Locks and Latches

What ever you do, don't do the driver door. There is a 99 to 100% chance the lock will break and then the door will only open from the inside. That's why AAA will not be responsible for the outcome of slim jiming your doors. Do the passenger door on a two-door or the driver rear on a four-door. Take it from someone who has been there more than once before they learned.

It depends on what's wrong but the last time this happen to me it was the retaining clips that broke. It's a bad place for a piece of plastic. What you need to do is carefully remove the plastic molding around the handle. To do this push up this molding and tilt out. the retaining clips keep the rod inplace on the locking mechanism. Just put the rod back into the hole along with a new metal retaining clip. That way you don't have to do this again. The clips can be picked up at any automotive shop for $1.50. Be carful when putting back the molding. this is where most people break it. Good luck

If your car has a power close mechanism like my 91 Park Ave used to I would recommend taking it to a body shop and have them weld the striker in place. The pull down mechanism is so finely balanced that if you slam the lid a little too hard it will throw the alignment off (between the latch and the striker)and the lid will not close or not close properly. In my case the lid would open at the most inopportune moment, usually on the highway. You should still be able to use the remote entry to open the lid, however I haven't got around to reconnecting mine. .

I am a "do-it-yourselfer". I will try to fix almost anything. The power trunk latch on my mom's 94 stopped pulling the trunk lid down so I assumed the motor was bad. It was not the motor. It was the switch. I bought the trunk lid switch from the dealer, installed it and it has been working perfectly ever since. .

Welding is not necessary. My 94 power close motor failed. I didn't care for the feature to begin with, so I manually turned the motor gear into the closed position, and now I just slam the trunk like any normal person. The open switch still works, but if it didn't, I could just use the key.

I JUST had this problem in my 2003 (4?) cavalier Two things may be going wrong w/ it

1.) The actual mechanism of the mechanical clasp on the trunk door is busted-in this case u will need to replace it

2.) You need to pull the green safety lock handle on the inside to release the mechanism.

3.) The metal eye/latch/hook/thingy attached to the actual body of the cars bumper has been pushed down (the metal bent slightly) just enough that it cannot trigger the mech. clasp.

Solution (less than professional/scientific) Get your tire iron out of the trunk, and use it as a lever to raise the metal eye (bend the metal) until it will reach the clasp again. I popped a rivet in the metal doing this, however the trunk does close now Gonna get a mechanic to weld it back and make it sturdier

I work at an auto auction

try turning the steering wheel both directions and the key will probably turn. When the wheel is up against the wheel lock, it sometimes prevents the key from turning. You'll have to hold the wheel one direction or the other. If this doesn't work, I don't know.

If the door is sagging, due to rusted hinges, have the body side of the hinge welded at a shop. It worked for me and cost $25

For trunk lock you can get it for around $30 form any auto salvage and get it replaced by your poor lock for around $50. So altogether its going to cost around $80 to $90.

make a hook out of a coat hanger.

release bonnet from inside the car

push hook through the slot the catch normally sits through

lift bonnet and pull hook forward to release the safety catch

hey presto your in lol

My Avalanche tailgate locks when I lock the 4 doors with the remote or door lock

hmmmm....can you open it from inside? My rear door latch gets stuck in the open position at least once a month on my '01 CRV. I've found that the hinge and spring get rusted up on the latch. I spray a rust inhibiter/lubricant (PB Blaster) on either side of the latch and then work it until it moves freely. This is a poor design for something that is exposed to the weather.

The easiest way to check your locks is to remove the door panel and access the switches. Pry open the switch and clean the contacts with a pencil eraser. Attempt to operate the switch by pressing down or wiggleing it slightly.

If the switch does not work then using a small guage wire that is bare at the ends and insulated in the center make a probe. You can jumper the connections to check if the switch is operating. If the window or door activates then your switch rocker is still fouled or bad and needs to be replaced.

I'm taking a guess that your door latch stuck because it's cold , if so , pull your door release lever on the inside of the door and see if you can move the latching mechanism on the end of the door with a screwdriver or anything that will keep you from getting grease on your fingers

this happened to my friends driver door. try using the key and mess with the mechanism inside the door until it clicks.

