BucketOfChevy

I looked but I could not find an answer to this.

Can anyone tell me the least destructive way to get a passenger side door open that won't "pop" when you pull the handle?

Vehicle in question is a 1994 S-10 Pickup with Extended Cab.

Both the inside and outside handles won't work.

I have the inside door panel off.

The handles *feel* the same as the driver side if the driver side door is locked.

Lock linkage is in place and seems to be moving the arm of the latch, same for the door release linkage.

If I reach in the door, I can feel some sort of part in the bottom of the latch that is moving about freely. I tried moving it to different locations and pulling the handle to no avail.

At this point I think I need to forcibly get the door open and then replace the latch it's self.

anyone?

BucketOfChevy

Just in case someone finds this in a search...

I ended up removing the interior trim. Once that was out of the way I use Vise-Grips to grasp the striker bolts and remove them - not easy as one of them is partially blocked by metal work in the door jamb. The screws have a short length at the end that has no threads so I could grab them there and not foul the threads.

For the one that was blocked I took it as far as I could with the Locking Pliers. Then I ended up making the last few turns by rotating the metal backing plate that they are screwed into, then putting pressure on the door to hold the bolt still and then rotated the plate the other way, back and forth, like a ratchet would do.

Once that plate was off, I pushed the screws toward the door as far as they would go.

Now a crow bar (yikes!) I stuck it in between the door and the body and pulled toward the interior of the truck. WARNING: This does bend and distort the edge of the door jamb, and you have to fix that because if you don't, then the weather stripping won't seal anymore.

I finally got the screws out of the holes, but now they were wedging the door, as they were between it and the frame.

Some more pressure and the thing was open.

Result: Door open but can't be closed again - you now need a new latch and perhapes a new striker. There are also two deep gouges where the bolts dragged through the paint in the door jamb - not visible from the outside but it has to be addressed or you'll get rust.

Nasty job to be sure. I tried taking the door panel off first (also a PITA) but while I could *touch* the latch I couldn't really see it and was not able to make it open that way.