MY DAMN DOOR WONT OPEN!

SOOO... ive had a broken door handle for a while now and i just had 2 screws threw the handle into the back piece to open it (worked alright). bought a new door handle on ebay 2 weeks ago, well yesterday the old door handle finally snapped completely, so today i replaced it with the new one. it wasnt hard, and put everything back the way it was.

well now the door wont open from the outside but works fine from the inside. so i pulled it back apart and tried to figure out what was wrong and couldnt find anything.

the latch has always been kinda sticky. when i was checking for problems it seems everything was still moving properly, nothing was bent or out of place. i compared the new/old handles and they are exactly the same

im not sure exactly what im even asking in this post. just trying to brainstorm and see if anyone else has had problems

 

tried googling it and couldnt find anything worthy

 

nobody?

 

You screwed up somehow, when connecting stuff inside the door.
Remove the panel from the other door to have something to compare to.

 

Not being a dick by any means here just asking the simple stuff first. Did you check to make sure the door isn't locking when you shut it? Try the key then handle

 

honestly its pretty hard to screw up man, theres 2 bolts holding the handle to the door and 2 rods that connect to the handle. both bolts are in place and both rods are in place. one rod connects to the lock and one connects to the latch.

i was thinking the same that i might have messed up. but as i stated in my post, i rechecked everything and its all the same, i think something is wrong with the latch itself but its behind the brackets holding it and theres no way to check it

 

by no means is that a dick question. its a valid question. but yes i did check this.

the locking mechanism still works fine. with my auto locks when you turn the key twice it unlocks both driver and passenger and when you turn the key once to lock it still locks both sides properly

but yes i did make sure it was unlocked before troubleshooting

 

It sounds like something might be out of alignment or out of spec so that when you lift the latch, there might not be enough tension to fully engage the latch. I would take the panels off both doors and compare the movements inside both doors to try and see what's really going on.

 

Try going to a parts site like Village Toyota to look at the blow-up diagram of your door parts; might provide some insight into the workings.



Find the OEM parts here:
http://www.villagetoyotaparts.com/s...ukey_driveline=0&ukey_trimlevel=0&modelYear=0

 

Maybe the handle from eBay is a Chinese POS that is defective?

 

When you pull on the outside handle, do you feel any resistance at all other than a return spring? If not, then I'd double check the connecting rod that does down to the latch. It may have come disconnected, or the little plastic connector-thingy may have broken at the latch.

 

haha thank you for all your suggestions... just pulled it off again today to look at, figured id spray some lubricant on it and WALA! haha i can open it with just my pinky finger now


i feel like an idiot, cant believe i didnt think about that yesterday!

 

Glad to hear that you got it figured out

 

Glad you got it.

 

haha thanks!

first time since ive owned this taco that ive been able to open the door with only my pinky finger haha. i shoulda done this months ago before the handle actually broke

 

I'm thinking I should do this as a pinky ain't enough. It takes all 4 fingers and some thumb. I'm kind of glad you brought this up.

 

if your only spraying lube on it, you can start/finish in ten minutes man.

3 screws and a few door clips to pop off, remove the clip from your inside door handle and walla! dont even have to take off any wires if you have auto locks/windows

and i just used some dry spray lubricant. but im sure most lubes would work (as most lubes do on for my girls BUNGhole!)

 

Spray some lubricant like WD-40 inside the handle. Maybe something is sticking.

 

lol you didnt read any part of the rest of the thread did you?

 

Sure are a lot of threads about damn doors not locking or unlocking LOL. Well I just joined the club with my 1999 with an aftermarket security/door lock system put in by the original owner. The passenger side wouldn't unlock without the key in the outside lock. It would lock again using manual or electric. I popped the door panel and sprayed a bit of lube on the suspect parts. NOW it was unlocked ONLY - LOL. Time to dig deeper.

Since the window guide has a shield that obscures the view and physical access of the rods and levers that control the locking/opening/etc. I removed the 1 bolt and the single nut that hold it in place. If you don't move the metal window guide out of the way you will be at a deadend because everything is covered up - most threads fail to mention this is pretty essential. The flexible rubber window track allowed me to push the shield out of the way and I saw that the ingenious but evil plastic rod keeper and the bottom of the manual door lock rod was broken.

I ordered replacements from the dealer for delivery tomorrow. I say replacements because the choices were 'orange' or 'pink' as the only description for the plastic keepers and the one that was broken on my truck was a light blue or purple from the little bits of it that were left on the rod and lever. So I ordered both and hope one of them fits.
Since the electric door locks were aftermarket it is possible they broke the original keeper and replaced it with 'one that fit' from their own toolbox.

If the actual fixing has any surprises I'll post an update.

Update: Door lock fix ended up being very simple. I also figured out why the dealer replacement parts were pink or orange instead of the light blue of the broken bits left on the rod. It's because they are not the same part. The factory uses a simpler rod keeper that has more of a universal fit. It is unlikely you could reinstall the original in your driveway without a bunch of unnecessary labor. The replacements were mirror images of each other and the colors just make it easier to identify lefty from righty. Their design is the common rotate and snap rod keepers found in Toyota doors. Both colors are in a single door assembly so I bought a couple of each to make sure to have them handy. About $3.50. Even though they are dimensional exact mirror images they have a slightly different price LOL. I attached pictures for your viewing pleasure.