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93TSI_370K

Probationary Member
26
1
Sep 10, 2011
Elgin, Illinois
Hello, I wish I had some of the door lock issues others have had, but unfortunately my issue I have not found on the web. My car, a 1993 Talon TSI FWD/AT has been sitting for about a year, battery is dead AND I cannot release the hood latch from inside the car. That is a separate problem that I can remedy easily enough I believe.


My major problem is my driver’s door will not open, from the inside or the outside or inside the door panel. All the rods are connected and are moving the appropriate levers on the door lock mechanism, but it refuses to open. The only thing I can think of is I have a broken door lock mechanism that broke in the "closed" position. It could have broken in the “open” position which would have made removing it simple but it has to fail in the “closed” position. The passenger door (which acts normally for a car without battery power) I used to figure out what on the door lock mechanism I need to move in order to get the door to open. I tried it on the driver’s door and it still does not open, no matter what I do to the door lock mechanism inside the door. (I had to remove the driver’s seat first, then partially remove the inside door panel to get access to the inside, that was fun.)


So, short of “destroying” the door with a hole saw or my plasma torch, any ideas? Has anyone had any experience with this situation or knows someone who has encountered this before?
 
My parts car door does the same thing to me after sitting. Have you tried spraying lube on the latch from the inside, since you have the panel off. You have to make sure it's unlocked. Look to where your inside handles rod goes to on the latch assembly. You need to press that part down and push out on the door at the same time. I would try spraying it good first and see if it helps loosen things up. The door gets kinda sealed from being shut for so long. Hope it helps you bro.
 
Thanks, I will give that a try when I get time to get back to it later this week or next......at least before the snow falls. I did move that latch more than it normally moves when using the inside door handle, but it was hard to keep it in that position. I will try soaking the sucker and do what you suggest as I did not try pushing on the door that much as I thought I’d hear a “click” if it opened. Kauai huh, I know you can’t put 377,000 miles on your ride, at least not as fast as I did. Love Spam musubi.
 
Dsmkauai, I tried what you suggested…..no dice. I sprayed the crap out of the latch from inside the door and let it soak for a day, then really leaned on that lever (that should open the latch) on the latch and pushed hard on the door but nothing.

I will try soaking it more, as the lubricant is dripping out the bottom of the door and try again tomorrow, maybe using a crowbar from the inside this time.

Here are what I think are my options, not necessarily in any order of what I should do first or doing the least damage.

1. Cut an opening on the outside of the door next to the latch, and then use a pneumatic hammer and try to chisel the bolts off that hold the latch to the door. I did find a 1G Eclipse that I am going to get one off of tomorrow for $15 and the striker too, lucky find for me in Chicagoland , many 1gs have not survived due to rust. I may as well as get the passenger side too. Thinking about this now, it may be better to use the pneumatic hammer on the latch itself to destroy the mechanism and hope it releases the striker, because if I chisel the bolts off, the striker “ring” is still attached to the latch.

2. Again, similar to #1, going thru the outside of the door and try to chisel off the striker thru a opening in the door, but I am not sure how much room is between the door and the door jamb and I do not know how well this will even work as there will be two layers of sheet metal to go thru.

3. I did remove the rear seat side panel and automatic seat belt motor assembly and I can see the back of the two bolts that hold the striker to the door jamb. They go thru two spot welded nuts. I may be able to use the pneumatic hammer there to chisel off the welded nuts and the bolts. Any body repair would be easier as it is hidden.

4. I thought of drilling out the bolts, that hold the latch to the door from inside the door panel, but getting the drill centered in such a confined space would be an extreme challenge and also, one of the three bolts cannot be accessed as it goes into a blind tapped hole in the latch from the door jamb side. Again the striker would still be “engaged” by the latch anyway so this may not be an option.

5. Maybe going thru the inside door panel, use the pneumatic chisel on the latch and hope it releases the striker. I will definitely need hearing protection inside the car if I do this.

6. I do have a plasma cutter, so I do have an option of using it to make all kinds of holes everywhere if I need (and have a fire blanket and extinguisher nearby just in case). I do not think it will damage my ECU or anything else as I believe I disconnected the battery a few years ago. And now obviously I cannot start the car to reconnect it or to jump it as the hood will not open pulling on the hood release inside the car.

Will using a plasma cutter damage any electronics on the car?

Just a matter of trying to not make things worse, which does happen sometimes.

Any opinions as to which to do first, or some other suggestion???

“If it has a steering wheel or you have a woman, you will always have troubles”.
 
To open hood pull the latch and have someone bang on the hood near the release a few times, should allow it to pop. Let me think about the door lock for a bit and I'll post back k. Really don't want to see you destroy things over a latch, and I'm sure you don't want that either. ;)
 
PlanZero, should I paint a confederate battle flag on it too? Wait, can't do, moonroof.

I was thinking about this more.

