Door Doesn't Open From Either Side

2000 Sierra. Went to get in it this morning and the outside handle acted like it was still locked. I locked and unlocked it again and could hear it working, but still nothing. I go around and get in the pass side and try it from the inside and nothing. I had to go to work, so I didn't have time to look into any further. But it does bring up the question, how do you open a door that won't open from either side? Am I going to have to cut the door panel to get in there to open it?

You might be able to move the latch mechanism with a slim jim.

bravenrace wrote: 2000 Sierra. Went to get in it this morning and the outside handle acted like it was still locked. I locked and unlocked it again and could hear it working, but still nothing. I go around and get in the pass side and try it from the inside and nothing. I had to go to work, so I didn't have time to look into any further. But it does bring up the question, how do you open a door that won't open from either side? Am I going to have to cut the door panel to get in there to open it?

Longshot that assumes you got it wet and parked it outside:

It was 10F here today... could parking it somewhere warm for an hour unfreeze a little carwash moisture in the solenoid/cog mechanism?

In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:

It was outside last night, so yeah I'm going to put it in my shop overnight to see if it self-heals. But the way it's acting has me concerned that its not the problem. Nevertheless, that's the first and easiest place to start.

Before anything drastic, take it to a reputable body shop. They have the skills and special tools to open it for you without doing any damage.

In reply to Tom Suddard:

Have somebody else work on my vehicle? Hmmm, I've never considered that before.

try the garage but i think your screwed. put the window down and you may be able to get the latch as Woody stated. i have found in the cold that the plastic retainers become brittle and snap when there is a little ice holding up the latch and it seems you never feel it when it happens

Woody wrote: You might be able to move the latch mechanism with a slim jim.

bravenrace wrote: In reply to Tom Suddard: Have somebody else work on my vehicle? Hmmm, I've never considered that before.

Sometimes it's best to make things somebody else's problem. At the shop I worked at, we'd charge anywhere from $free to $20 to do something like this for a customer. Just have them open it, then pull the door panel and figure the rest out yourself.

Yeah, yesterday was a VERY wet day here in Ohio in the morning, and it snap froze at about 2PM and snowed all night. MY guess is that the seals and mechanism got wet, and froze it shut. Use some silicon based lubricant on the door latch and the exterior door seals once a year, and you should be good.

In reply to Maroon92:

That's possible, but I went out with a buddy after work last night. The door worked fine after work and the again around 10pm after sitting in a parking lot. Worked when I got home, worked for my son when he took the trash out, and then didn't work this morning. I would think if it was the rain freezing, it would have done it while I was at work or when I went out, but who knows. I don't have time to work on it tonight anyway, so warming it up seems like the first thing to do.

cutter67 wrote: try the garage but i think your screwed. put the window down and you may be able to get the latch as Woody stated. i have found in the cold that the plastic retainers become brittle and snap when there is a little ice holding up the latch and it seems you never feel it when it happens

That actually already happened a couple weeks ago, but it was just the retainer for the outside handle. Wouldn't I have to break two at once to lose both the inside and outside operation?

I once washed my car, then went out to meet some friends. In the meantime the temperature plummeted, and when I got back to my car all the doors and locks were frozen solid. A guy from AAA came out, and he put a hose over the tailpipe of his towtruck and blew the hot exhaust into the lock.

It was thawed out in about 60 seconds, but the downside was the interior reeked of diesel exhaust for days afterwards.

I never thought of using a suicide tube that way before.

Appleseed wrote: I never thought of using a suicide tube that way before.

me either. that's a good tip.

bravenrace wrote: That actually already happened a couple weeks ago, but it was just the retainer for the outside handle. Wouldn't I have to break two at once to lose both the inside and outside operation?

if i remember there are 4 rods 2 for locks and 2 for handles i think the two handle rods tie into a pivot point on the latch and that comes undone there..........most likely it was poor workmanship from the guy who fixed it a couple of weeks ago

cutter67 wrote:

bravenrace wrote: That actually already happened a couple weeks ago, but it was just the retainer for the outside handle. Wouldn't I have to break two at once to lose both the inside and outside operation?

if i remember there are 4 rods 2 for locks and 2 for handles i think the two handle rods tie into a pivot point on the latch and that comes undone there..........most likely it was poor workmanship from the guy who fixed it a couple of weeks ago

Hey now, that wasn't nice.

So last night I get dropped off at the place where I carpool from, and get in the passenger side of my truck. I tried the driver's door and it opened...And then wouldn't shut! I tried to jimmy the latch so that it would shut, but no luck. So I had to drive home in freezing weather holding the door shut.
At this point I didn't want to wait overnight to see if it was just frozen, so I pulled the door panel noticed that the grease I had used back in the summer was very hard. So I sprayed a bunch of brake cleaner in there to clean it out and then followed up with some PB Blaster, and walla! Everything started working again. I won't use that grease again.

What kind of grease was it?

Oh yeah, congrats!

My 1997 Jetta sometimes does this when it is in the low 20's here... And I think it is the same issue. Lumpy, hard grease on the latch mechanism. I really need to open the door up and fix this, but it will be warm soon...

In reply to 914Driver:

Valvoline synthetic all purpose grease.