Passenger door locks itself when I try to open it

Why does my passenger door on my 2000 V6 4x4 lock itself when I try to open? Also, fresh air lever stuck on recirculating. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

Its probably your door latch.


The door latch is connected by a few rods to the handle, key hole, and lock. I would bet your lock/unlock rod or switch on the latch is stuck in some way and wont fully leave the 'lock' position. These rods can get bent or gummed up over time, and may not be moving freely anymore.
I would take the latch out, play around with it for a while, and figure out all the mechanical switches/movements of the rods, get a full understanding of what all of them are doing (its not hard just play around with it until you figure out what each movement is doing, its kind of fun) and see if its all functioning. I used a screwdriver to latch the latch while it out of the truck, then you can test which rod will unlatch, just push in a piece a metal as if the door was closing on the metal latch on the cab. Sorry for saying latch for different things I dont know how else to explain it.

EDIT: To add more information:
The latch is a combination of electrical and mechanical systems. The mechanical movement of the lock on your window sill activates the electrical lock, and the electrical lock moves the mechanical lock. Its all interconnected.
My guess on what is going on: The mechanical movement from the lock to unlock position is not fully happening. Its getting stuck, mechanically, between lock- and unlock on the door latch. Because all of the rods are connected, when you pull on the handle to unlock, the door latch needs to be fully in the unlocked position and it isn't. Instead its somewhere in between, because its not fully in the unlock position, the movement of the door handle rod is enough to kick the lock rod back into the locked position, activating the electrical system and again locking the doors.


I would bet if you try and hold up the mechanical lock next to the window while you open the door it will open. Give that a try and let me know.

Or the easy and less fun route:
I replaced mine with this:

$42 Door Lock Latch Actuator Assembly Front Right Side Compatible with 1998-2004 Tacoma Replace 6903004010931-493

https://www.amazon.com/Actuator-Assembly-Compatible-1998-2004-6903004010/dp/B09GDVJB6X?crid=1SE9FC7S3D4FK&keywords=tacoma+door+latch&qid=1707424471&sprefix=tacoma+door+latch%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

Super cheap product and I havent had them long so I cant speak to how long they may last, but they have been amazing so far.