90 Park Ave - Neither Inside or Outside Door Handle Works

[ewidder]

The passenger door cannot be opened using either the inside or outside door handles. It behaves as if it's locked, but neither the key lock, inside lock slider, or electric lock switches have any effect. If anyone knows the door latch mechanicals, maybe there's a way to actuate the door latch some other way. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[ewidder]

I love solving my own problems! Neither the inside nor outside door handles would work because after the door was locked, and even if it was then unlocked, the door handle mechanism at the latch would not return to its normal position. This was due to age & binding. After lubricating the latch and working it many times, the normal latch mechanism recovery returned. The door handles will now open the door, following a door locking & un-locking cycle.

This repair required removing the passenger seat to be able to remove the door panel and gain access to the latch mechanism from the inside with the door still closed.

[CrispyJo]

Ouch!!! That sounds like a real pain. Congratulations on the successful cure to a very labor intensive problem.

[i64X]

Originally Posted by CrispyJo

Ouch!!! That sounds like a real pain. Congratulations on the successful cure to a very labor intensive problem.

You're not kidding. This happened on the 91 Bonneville I used to have... it happened to 3 of the 4 doors. I was down to only being able to get in the front passengers side door. As white trash as it looked I got sick of diong it pretty fast. It's a good thing you can get a good amount of these door panels apart without actually being able to open the door. If they would have fitted the cars with solid plastic door panels like in a Cavalier or something we'd be screwed.