Wife: "The door is soldered shut!"

Hi Guys!...Well our 95 TS 3.8 has been having a fun problem that went from bad to worse. The front passenger door had the habit of losing the rod out of the door lock release, and would only open from the inside. I have returned the rod to its place more than a few times, and the last time, I decided to bend the arm with the hole for the lock a little to keep the rod from coming out.(Impatient teenagers do not help).
Anyway, I checked the operation about 5-6 times and replaced the inner door panel, and checked operation again with no problems. The next day, the wife tells me of the solder problem. I told her the best term to use is "welded shut".
Needless to say, she is always accurate, and I now have the dilemma of being unable to open the door. I have ordered a new lock(the latch type assembly that locks onto the frame post). I assume that I will have to try to remove the inner dress panel and free up the lock. Perhaps Jrs3800 has some input. He is the only one I heard of that rebuilt both doors on his 95 TS. Smart move...Cheers KEV ;-)

If the problem is the bent rod preventing something from operating as it should, you may try to apply some pressure at the door (closing it) while (at the same time) pressing a little bit on the exterior handle. That should allow you to open the door to fix it -once again-.

My TS has the same problem (the rod getting out of the actuating lever), and it's getting old fast. I fixed it last year and lasted for a while, but with the cold it failed again.

The rod fell out from outside handle on mine too, passenger door. After reinstallation I found that the lever that is part of the outside handle had bent a little with time, forcing to move that handle to full swing each time one wanted to open the door. I did remove the outside handle unit from the door and bent the lever back and that allowed, after reinstallation, to open the door from outside with minimal handle swing, just as it was when new, I figured out.
I do not know if that has some effect on the rod falling out of not....but until now, all is OK.
..to remove the inner trim panel, all screws must be removed first....including that one (those ) hidden at bottom of the panel...I thought remembering there was one at each end..but the drawing seems to show only one..
www.avigex.ca/xport/door1.jpg
www.avigex.ca/xport/door2.jpg

Never had any problem opening mine from the inside... Just the outside handle... I forget what trick I used, but it involved a coat hanger permanently secured to keep the rod in place... I have never had another issue with that door...lol

It usually happens when two people try to open the same door, one from the outside while the other from the inside. Once it's bent, it's a matter of time.

If you damage your inner panel, find a replacement inner door panel from a salvage yard.

@LMP: can you confirm which year are those drawings about? My '94 3800 is somewhat different...

The door trim is divided in two parts: one extends to the bottom of the door up to the arm rest, and the other one from there all the way to the top of the door.

The bottom part is held in place with four screws: two at the door handle, one in front of the "pocket" and one behind it. After removing those, you can pry the panel from the plastic clips holding it.

The top half of the panel is another story. It has a few screws and several metal clips, that have the bad habit of damaging the plastic when you try to remove them.

Accessing the door handle from within the door is a royal pain in the lower back, specially if you don't remove the top half of the door trim -which I usually don't-. Re-inserting the tip of the rod on the lever is possible, if somewhat tedious, to do without removing the exterior door handle.

I'll try to bend the lever a little bit when I get bored enough and/or the weather improves.

Drawings are from my 93 manual.....but in fact, my '93 is like you describe...the top part going all around the window. I guess they kept the drawings from a former year...

UPDATE: Replaced the door "lock". (the latch mechanism that locks in the door post frame). Not a fun job.

Jarl: Do not try to bend the lever that the rod goes through. There is a spring with a rod running through it that is fitted into the lever arm with the hole, and the lever will jam. That is what happened in my case.

My trans mechanic friend at GMC(pontiac) said that the "lock" had to be replaced. The return rate of the lever slows down from age and lack of lubrication, and the rod pops out of the hole. I have straightened that rod in the past, and wonder if maybe it bends because the lever is starting to jam.

Luckily, I was still able to get the "lock" at $130 and shipping. Thanks for
your help with this aggravating problem. KEV