Previous owner said he replaced the actuator for the rear door, the lock worked for a while and then stopped, now it wont open from inside or out, neither of the handles do anything. I am guessing he installed something wrong. I sprayed with PB Blaster (wd-40) no luck I removed the inner panel and it feels like there is a disconnect at the end. Is there any way to open the door ?

 

basically: if someone hit the child safety lock so the door could not be opened from inside, but did a poor job installing the mechanism and messed up the outside handle is the any way to manually open the door ?

 

Sounds like your door handle mechanism might be stuck, if you take the door panel off you should be able to push it back in place then use the door latch to open the door. When open work the door handle a few times after spraying wd 40 on the mechanism until it operates freely, the spring in the handle should reset the handle after use. Hope this helps as the only way I know of to manually open the door is to access the door latch mechanism itself and manipulate it to open the door.

 

you could try gentle prying the series II emblem off the back door (which is how you lube the lock) and see if you can trip the lock with a screw driver from there.

 

I can't take credit for this. I found it somewhere on the web, but I had the exact same problem with my rear door a couple of months ago. Basically the outside handle is gooped up. Carefully pry off the plastic emblem on the housing that holds the light for the license plate, and the outside rear door handle. Once that emblem is off, you will be able to see the guts of the door release mechanism. Spray WD-40 on the mechanism to clear off the crud and lubricate the mechanism. You will want to wiggle the handle back and forth while you do this. You door should now open if you squeeze the handle all the way. You might have to repeat this process 2 or 3 times. Then just pop the emblem back on and your good to go.

Todd-Squad

 

WD 40 is not a lubricant. If that worked for you, great. But penetrating oil is really your best bet in that situation as well as many others. PB Blaster or similar.

For making stuck things not stuck anymore, there really is no comparison.

 

hence I posted PB Blasterin my response - but alas it did not help. I ended up getting it open by gettin a screw driver into the mechanism from the inside and forcing something that popped it open !!!

 

I'm glad it opened. When I installed my rear ladder, I drilled through the back of the door to install the rivet nut. I had the fortune of the drill bit pushing through and knocking the door latch control rod retaining clip right off! I also had the child-lock engaged and the door closed. A real Murphy's Law situation.

I had to climb into the back remove the subwoofer, door handle, panel etc. and pull the latch rod manually to get the door open. Then I had to fish the retaining clip out of the bottom of inside the door and then re-install it in-situ. It took a little further disassembly and some tricky forceps and finger work but nothing was damaged and it all went back together correctly. I also got to see the otherwise blind rivet-nut install from the back-side. I did a very nice job. I think I could have been content never knowing though.

 

FWIW, this method...popping off the LR logo (pry the outer, black part not the clear, soft inner part) worked great. Blasted it with a spray version of white lithium grease.

Inside this area I blasted the hinges and all around, just in case. Used paper towels to catch the drips that started to slide under the license plate.

Next I sprayed into the lock mechanism itself (where it latches) including the "lock / unlock" tab area. Finally, sprayed the under-door arm and its track. Wiped up the mess, and voila, everything is smooth again. Thanks for the great tip!