phillipmbailey1

Hello, I am unable to open my front driver side door from the inside or oustide. I have seen a few videos showing how to remove the inner door panel but I'm curious how I can do this with the door closed if its even possible.
Is there any way I can physically pop the door open?
Another option, it seems like I should be able to remove just the middle portion of the door panel. Is this possible with the panel still attached to door?
Any ideas would be great! Thanks

843de

Well unfortunately, the inner panel is(despite appearances to the contrary), a one piece unit.

You can try having a helper sit in the vehicle and push against the inside of the door while you operate the outside handle. Don't get too violent with the door, the metal isn't that thick and you can buckle the door skin.

Also try cycling the door lock by hand with the manual lock knob, you might have a gummed up or jammed mechanism.

Once you get the door open, pull the inner panel to see what may be hanging things up, it could be a lack of lubrication. Or the latch mechanism may be bad, if all else fails, head to your dealer.

P.S. to the forum!

Lucky

I have had good luck putting the window down and using a wooden wedge lightly in the window slot (just enough so you can see inside the door) then use a long dowel rod to move the levers on the latch. you can also spray the latch with wd40. BECARFUL NOT TO BREAK THE WINDOW.

donbrew

The completely last resort is to remove the fender then remove the hinges. What a PIA!

phillipmbailey1

Thank you for you ideas! Also thanks to 843db for the welcome!!

I have tried 843db's tips with no luck, I haven't tried the wedge yet but I'm curious where I should actually put the wedge? Curious about inside/outside of the window.

I also feel like I may have found another solution, messing around with my passenger side locking mechanism it seems like I could use a coat hanger and physically push the pin that locks the pivoting C shaped bracket. If I can get that pin out of the way I should be able to have someone give the door a push from the inside. Any thoughts regarding this idea?

Lucky

As far as the wedge you will have to try both side which ever allows you to see the latch. For your other idea I have never tried it but could hurt to try. What I have found is one of the levers one the latch gets stuck and won't allow you to unlock the door kinda like if you lift the outside door handle on a locked door you can't unlock the door unless you let the handle go. With all that said I myself have never tried this on an hhr but I have used this technics on hundreds of doors over the years with great success. Hope this helps. And by the way welcome to the site

843de

Give the following thread a look, scroll down to post #127 which will give you some closer details of the latch mechanisms.

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/problems-service-repairs-42/official-tsb-recall-thread-23231/#post443904

Lucky's wedge method is often used by locksmiths when breaking into accidentally locked vehicles, and honestly I'd forgotten about it, many thanks Lucky for shaking some cobwebs loose.

Lucky

Nice find 843 I didn't think about looking at tsb's

phillipmbailey1

Thanks for the ideas!
I ended up removing the drivers seat from the back seat! After removing the seat I was able to pull the paneling covering the seat belt and popping the pin on the door panel closest to the seat belt.
I was able to get my arm down far enough through the crack to physical move the latch and the door popped right open!!

After removing the panel from the door I figured out the the rod from the exterior handle to was no longer in the yellow clip on the latching mechanism.

All I had to do was put the rod back into the clip!

The silver interior handle was actually completely broken... I used a 6 in length of wire to rejoin the two pieces of the handle until I have time to replace it!

Now I have 2 working door handles and don't have to climb over my seat like I've been doing for the past 2 months!!! Victory!

donbrew

There is a Dorman part made to fix the door handle for about $50. Use the Search box to find the part numbers.