Force Open a Stuck car door to get Access to Repair
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- Опубліковано 28 лип 2024
- I fixed a car door on a 2006 Toyota Matrix, but this method should work for many other cars. From the comments we learned it didn't work for a Ford Focus and a 1996 Camry. I couldn't open the door from the inside or the outside so I couldn't get the interior panel off to get access to fix. In this car the door needs to be open to remove the interior door panel as the perimeter of the panel is secured by the closed door. All the videos I found on UA-cam started repairs with an open door and access. I literally tried everything else. I bought a endo scope to look inside the door and also used a utility knife to cut out a piece of the interior panel to get some access. When done I made a fiberglass repair to fix the panel that I cut. However, if you just follow what I did on this video you would not need to cut open your door panel or repair it! Hope this video saves other people's time and frustration. I did learn from a comment that it didn't work on a Ford Focus, so please share if it works or doesn't work for your particular car.
Here is link for the air wedges I used. If you use this link, it will support my channel with no increase cost to you:
amzn.to/3VgwsSc
Here is the replacement mechanism that I purchased for under $50
amzn.to/3wPNJaB
Here is one of many good videos on how to replace the lock assembly once the door is open!
• Car Door Lock Actuator...
This Vídeo os amazing! The only video on youtube teaching exactly How to solve this problem
Glad to hear that!
Did it work for you?
Fantastic idea! TY for the tip! Unfortunately, it does not work on my 1996 Toyota Camry passenger door, even using 4 bags. I'm going to keep trying and will update if I manage to get it open.
Thank you so much for posting that it didn't work on your 1996 Camry as that could be very helpful to others. 1992 to 1996 Camry are all considered 3rd generation so likely have the same lock. I can tell you that before I figured out the bag method I tried just about everything else including using a utility knife to cut out the panel, which took considerable time for me to repair. Pretty annoying that car manufacturers do not provide an access panel and make the lock serviceable without having the door open.
Thank you so much for making this! It may solve my problem.
Glad it helped!
my guy, I appreciate you
David my man ❤🫶🏻💪🏼
Genius!
thank you very helpful
You're welcome!
Your awesome
Hello I have a 2001 Toyota Camry and would like to try this but wanted to know will this break my locks and will I have to replace the locks once this is done?
Yes, in my case I needed to break and replace the mechanism
Im a mom to 3, the door on my chevy cruze has been stuck for 4 years. We have tried absolutely everything to get it open and I gave up.
I saw this video randomly and thought "there's no way. It's not going to work" but as a last ditch effort and sheer desperation (having 2 in car seats with one back door is miserable) I ordered the air bags off Amazon. They were delivered at 9pm its now 9:22 and I finally have all four doors in my car working. It took me less than 20 mins!!! I've spent hours on this thing trying different approaches.
Thank you soooo much for posting!!!
Thank you so much for the positive feedback and that it worked on a Chevy. I must have spent 2 months working on this problem and was desperate myself. This was for my daugher-in-law's car. It had been broken for many years and she used to just live with it and didn't care too much. Maybe once they start having babies they will get more excited about the door working! Be sure to do the second step, which is to replace the door mechanism. For the Matrix this was the replacement part:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KW4GKS3/ref
Does it break the mechanism? I’m selling my car which has this issue (i think it’s the cables inside the panel) and i spent so much on it i just want it gone. I’m wondering if this willow me to open it or if it will break the lock and i’ll have to replace it after.
Yes. It does break the mechanism, but it was not working in the first place which is why I needed to break it open in the first place. I got the replacement mechanism fairly inexpensively. I was not a Toyota, but and after market one from Amazon. I guess it could have been a cable problem, but in my case it was not. I tried many things including a scope camera and cutting out a piece of the plastic door panel to get access. For me there was no other way. One commenter was able to remove the panel on his Nissan by removing the back seat. This wouldn't work on my Toyota as the door panel clips are covered by the door frame.
