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Drivers Side Passenger Door Stuck?


snookwhaler

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Wife was pulling stuff out of the car today. She opened the drivers side passenger door (rear door on the sedan), pulled out a bunch of crap, shut the door and now it will not open with either the interior or exterior handle. Also, the "lock knob" is only half way up. Like it is not releasing all the way?

Any ideas? Maybe she bumped the child safety switch with all the crap she was taking out of there? I need to get the door open to figure it out. Unless I can get the panel off with the door closed?

I tried using the remote to unlock and lock the doors. The door will lock. The lock knob will go all the way down. But, when I go to open all doors the lock knob only comes up about half way and the door will not open.

The rest of the doors are fine.

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First thing first:

1. It does not matter what car you own, in order to open the INNER door panel, the door has to open.

You just simply cannot remove the INNER panel with the door closed.

Unless of course you damage the panel (cut it up and trash it!) in order to get to the door mechanisms inside!

2. I suspect the door actuator gone. Sometimes it "comes back" before dying completely.

So play with your remote a few more times to see if you are lucky.

Look under REAR Door section of this website, you will find the "actuator":

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ind...playCatalogid=0

You may want to look at this S40 thread. Same problem like yours. Hopefully you can remove the panel with minimal damage. BEST is to open the other side (the passenger REAR side) and figure how many clips etc. as a practice before pulling the L rear door.

http://www.volvoforums.com/m_45576/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm

Let us know the outcome!

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Anyone else have this happen?

This is the first I've heard happening on the 850. The latch is pretty tough compare to the newer models. Motor failures can happen but yours sound like something mechanical. Try pulling on the lock while you lock/unlock using remote or the knob to try and reset things.

Maybe a Volvo tech can chime in.

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Actually I have seen this in the bmw (bimemr) forums.

There are 2 requirements for this problem to happen:

1. Child Lock Tab activated so one cannot open from inside.

2. Outside Door Handle becomes DISCONNECTED from the lock mechanism. Usually the link rod gets loose or some broken mechanism.

The other option is to pass dental floss through the door. Hopefully you can cath the Child Lock and PULL IT DOWN to disable this feature. It is a difficult fishing expedition BTW.

A The door cannot be opened from the inside. Normal operation from the outside.

B The door lock lock functions normally.

post-22330-1222715430_thumb.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

I finally had some time to mess aroud with this so here is the fix below.

I am posting this reply in regards to a 850 passengers door being stuck shut. The door will not open from the inside or outside and the door is locked and will not unlock.

All older 850's will eventually have this problem now that I have seen what the problem actually is. Especially if you use your rear doors daily as we do.

The problem is right at the latch mechanism where the bellcrank is attached to the latch inside the door. There is a small metal rod about 3 inches long that runs from the bellcrank and up to the latching mechanism up inside the door. There are small grommets where this operating rod twists through the bellcrank hole. When these rubber grommets get worn or fall out, the rod will just fall out causing the door to be permanently stuck shut.

The door panel can be easily removed from inside the car by removing the 2 torx screws beneath the speaker on the bottom of the door and 1 torx screw on the side where the carpet touches the seat. The seat must be removed to access this screw. Once these screws are out, remove the black handle on the interior door lever and the panel can be pulled up and away.

Temporarily installing the operating rod and unlocking the door allowed me to open it for the repair.

The fix is a hard plastic (yellow) grommet found in the help section of Advance Auto parts. It is in a pack of 5 made just for door operating rods. I pressed the new grommet into the hole, re-installed the operating rod into the grommet and added a small wire tie to the end of the rod before the curve. Doing this will not allow the rod to slip out again.

When I pulled the other panel I found the other operating rod about to fall out as well. So, I did the mod to both doors. The mod works great and will more than likely not break again.

This entire operation for both doors took less than 1 hour.

Thanks to everyone above. The links were not the answers I was looking for. But, they did point me in the right direction.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Here is the guide and pictures for the fix. This thread is for the rear doors. The front doors are similar on the 850.

Not long after doing the fix on Drivers side door (the original door), I pulled the Passengers side door panel to take pictures and I found that the upper Operating Rod Lever bushing had also failed. This can be seen in the last picture at the top of the Operating Rod and upper Bellcrank Lever. The use of a small zip tie on my original fix kept the Operating Rod from falling out again.

The pictures in this guide were taken after the fix. So, the door is opened. The procedure will follow as if the door were "stuck shut". This is how I was able to open the "stuck door" from inside the car.

1. Remove the key from the ignition and switch off the interior lights. You may disconnect the battery, but it is not really necessary since this does not take that long.

2. Open the door opposite the side that is "stuck shut". Clear the back of the car out so you can work in there and not lose stuff.

3. Remove the lower portion of the Rear Seat by pushing down, back and lifting up. Remove the lower Rear Seat from the car.

4. Remove the Speaker Grill by gently pulling out at the bottom. Once the bottom is free, carefully pull out the top. Be careful not to damage the Speaker Foam when removing the grill.

Speakeraccess.jpg

5. Remove the 2 T15 torx screws beneath the bottom corners of the Speaker. The screws are on a slight angle but can be removed with the door shut by using a T15 torx screw driver.

Screwremovalbottom2.jpg

6. Remove the 1 T15 torx screw from the side of the door panel. This screw is also at an angle but can be removed with the door shut using a T15 torx screw driver.

