Passenger door won't open from the outside

Hello Toyota owners. I am new to this site and I have a question. Hope I can get help with this. My 04 Tacoma Pre-Runner passenger door won't open from the outside but opens from the inside. Need help on how to remove door handle and what to replace. Or if something is just loose what to look for and replace.

 

Is there child locks on the passenger door?

 

You're going to have to fiddle around inside the door. If you pull the inside panels, i'm gonna guess the cables gone to slack, and its not pulling on the release. Tighten it back up, and you should be good.

 

Yes my doors have child locks on rear doors,but this is the front passenger door. It opens from the inside and not the outside. It feels like something is loose cause when i pull the door handle it just moves up or down but won't open unless I open from inside.

 

I tried removing the door handle but can't remove the door lock. Don't know how. The door handle comes out,but not all the way because of the door lock.

 

there is 2 rods on the door handle 1 for the lock 1 for the door handle, remove door panel and moisture barrier gets pulled back for access. 2 10mm bolts hold handle. sounds like door handle is broken or rod clip came off

 

Welcome to TW from Sparks, NV

 

bumping this thread. I have been having a similar issue for a while with my driverside front door. Its difficult to open from the outside. It will open but takes an extra amount of effort when the outside handle is lifted all the way up. Inside handle works just fine.

Anyone with experience on this one? Any pics of door interior and when needs to be adjusted would be helpful. I don't think the handle itself is broken.

 

nvrmnd. Figured it out. Had to take the door panel off and it ended up just being a loose bolt on the handle that wasn't allowing enough tension on the connecting rod.

 

my tacoma has the same problem, but someone tried breaking into my truck
using a slim jim and bent the linkage inside. that's after i bought a new door handle that I found this problem out. so my passenger side doesn't work at all anymore. and my driverside door handle is getting harder to pull now too.

 

VERY common problem on all 1st gen. Once you get the door panel and vapor barrier off, you will have 2 10mm bolts (As mentioned before) and 2 rods. One is the lock rod the other is the inside pull handle rod. Once you have those disconnected, you will need to look inside the back of the handle and you will see that you can turn the lock cylinder assembly in order to release it. First pic shows where to look for removing lock cylinder.



this next one shows a bent arm which is the common failure on these door handles and where the plastic gets damaged.



And this last one shows where it SHOULD be located. Note that because of the damage to the plastic, this arm WOULD bend again. Door handle replacement would be the best option at this point.

 

I've been having a similar problem w/ my drivers-side door handle; thanks to all for the info here.

 

I suggest Rockauto killer prices if you don't need it same day

 

My driver's side door required a firm lift to open. Finally, I started cracking the outside door handle from the extra wear. I replaced 2 driver-side outside door handles, and now the door won't open at all, even if I lift the handle all the way. BTW, the inside handle and locks always worked fine.

I removed the panel inside the door, and I puzzled until my puzzler was sore. My brain grew 3 sizes, and I figured out the problem. The linkage rod (from the outside handle to the latch mechanism) was bent! This rod was a push rod with a slight bend, but over time the bend had increased. This made the rod "shorter", which is why I had to lift the outside door handle so high! I partially straightened the bend in the rod with a couple of whacks from a hammer. Fixed!!!! (I will gloss over the blood, tears, and curses from working in that cramped space inside the frame of the door)

 

I know its an older thread but figured I didn't need to start a new one and want to comment on the above post by BoiseDave.

My inside handle would open the door albeit with lots of play, but the outside would take numerous tries and had to lift up hard.

Took everything apart and bent the inside handle's rod to reduce the slack. Seems much better now.

Was puzzled on the outer handle. Plastic piece was still intact. But tried the easiest thing first tightened the left bolt and that seem enough to do the trick.

So on to Boise's bent rod (doesn't sound good when you type it out). My rod looks exactly like his (still not sounding right). So I think that bend is normal and doesn't need to be hammered out unless we just both happened to have bent rods (nope never going to work).

Where mine differs from the pic is that I seem to have a gap in where the rod is pressing down on the lock catch mechanism. So I assume my handle is having to move quite a bit before engaging to unlock the catch. This is giving me less wiggle room so to say on have the handle push down enough to work.

Thoughts?

 

yourrealdad -I replaced my passenger side handle and lock but now I can't open the door. When operated the rod reaches travel distance before the latch is operated. My connecting rod is bent at the bottom also. I thought I might just replace the rod as well but I'm not sure of it's proper name. Also not sure how to remove it from it's connection to the body. I have the same type of connection you are showing. Is it possible to replace this rod?

 

@yourrealdad and @Snowman422

If it were me, I'd try putting a small bolt and nut w/lock washer in there to reduce that gap somewhat, to see if the gap is really causing the need for an increased stroke to activate the release. If that solves the problem, you can decide on permanent countermeasures: replacement; make the bolt permanent.

 

Good idea., beats replacing the complete latch. I guess I can try to bend the rod back into shape, not sure how it bent probably as I was reattaching the new handle. Thanks for idea.

 

You sir are a thinker. Thanks for the idea. I am going to try this out

 

Well been couple of months since I first inquired and got responses. I haven't been able to mess with the door handle not opening for a while and started back in today. While looking into taking the slack up some in the rod that connects to the back of the door handle I noticed the loop end that connects to the latch is broken. First , what is the proper name of this rod. I find the lock rod all over the place but not sure of the name for the rod that connects handle to the latch. Second, how would you replace it since the loop is suppose to be closed? Thought about putting it back in place and using something like JB Weld to fix the break if I can't find a new one. Any suggestions appreciated.