97 Chevy C1500 Driver's Door Won't unlock.

[ArchyD]

I replaced both inside and outside door handles on the Driver's door of my 97 Chevy C1500.The latch worked fine on opening and closing the door. It was not until I locked the door the first time that the trouble occured. The inside and outside locks seem to be properly connected, and on using the key, the inside lock button appears to operate normally. The problem is that the latch will not open to allow the door to open.

Does anyone have a procedure to open the door so that I can get inside and fix whatever is not working properly?

It is really a pain to have to get in on the right side and slide over.

Thanks
ArchyD

[ATOZBODY]

Originally Posted by ArchyD

I replaced both inside and outside door handles on the Driver's door of my 97 Chevy C1500.The latch worked fine on opening and closing the door. It was not until I locked the door the first time that the trouble occured. The inside and outside locks seem to be properly connected, and on using the key, the inside lock button appears to operate normally. The problem is that the latch will not open to allow the door to open.

Does anyone have a procedure to open the door so that I can get inside and fix whatever is not working properly?

It is really a pain to have to get in on the right side and slide over.

Thanks
ArchyD

I know the problem. Its popular. The fix is this, when the outside handle is pulled the connecting rod goes to the latch.. The latch gets corroded and doesnt retun all the way back to its "park" position. You have to roll the window down, take a couple od wood or plastic wedges and open the gap at the top of the window so you can see down in the door. then study the action of the outside release and you will see that when you let go of the handle the linkage rod doesnt return as far as it should. Now here is the trick.........w-d40 the latch as best as you can with the the provided straw so can flood the latch. wait for an hour to soak and or reapply. then get a long tool like a "slim jim" and work the latch back and forth (up & down) until the latch travel has been restored. after you accomplish this unlock the door with the key or interior button. YEA YOU DID IT! I have doing this for years with 95% success. Good luck any questions e-mail me at [email protected]

[ArchyD]

Originally Posted by ATOZBODY

I know the problem. Its popular. The fix is this, when the outside handle is pulled the connecting rod goes to the latch.. The latch gets corroded and doesnt retun all the way back to its "park" position. You have to roll the window down, take a couple od wood or plastic wedges and open the gap at the top of the window so you can see down in the door. then study the action of the outside release and you will see that when you let go of the handle the linkage rod doesnt return as far as it should. Now here is the trick.........w-d40 the latch as best as you can with the the provided straw so can flood the latch. wait for an hour to soak and or reapply. then get a long tool like a "slim jim" and work the latch back and forth (up & down) until the latch travel has been restored. after you accomplish this unlock the door with the key or interior button. YEA YOU DID IT! I have doing this for years with 95% success. Good luck any questions e-mail me at [email protected]

I tried the WD 40 soak for this and found it was not the problem.


The solution was to remove the outside window trim. This is easy, especially with the window down, it just unsnaps (start at the back of the window), take care when you are removing it from the front, as it will bend if you lift it too high and slide it toward the back.

Once the trim is out of the way, a small wooden or plastic wedge in the window channel gives you additional access. You can plainly see the latch, control rods, and inside and outside handles.
I was finally able to open the door and found the problem. The replacement inside handle does not allow the control rod to move back far enough to recock the latch. This was fine until the lock was triggered since the shorter movement would not allow the latch to unlock properly.

On recognizing the problem, it was a simple matter of pulling the control rod from the connector of the inside handle, allowing it to recock and then pulling it to unlatch the door.

Remove the inside panel and the metal door access plate to get full access to the latch control rod. There is a "Z" bend in the rod that when straightened will give plenty of slack to get the full travel to allow the latch to recock. It works great.

Reassemble and make sure the control rod is firmly locked into the inside handle snap lock.

Thanks to ATOZBODY for the help.

Happy New Year to all.
ArchyD