Fixing a car door lock that doesn’t open from the outside is easier than it sounds. You do have to do some work to get it done, but if you break the whole process down into small steps, then it really isn’t that hard to do. Just to prove it to you, here are the steps.
This type of repair effort will start off with the removal of the inside door panel. This is not hard to do. Just locate the several screws that hold it in place, and use a flat screwdriver to pry off the plastic pieces that cover them. Then, remove the screws, too.
The door panel should still be held in place by a number of fasteners that just pop out. They are shaped like Christmas trees, and there may be as many of a dozen of them present. They can be removed with great difficulty by hand or much more easily with the help of an inexpensive tool that can be found at any auto part store.
With all the screws removed and fasteners unfastened, removing the inside door panel should now be possible. Lift it up, and pull it clear away from the car door. This should be possible, but there may still be some other odds and ends that need to be disconnected, so if you find any of those, make a note of them for when you put the door back together, and disconnect them, as well.
You aren’t quite to the inner workings of the door yet. There should be a final easily removed obstacle in the form of a plastic protective barrier. If there is one, gently take it out. If it isn’t there, then skip to the next step.
Now, you should be able to see everything. To see what is damaged, pull on the interior handle of the door and watch for what moves. Search through all of the parts until you see exactly what is not doing what it should. In most cases, you will see a piece that has been broken or disconnected.
Once you have found a piece that is broken or disconnected, you will know what you need to do to complete effective repairs. If you are lucky then you may be able to reconnect something and continue on your way. If you are less lucky, then you may need to obtain replacement parts. To put the door back together, just go through the steps that you went through to take it apart but backwards.
Make sure that the door lock is working before you put everything back together. There’s nothing worse than thinking that you have completed repairs and putting the door back together only to find that you have to take it apart again and give fixing it another shot.
This is how you fix a car door lock that doesn’t open from the outside. It is not as complicated as it sounds and can be done by almost anyone. If you want to prove this to yourself, then the next time you are facing this problem, you can follow these steps to fix it.
