Driver door won't open

[zbxb006]

2008 Lucerne CXL 3.8

Been having trouble with the driver door latching. Found the actuator to not be resetting the lock lever when opening the door. Replaced the door actuator (and the outside door handle which was cracked) and everything worked fine for a few door closing tests.

On the first drive, the doors auto locked as expected. But when parked the drivers door would not open. The lock seemed to unlock, but the door would not open from either the inside or outside handle. The key would lock/unlock the door. But nothing would allow the door to actually open. Appears that the latch is either stuck or refuses to unlock.

Any ideas? Any way to force the door open? It doesn't look like there is any way to get to the latch without removing the door panel, but it doesn't look like the panel can be removed with the door closed.

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

You may try a slim Jim to fish inside the door and try to unlock it or locksmith. The rubber on the door to the lock pull can be popped out and that can interfere with the operating properly, it's all a guess on what has happened.

 

[zbxb006]

Through multiple attempts at fishing a slim Jim down the window opening, I came to the conclusion that the problem was the lock not being released even though both the levers to the lock at the acuator were being activated, and the lock/actuator was likely broken, not allowing the lock mechanism to actually release the lock that holds the safety latch closed. Locksmiths were no help. Seems that modern locksmiths are not good for anything other than cutting keys.

Only options were to destroy the inner door panel and then cut a hole in the inner door steel to get access to the lock, or to cut a hole in the outer door panel to access the lock. The inner door panel costs more to replace than fixing the outer door. Since I have body panel repair and painting capabilities, I cut a six inch hole in the door from the outside. Access to the lock was still tricky, but after many attempts I managed to override to lock and open the door. Ordered a new lock actuator.