Screwremovalside.jpg

7. Remove the Door Handle Latch Knob by grasping the bottom of the handle and lifting straight up.

HandleLatchKnobremoval.jpg

8. Remove the Door Panel by grabbing the bottom and lifting up. You will need to pull the bottom out a little as well. There is a plastic Stud near the top of the Speaker that will need to "pop out" of the Inner Door Skin before you can pull up very far. After the Door Panel comes up about 1 inch continue to pull the bottom out a little more. But at the same time push inward on the center of the Door Panel so you can get the Door Handle Latch Cup up and over the Door Handle Latch Knob Lever. Use care not to bend the Lever or break the Cup. Once you have cleared the the Lever and the Lock Knob has gone through the hole, you can pull the panel away from the door to gain access to the courtesy light. Removing the plug on the courtesy light allows you to lay the door against the back of the front seat so you can attach the operating rod and open the door.

9. Remove the access cover by gently pushing down, then pull out, up and away.

RemoveAccessPanel.jpg

If you are lucky, only one of the bushings failed and the Operating Rod is just hanging there or laying up against the Door Lock Actuator. I had to rescue mine from the bottom of the door using a magnet, because both the upper and lower bushings failed on the drivers side.

Once you have the Operating Rod, you can temporarily re-install the rod to open the door in order to work on it easier. In some cases it may be a little more complicated (as was my case). If the Child Safety Switch is flipped up and the Upper Bellcrank Lever has fallen "downward" the door will not unlock or open until you flip the Child Safety Switch back down. You can use a short flexible plastic putty knife for this. Simply stick the putty knife in the the door jamb from outside the car (being careful not to damage the weather stripping) and flip the Child Safety Switch back down. Once the Child Safety Switch is down you can push the Upper Bellcrank Lever "upward" and temporarily install the Operating Rod. This will allow you to unlock and open the door.

If just one of the bushings has failed, you can replace just one. But, I recommend replacing both of these bushings to prevent future problems. You can get a pack of 5 bushings in the HELP section of Advance Auto Parts. These are Yellow. I have also seen them in clear, white, grey and black. As long as the size is close you'll be fine. I used a small "yellow zip tie" on the flat of the rod to prevent the Operating Rod from "rotating out" in case one of the bushings were to fail again.

This is the fix at the Lower Bellcrank Lever. You only need the bushings, but I recommend the zip tie as well. If you are using the zip tie, you only need one on the bottom.

LowerOperatingRodandbushingfix.jpg

This is the Lower Bellcrank Lever mount. The Lower Bellcrank Lever flips up and down around this pin.

LowerBellcrankandLever.jpg

Here is the Upper Bellcrank Lever after 1 month of fixing the Lower. The old bushing is already gone. If I had not "zip tied" the Lower Bellcrank Lever. The Operating Rod would have fallen out of the holes on "Both Bellcrank Levers". It is obviously best to replace both bushings if you are taking the time to pull the panels.

UpperOperatingRodLeverbushinggone.jpg

That's it. Once the bushings are in the installation is the reverse of the removal. Just be sure to re-connect anything you unplugged and be sure the wiring harness is attached to the door skin. Also, remember to reconnect the courtesy light. CAUTION!! USE EXTREME CARE when reinstalling the Door Panel. Pay careful attention to the Door Handle Latch Cup, Lock Knob and the Stud that needs to "pop into the door skin". You will need to put the Door Panel up a little above the Lock Knob to get it started. Then working your way down to the Door Handle Latch Lever. Be careful not to break the Cup. You will need to push in fairly hard to get the Cup around the Lever. Once you are over the Lever, push the Door Panel towards the Inner skin and pull downward. Once the Door Panel is all the way down, push the Door Panel in around the Speaker. You should hear a "pop" when the Stud goes back in.

If you have any questions. Feel free to PM me. Just remember to take your time and be patient. Most of the stuff on these cars is brittle and easy to break. If you take your time. You should have "0" problems.

Regards,

AJ

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  • 2 years later...

AJ, this is a good how-to with great photos. However, you forgot to mention that there is a #30 torx screw in the upper center of the panel under the leather trim insert. The insert just pops out and snaps back. Possibly the loud "pop" you heard was the screw head pulling through the panel. I had a duece of a time with the first panel because I didn't know about this screw. Once it is removed the panel lifts up easily off the door release lever and comes off with little effort. You might want to chek it out and ammend your instructions to save others the hassel of trying to get the panel off with that screw still holding it.

Regards,

twobricks

P.S. this thread made it possible for me to fix a sticky problem. Thanks.

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  • 1 month later...
Guest Lone Munoz

Wife was pulling stuff out of the car today. She opened the drivers side passenger door (rear door on the sedan), pulled out a bunch of crap, shut the door and now it will not open with either the interior or exterior handle. Also, the "lock knob" is only half way up. Like it is not releasing all the way?

Any ideas? Maybe she bumped the child safety switch with all the crap she was taking out of there? I need to get the door open to figure it out. Unless I can get the panel off with the door closed?

I tried using the remote to unlock and lock the doors. The door will lock. The lock knob will go all the way down. But, when I go to open all doors the lock knob only comes up about half way and the door will not open.

The rest of the doors are fine.

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