool to remove it.

[trog]

Thanks, we'll try that.

[whomadewho]

Something else you can try would be to remove the plastic door knob inside the vehicle,and spray penetrating oil toward the inside door latch. There is penetrating oil on the market with a nozzle so you can get closer to the inside latch. Try the outside lock first,the inside latch usually does not corrode unless the bottom of the door is rusted to the point where a small cat can crawl in to seek shelter.

[o0Syn]

Just had the same thing happen to me a couple weeks ago. Does the key still go in and turn a tiny bit?

Mine did just a little, and if you can get a little wiggle out of the inside plunger lock put the key in and roll the window down, stick the key in the outside lock with your arm out the window and the other hand on the inside lock. Keep jiggling both locks around try diff combinations just be careful you don't break your key off! and try opening it from the inside or out a few times. Give the door a few good rams with a shoulder too mine just poped back in place eventually and unlocked.

You can get the doorcard off from the inside it is just not very easy and you are going to break some tabs for sure Flathead screw driver works. I had mine half off when I decided to give it another try.