Door stuck shut! What to do?

[SpartanAir]

So, I was having issues with my passenger side (driver's side, for Q45 owners) door not locking sometimes when I alarmed the car...I had to lean across and manually hit the switch before I left the car sometimes...

So I had the door panel off a couple weeks ago to try to sort the problem; I greased up the door lock mechanism and it seemed to have helped.

Now just the other day, my coworker goes to get in the pass. side and the door doesn't open. Tried a key on the outside, nothing. Tried the lock switch on the inside, and it just flicks back and won't stay in unlock position.

So now my door is seized shut, and I'm not sure where to go from here.

Any thoughts?

[goody90q45]

Try disconnecting the battery to override the door lock actuator and then use the key and then the inside door lock.

If that doesn't work you're going to have to put a wedge between the window and door and start fishing around with a hook to find the right latch to pull on. You may want to take the door panel of the driver's door and find the right mechanism to tug on so you can repeat it on the PS door.

You're not the first person to have this happen. Do a search of this forum and you'll find a few others and their fix. Good luck.

[Q45tech]

Just as the window lift mechanism wears out and fails so do the locking mechanism. There are plastic pieces in both which can break and metal rods which can bend.

After 11-15-20 years everything needs replacing.

[SpartanAir]

Thanks for the tips guys, I'll check it out.

[SpartanAir]

Thanks for the tips guys, I'll check it out.

[SpartanAir]

So good news, I fixed my seized door.

Thanks to a great Nico Club member parting out a car, I bought a left side power door actuator from a 94 Q45.

I was taking a risk being that my car is older than 94...and of course it's not a Q45...

So I managed to wiggle the top of the door panel loose, rolled down the window, and pryed back the door panel with the pry bar. With a flashlight, I could see the locking mechanism not quite flicking to 'unlock' position. I grabbed a good ol' fashioned coat hanger and started yanking on the mechanism any way I could get a hold of it...

And presto! Popped it and opened the door! Victory #1...I still had to check the mechanism and hope it matched...

With the door panel now off, by looks it matched but I wasn't sure...I undid the screw holding the latch and the motor (4 total), and disconnected the rods and the wiring harness. Pulled it out and it matched!!! Sortof...

The mechanism was the same, but I noticed the stamped build dates were about 3 years apart...and at some point, they upgraded the harness plug to a different style! Mine was square, and the new one was round...

BUT, the wires were the same! So I clipped the 4 wires on the new harness and the old and connected them up, and sealed them with electrical tape. In a perfect world I would have had proper gauge size connectors and heat shrinking, but I had to make do...

After all that though, my door works perfectly again, with the power locks! I'm very happy...

Hopefully this post is useful to someone some day, message me if you have any questions, I think I have this topic down...