Hello,
The passenger side door of my 98 Elantra Wagon is locked and won't
open. The handle seems to have disconnected. I have the keys, but they
only turn the lock. I can get into the car on the driver's side but
can't open the passenger door from the inside either. I am trying to
get the door unlocked so I can take the door panel off and have a look,
but am having some trouble. Any tips?

I have a Car Door Lock Out Tool (Slim Jim) but am not having any luck.
Please save me a trip to the dealer (since my warranty has expired and
I don't want to pay $75 for a spring). What should I do to fix my
manual door lock?

 

On 16 Oct 2006 20:23:37 -0700, netwunders@gmail.com wrote:

>Hello,
>The passenger side door of my 98 Elantra Wagon is locked and won't
>open. The handle seems to have disconnected. I have the keys, but they
>only turn the lock. I can get into the car on the driver's side but
>can't open the passenger door from the inside either. I am trying to
>get the door unlocked so I can take the door panel off and have a look,
>but am having some trouble. Any tips?
>
>I have a Car Door Lock Out Tool (Slim Jim) but am not having any luck.
>Please save me a trip to the dealer (since my warranty has expired and
>I don't want to pay $75 for a spring). What should I do to fix my
>manual door lock?

You may get some ideas here.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/power-door-lock3.htm

 

There's probably something broken in the door latch. To get the door
open,
you'll need to get something down into the door and release the latch.
This will be difficult and may require destroying the door trim panel.

 

"irwell" <hook@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:7ps9j2l4fgetif0ba0jog68u37883uipu2@4ax.com...
> On 16 Oct 2006 20:23:37 -0700, netwunders@gmail.com wrote:
>
> >Hello,
> >The passenger side door of my 98 Elantra Wagon is locked and won't
> >open. The handle seems to have disconnected. I have the keys, but they
> >only turn the lock. I can get into the car on the driver's side but
> >can't open the passenger door from the inside either. I am trying to
> >get the door unlocked so I can take the door panel off and have a look,
> >but am having some trouble. Any tips?
> >
> >I have a Car Door Lock Out Tool (Slim Jim) but am not having any luck.
> >Please save me a trip to the dealer (since my warranty has expired and
> >I don't want to pay $75 for a spring). What should I do to fix my
> >manual door lock?
>
> You may get some ideas here.
> http://auto.howstuffworks.com/power-door-lock3.htm

Manual door locks - look at the subject line.

--

-Mike-
mmarlowREMOVE@alltel.net

 

On Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:43:25 -0400, "Mike Marlow" <mmarlow@alltel.net>
wrote:

>
>"irwell" <hook@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:7ps9j2l4fgetif0ba0jog68u37883uipu2@4ax.com.. .
>> On 16 Oct 2006 20:23:37 -0700, netwunders@gmail.com wrote:
>>
>> >Hello,
>> >The passenger side door of my 98 Elantra Wagon is locked and won't
>> >open. The handle seems to have disconnected. I have the keys, but they
>> >only turn the lock. I can get into the car on the driver's side but
>> >can't open the passenger door from the inside either. I am trying to
>> >get the door unlocked so I can take the door panel off and have a look,
>> >but am having some trouble. Any tips?
>> >
>> >I have a Car Door Lock Out Tool (Slim Jim) but am not having any luck.
>> >Please save me a trip to the dealer (since my warranty has expired and
>> >I don't want to pay $75 for a spring). What should I do to fix my
>> >manual door lock?
>>
>> You may get some ideas here.
>> http://auto.howstuffworks.com/power-door-lock3.htm
>
>Manual door locks - look at the subject line.

I did, did you have a look at the site, not just for
power door locks.

 

"irwell" <hook@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:v3faj21en4k54c2c62leiuklffupp3vekn@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:43:25 -0400, "Mike Marlow" <mmarlow@alltel.net>
> wrote:

> >
> >Manual door locks - look at the subject line.
>
> I did, did you have a look at the site, not just for
> power door locks.

My bad I guess. I did look at the web site, saw the power lock section and
actually scrolled down through it some, but apparently did not look down
through it far enough.

--

-Mike-
mmarlowREMOVE@alltel.net

 

>>> >The passenger side door of my 98 Elantra Wagon is locked and won't
>>> >open. The handle seems to have disconnected. I have the keys, but they
>>> >only turn the lock. I can get into the car on the driver's side but
>>> >can't open the passenger door from the inside either. I am trying to
>>> >get the door unlocked so I can take the door panel off and have a look,
>>> >but am having some trouble. Any tips?

Know anyone at a body shop? They seem to know how to get into door panels.
May be worth stopping at one and asking.

A co-worker had a similar problem, but since it was an old car near the end
of its life, they merely cut the door panel open. Own a Sawzall?

 

As a last resort Working inside remove the passange seat you should then
be able to get the door panel off

 

sqdancerLynn wrote:
> As a last resort Working inside remove the passange seat you should then
> be able to get the door panel off

Thanks, but I don't think that will help in this situation. On my 1998
Hyundai Elantra Wagon, the door panel screws are hidden by the door
moulding and dashboard. Again.. thanks.

 

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
> >>> >The passenger side door of my 98 Elantra Wagon is locked and won't
> >>> >open. The handle seems to have disconnected. I have the keys, but they
> >>> >only turn the lock. I can get into the car on the driver's side but
> >>> >can't open the passenger door from the inside either. I am trying to
> >>> >get the door unlocked so I can take the door panel off and have a look,
> >>> >but am having some trouble. Any tips?
>
> Know anyone at a body shop? They seem to know how to get into door panels.
> May be worth stopping at one and asking.
>
> A co-worker had a similar problem, but since it was an old car near the end
> of its life, they merely cut the door panel open. Own a Sawzall?

Thanks for your suggestions. Unfortunately I don't own a Sawzall, and I
really do need a friend at a bodyshop. After two weeks of driving
around without any front seat passengers... I'm thinking the Sawzall is
the way to go. I even opened up the driver side door to see how it all
is supposed to work. And, unfortunatley, it look like there's no way to
unlock the door using the slim jim.

I hate to hack into my door panel but here goes...

 

netwunders@gmail.com wrote:
> Hello,
> The passenger side door of my 98 Elantra Wagon is locked and won't
> open. The handle seems to have disconnected. I have the keys, but they
> only turn the lock. I can get into the car on the driver's side but
> can't open the passenger door from the inside either. I am trying to
> get the door unlocked so I can take the door panel off and have a look,
> but am having some trouble. Any tips?
>
> I have a Car Door Lock Out Tool (Slim Jim) but am not having any luck.
> Please save me a trip to the dealer (since my warranty has expired and
> I don't want to pay $75 for a spring). What should I do to fix my
> manual door lock?

After reading all the tips below, here's the Update. After removing the
driver's side door panel and seing how it all worked, I bought a small
saw with a metal sawzall blade and made a hole in my passenger door
panel just above the arm rest and large enough to fit my hand and arm.
I reached in and flipped a latch on the bottom of the door lock
mechanism. I was able to open the door and then remove the panel. I
found two halves of a rusty one-inch spring in the bottom of the door.
The dealer wanted $250 to replace the whole mechanism. After buying a
spring on ebay, I replaced the spring which stretched across the top of
the lock mechinism. The door worked. I duct taped the piece of panel
back into place and put the door panel back on. It cost me $15 for the
saw and springs. The interior panel is not perfect, but... hey... it's
working.