I will take a picture of the latch I got from the bone yard sometime this week or maybe next week and post it because I have a honey-do list. I need to make a “clean” enclosure with a HEPA filter to open my wife’s external dive that I believe the head is stuck to the platter or it is “out of range” and needs to be parked.

I thought about my options while I was removing a latch from a 1g Eclipse.
Option #1, destroying the latch mechanism does not sound too bad, provided I can do it in the correct places and have the latch release the striker.
Option #2, I could do as I got a striker also when I got a latch today but there is no way of knowing how difficult it will be or if I will have enough room (maybe I can use the modeling clay method) before I start cutting into the door.
Option #3, I noticed when I took the striker off the car in the bone yard, that the nuts inside the door jamb are not spot welded, but are “floating” so the striker can be adjusted into position. This may be my best option, provided I can get the chisel into the correct location “shear” off the bolts.
Option #4, no longer an option as the striker will still be engaged.
Option #5 , is the last resort option.

So I am thinking option #3, then #1 (destroying the latch), #2 and lastly #5.

Back to the work week.
 
Option 3 sounds like your best bet.The interior door latch breaks in the lock position it can be a major pain to get open,It's not much room to work on the inside of car doors..
 
u lost, #3, thanks. So you are saying you have had a door latch break also? You did what?

I have not had a chance to crawl back into the car to verify if I have the space inside the door to use the chisel. I will post a couple pictures tomorrow of the latch I got from the boneyard and show how it is assembled.
 
Success, and I feel stupid, but I am glad that the car is a work in progress.

Last week, it was above average temp here for February, about 45 degrees, so I decided to give it one more look before starting on the destruction path for the door.

So i decided to put a big pry bar in the door to see if I could accomplish anything, and the door started to open just about 1/4 inch so I kept on prying it and the door opened. The seals were sticking to the door and with all that surface area, my just lifting on the handle and trying to open it made it appear to me that there was an issue with the latch, also the hinges were rusted pretty good so that contributed to the problem.

It turns out, the lock was open, but the latch part that rotates and engages the striker, was rusted in the engaged position and the prying rotated it so it released from the striker. It turns out that the spring that forces the latch to rotate and "pop" the door open, either broke or disintegrated from the rust. So the engineers of the door latch must have designed it so that in the event the spring "fails" the latch will still work although you will need to pull on the door and it will not"pop open".

I feel so stupid but relieved at least the door issue is resolved without doing unnecessary work.

The part about the hood not releasing, I tried to have someone bounce on the hood while I pulled on the release inside the car and nothing happened. As it is going to be about 60 here, unseasonably warm, for a few days, I am going to try and get the car up in front and see if I can get my arm up there between the two radiator fans. Or I may decide to cut some of the plastic ducting in the front and see if I can access the latch that way. Cutting the plastic and "repairing" it as it is covered an acceptable risk before cutting into the hood and making a real mess. But I guess doing that will allow me to expand my sheet metal skills, which I have none right now. Body work I never got into but if I were younger that probably would be something to consider as they make a ton of money, good ones do at least.
 
DSMKauai you were right about the part that the door was sealed shut but the latch was defective.

Success at the hood!!! I got it opened with out breaking out the plasma cutter. The hood latch was so rusted..... I found a way to remove two of the three bolts that hold the latch to the front member but as always happens, the last fastener's head was a little rounded and at a impossible postion to get to the bolt head from underneath and "force" the box end of the 10mm over the head. Impossible to get a socket on it or any kind of socket or wrench. As two of the three bolts were removed, I was able to pry the hood open slightly, as the latch "rotated" on the third bolt. But I could not access the third bolt thru the small opening, no amount of anything. No wobble bar, no swivel socket, flex extension, combination of swivels , nothing that I could think of short of heating a wrench and bending it to fit, but the head is rounded so the 10mm would not fit. I did not even consider checking if there was something that Snap On had as I was bound and determined, I would win after my victory over the door. I had to drill out the rivet holding the plate that rotates and releases the hood latch. But after doing that, I had to remove the spring.........too much detail and a ways to go so I am stopping here. Now onto getting it started again, may be a few months.

If anyone has a similar problem, please post here and I will give you specific instructions.
 
Do you have electric locks? my actuator stopped working so I just bought an aftermarket one and attached it inside the door and to the rail for the lock, then wired it to the factory wiring.
I got replacement key fobs on ebay and used the short out pin trick on the obd2 port to activate the remotes. yay for working factory alarm and keyless system.

I also ran into issues with the internals of my doors / locks not wanting to open, I used a liberal application of gun oil on all of the stuff inside the door and it fixed it up. I prefer gun oil because it tends to hold up to abuse well and temps don't bother it and prevents rust.

lastly to prevent door seals from sticking in the winter I use turtle wax on the car around the seal.. I broke a drivers handle last year due to door sticking and not well oiled door internals.
 
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