Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Rear door won't open

Hi,

I ran into a weird and rather unusual problem with my right rear door.

For some reason the external handle doesn't work anymore and since I have the child safety lock set, I cannot open it from inside.
The dealer service guy wants to break in the panel, which will cost me a fortune to replace.
The problem seems to be that the panel has screws on its sides so it can only be unscrewed when the door is open !!

Any idea ?

Thanks,
Marcelo
Contour 96 V6 2.5L

yeah, get a panel from a junkyard or from the CEG classifieds, then break the panel & fix it yourself, or find a "slimjim" and try to open it that way. Some cops are helpful with these if you ask them nicely. Will probably have to use it from inside the car.

Not sure, but you might be able to use a bent coat hanger between door and frame to move the child lock lever.

Alternately, remove interior handle/bezel and see if you can use a bent coat hanger that way.

I have solve this problem on some friend cars (not contours)
by first lowering the glass, unscrew every screw you can and then try to get the panel of from the top.
Now you should see (with the help of a spot light)the linkage that controls the the striker. A slim jim, large srewdriver or similar tool can be used to force open the door. First try it with the good door(only the "force open" part of this post).
If you go slow & carefully you can do it without damaging
your panel.

i would take the panel off of the other rear door, see what things look like inside, then see what you can get to on the other door.

I took off the door panel & the rod that attaches to the door handle was not attached... I put back in but it's loose. Anyone know what is supposed to hold it in? I figure maybe the white plasti grommet is worn but not certain. How does the door handle itself come out? only one nut is visible from inside the door.
Thanks!