3rd door stuck

[stone4779]

I searched for "third door stuck" and got 20 pages of nothing. There were 3 threads mentioning it but only his one described an actual fix: Third door 'locked' Anyone know of a better thread with a more in-depth description of wat to do? I took apart the door trim and took off the plastic covering the locking mechanism and figured out which wire to pull to get the door open, but that is the only way to open it. It seems when I pull either door handle it isnt picking up enough slack to actually actuate the lock on the top of the door. The bottom one works fine. Any help would really be appreciated. I have a 6 month baby and its really difficult to get him in an out of the rear without opening the 3rd door. Thanks!

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[rasdamaan]

I'm in the same boat. Any help, guys?

[rasdamaan]

Since there seems to be no help from anybody I jumped in blind and started pulling stuff apart. So I'm working on mine now and taking a few pictures as I go. I'll post them up tonight or tomorrow.

It seems pretty easy. A little bit of aluminum and JBWeld is all this repair needs.


Marshall

[rasdamaan]

OK, here we go. I'm going to skip the door panel disassembly because it's pretty easy. No need to remove the inside lever but you will need to remove the speaker.

First things first - opening the door. Locate the rubber flap on the top of the door, flip it up and back out the Torx screw on the bottom of the latch. Insert a punch, screwdriver, etc. and disengage the latch while trying to open the door. You may need to look at the working door to get an idea of where you need to push.


With a needlenose pliers gently sqeeze the plastic insert where the arrow is pointing while simultaneously pushing out of its hole. Sorry, but I took this pic after the fact. About 8" above the latch there is a clip that holds the cable, that will need to be popped loose as well. If you didn't remove the speaker, you will need to do it now, to pop the clip.


Now the assembly will slide out from the top.


I used some sheet aluminum to make a couple of washers. If you ain't got this stuff, be creative...... After I made two washers, they were epoxied together for strength.


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[rasdamaan]

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[rasdamaan]

....continued......

This is a shot of the end of the cable that gets attached to the release mechanism. From all the years of the hot Florida sun, it too dry rotted and went to shi t. I epoxied it and let it sit overnight before reassembly.




That's pretty much it. Kind of a no-brainer when I look back now. I hope this helps you or anyone else looking to fix their back door latch.

Good luck,
Marshall




if any mods are reading this post, limiting the amount of pictures per post is a crock of horse shi t!!!!!!

[Hawaiian1]

The third door on my '97 has decided to not open any more (yes..the top latch is not releasing). Ras...you da man dude! I'm gonna give your fix a shot this week-end. I'll let you know how it goes

[itw69fxst]

Thanks for the detailed information on this fix, as my 1998 has the same problem. It will be put to task shortly