I had this problem with my 1998 Sable... Cleaned the door latch mechanism with something like brake cleaner and then followed up with liberal amounts of spray lubricants. Actually had to oil the drivers door a couple of times over the first few months. Been good ever since (4 years).

Work the oil into the latch my opening/closing it a few dozen times. Neighbors might think you're a little weird, but mine didn't blink an eye...

Read on another site, to simply lubricate the latch excessively with WD40 and then continue to open and close door handle until the latch releases and catches. I just tried this minutes ago with my Pontiac sunfire and sat in my car held the door closed and pulled the open & close door handle in and out until the latch caught. It worked great !! Now the door latch catchs without a problem. Apparently, some latchs just need to be lubricated quite often. Hope this helps.

Added: WD40 is NOT a lubricant. You can use it to clean out the latch, but then have to put a lubricant after drying.

I've had this problem on my 88 XJ6...If the door handles are original the chance of repairing it is NIL..you'll need to purchase a new unit and replace....Be ready for price SHOCK

Zeffer: have you tried opening up your door and trying to fix it?

my handle on the outside wouldn't work so i opened it up and there is a linkage with a screw holding it together, adjusting this nut to the center most position fixed it. now it opens just fine. otherwise its a 250+ fix

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take a wire put it true the window and lift the door button,after open go make spare key

Open the handle while pushing the inner workings of the latch open.

take of the inside door panel and check that the handle is not broken. It is common for the Lugs that hold the connecting rod to brake off so the handle looks ok but does not actually connect to the mechanism.

try and remove the door panel, you may be able to just pull back enough of the panel to manually open the door, they you can remove the rest and replace the bad parts.

no it has to be done by power lock

If the plastic lever that you use to pull the cable with is broken, you may be able to use a pair of needle nose / vice grips to pull the cable farther down the line. A lot of times these cables will get corroded due to lack of use so after you get it open, it is a good idea to spray WD-40 into the cable housing and work the cable back and forth a few times to loosen it up.

If you are not able to grab the cable from the inside of the vehicle you may need to find where it runs under the hood to the latch - at the latch point you may be able to grip the cable and twist it far enough to pop the hood open. The front grill of the vehicle is brittle plastic so take care when doing this. If you would like more information, you can visit our website at www.budgetlocksmithMN.com or call 612-327-7109 (We are a local locksmith company in Minneapolis / St. Paul Minnesota. )

You first must take off the handle to see what your problem is. Most likely it is one of the plastic pieces that holds the release rods to the handle. To take the handle off there are three 14mm bolts on the inside of the tailgate.

If the cable broke at the pull under the dash, and it is still sticking out of the casing, behind the pull, you should be able to grab the end of the cable with a pair of plyers and give it a yank to pull the cable and open the hood. If it broke somewhere between the pull, inside the car, and the latch, under the hood, best bet would be if you can see under the front of the car and reach up, you can release it that way, by pulling on the cable.

Somebody tried to slim Jim your door and dis-lodged the linkage...Ford figures you can't steal a car if the door won't open. You will have to remove the entire door skin on the inside...and peel back that sheet of plastic. Find the dangling rod and see which end is loose. There is a plastic clip on the door latch as well as the handle, you might have to replace this clip. The clip goes in the hole first, swing to the side, insert rod through hole and push bottom of clip over rod. Good luck!

I had the same problem on my MX-3. You can reach up from under the car and feel for the spring release to pop the hood. The problem is, the manufacturer put a piece of flat metal in your way, I guess so strangers can't pop it. The metal is not all that hard. It's like an L shaped flap about 3 inches accross horizontally. Reach up with a wrech, or plyers, and bend the piece down so that it's vertical. You will now be able to feel up there for the sping release and pop the hood. Now go back inside and torque the bolt behind the hood release handle, below the dask board, so that you can get more resistance and make it function again.

Best Of Luck,

Tom Miller

Reach up in between the grill on the drivers side of the front of the car. You will fill a hood release cable. Pull on it and you are in. Or use a hammer-