Just ordered some ! My door mechanism is completely shut closed. Doesn’t open inside or outside. I ripped off my door panel and I still can’t get the dang thing to open ! Hopefully this works ! 😢
Yep. Tell me about it. Very frustrating. I worked on it for months. Even purchased a endoscope to look inside the door. I was not under time pressure because the door didn't work for years and is a car owned by my new daughter in law who rarely used the back seat. It has been working great now for a year after my fix. Now she is having a baby so she will really need the door to work! I was concerned because I only replaced the mechanism with a cheap aftermarket one and not a Toyota. However, the cheap aftermarket one seems to be better than the original Toyota part.
Did it work for you?
Did it work?
Did it work?
Another trick is to remove the back seat base and this should give you access to remove the door panel an try and open from inside door
That definitely wouldn't work on the Matrix. When the rear door is closed the clips you need to remove are blocked by the door frame. What are did that trick work on?
On my Nissan Cefiro(Maxima) it just has 2 clips in the front
Do you think it will work on a BMW car? I thought it needs much more force for the lock to break than that. In mine, the mechanism inside is stuck somehow and won’t let open the driver’s door.
You are probably right that this will not work on a luxury car. However, Toyotas are pretty well built and I was no where close to using maximum force. I probably could have done it with one. I didn't need to pump very heard. One more reason not to leave valuables in your car. At one time I lived in a high crime city and the trick was to never lock your car because thieves would find a locked car and smash the windows to break in and look for valuables.
Hello David , it just happened to me, I will order the bag and try, one quick question, the link you provided have two options to buy, any idea what is the different, I assume you purchased the option, right ? Thankyou.
Interesting. The second option was not there when I bought. It was only the 001 option which is the one I got. 2 identical bags. I might have been able to do it with one bag on my Toyota, but 2 spread out the force more and helped prevent bending the door.
Did it work?
Did it work?
So was the actuator the thing you broke to get the door out?
I am not sure what it is called, but it is the latch that hooks on to the car body that I was able to break to free the door. The car body was not damaged and the latch was cheap and easy to replace once the door panel was accessible.
What are those things called?
They are called air wedges or air shims. Typically they are used to pry open a door partially open so you can reach a tool in and unlock a door. Tow truck drivers use them for this. They try NOT to break the lock. Typically they are not used to break open a lock which is why I used 2 heavy duty ones. This only worked on the Matrix has a relatively cheap lock that was easy to break. This is the model I used: www.amazon.com/Pelesaurea-Air-Wedge-Pump-Leveling/dp/B0B2NQC8TW/ref
I can confirm this does not work
Please confirm the make, model and year of the vehicle it failed on. It most certainly did work great on our 2006 Toyota Matrix. I am confident I could have even used a single air wedge. I just used 2 to spread out the force so as not to damage the car body. You could use more than 2 if you were unable to generate enough force to break the latch.
@@DYI 2005 ford focus and I used the exact 2 u used
@@christophercortez341So sorry it didn't work for your car. That is very interesting that the Ford Focus latch is so much tougher than the Toyota. I guess it is good in some ways as your car is not so easy to break into. You might want to try going back and forth increasing the pressure on one at a time so you can use both of your hands on each one and get as much pressure on each as you can. Just be careful not to bend the body panel. You should be generate a tremendous amount of force with 2 hands. I guess you could drive over one with your back tire and see if you can squeeze hard enough to lift your car. Each wedge should be able to apply 550 pounds of force according to the manufacturer. That is about the weight under each of the Ford Focus rear tires. You could also try a slim jim or call AAA. Don't give up. I spent lots of time and tried many things before figuring out how to open my door.
@@DYI does triple a rly help with things like this?
@@christophercortez341I am not positive they will do it for free, but can tell you they are experts in breaking into locked cars from the outside. They do it all the time for people who lock their keys in their car. Just explain that you can't open your door and ask. You could also go to an auto body shop. They will both use a tool like this. It will, of course, not work on all cars either.
www.amazon.com/Toughty-VR_124-Professional-Auto-Tool/dp/B0BVHH5QHL/ref