2004 Yukon, driver front door stuck closed…

[WickedGoat]

… And will not open from either the inside or outside handles. Got some ice and snow from Saturday night through yesterday evening and it is hovering in the teens right now. I went out Sunday morning and got in the Yukon and started it up to thaw it and scrape ice. I left it run and had no issues so I shut it off, hooked the battery tender up and went on.

Later I came out to start it, scrape it and back it up so I could get my wife’s car out of the garage to put away Christmas. When I was done and ready to come inside, I shut the driver door and it didn’t shut completely. I didn’t think much of it and gave it a little shove to shut it. I then tried to open the door again and it wouldn’t open. Got in on the passenger side and tried to open the driver’s door from the inside… it won’t open. I took it up to a heated garage and got the door panel partially away from the top of the door and reached down to the latch and tried to pop it by hand. No dice.

Anyone have any suggestions? I’d prefer not to break anything because finding parts could be a *****.

 

[Big Mama]

Sounds like one of the pieces of the mechanism broke. As you know plastic hates freezing temps and can easily brake by simply closing the door. You’ll need to remove the panel to find it.

 

[Fless]

I'm not sure if this will help but it shows the various linkages and their connections to the door latch.

 

[WickedGoat]

I messed around with it for two hours on Sunday. No dice. I took it to a body shop in town this morning. Shop tech and I messed with it for an hour and a half, no dice. The new latch should arrive today. Going back to the body shop tomorrow to let them do what they have to do. They have a plan, not something I can do in my driveway. Of well… me-99, Yukon-1.

The latch is easy to replace, if you can get the door open. When the latch crapped on me in 2015, the door was open. I was able to leave it in the garage and wait for a replacement and fix it myself. Having to get the door open without damaging anything is a whole other problem.

 

[Doubeleive]

I messed around with it for two hours on Sunday. No dice. I took it to a body shop in town this morning. Shop tech and I messed with it for an hour and a half, no dice. The new latch should arrive today. Going back to the body shop tomorrow to let them do what they have to do. They have a plan, not something I can do in my driveway. Of well… me-99, Yukon-1.

The latch is easy to replace, if you can get the door open. When the latch crapped on me in 2015, the door was open. I was able to leave it in the garage and wait for a replacement and fix it myself. Having to get the door open without damaging anything is a whole other problem.

if you have a correct sized punch you could pop the lock without damaging it, then you should be able to get it open
when the lock is popped it breaks the clip on the back of the door handle which you have ordered already anyway?
or did you order something different?
or if you have access to the lock clip from the inside you could use a tool and pull the clip off then the lock comes out and you can get to the inside workings.
doing that will not hurt anything, body wise.

 

[WickedGoat]

if you have a correct sized punch you could pop the lock without damaging it, then you should be able to get it open
when the lock is popped it breaks the clip on the back of the door handle which you have ordered already anyway?
or did you order something different?
or if you have access to the lock clip from the inside you could use a tool and pull the clip off then the lock comes out and you can get to the inside workings.
doing that will not hurt anything, body wise.

It is the latch mechanism itself. I felt it was something on the side where it latches to the striker and the body shop agreed. It is not the handle or linkage rods. I can reach down to the latch with the door panel pulled back and swing the arm to open the latch but the latch isn’t moving. It is definitely something on that side of the latch where it connects to the door striker.

 

[Doubeleive]

It is the latch mechanism itself. I felt it was something on the side where it latches to the striker and the body shop agreed. It is not the handle or linkage rods. I can reach down to the latch with the door panel pulled back and swing the arm to open the latch but the latch isn’t moving. It is definitely something on that side of the latch where it connects to the door striker.

I bet if you can get that lock clip off and get the lock out of the way you can probably get it open with some tools and not damage anything.
you'll need a flashlight and look in there real good, when the new latch comes you can compare it to what you see inside and have a better perspective of how it could be jammed up and how to pry it open.

 

[WickedGoat]

I bet if you can get that lock clip off and get the lock out of the way you can probably get it open with some tools and not damage anything.
you'll need a flashlight and look in there real good, when the new latch comes you can compare it to what you see inside and have a better perspective of how it could be jammed up and how to pry it open.

I’m gonna let the body shop do it. It is gonna be cold this week and I wouldn’t be able to mess with it again until Saturday afternoon or Sunday anyway. Body shop will hopefully have it done tomorrow if the part comes today. Besides, the shop gave me 90 minutes of free labor today. I kind of owe them the business at this point.

 

[WickedGoat]

Got the Yukon back. Dropped it off at 8:00 this morning and they called at 12:30 to tell me it was done. They charged me $225 labor to get the door open, swap the latch assembly and put it all back together. Money well spent at this point. The latch was a Dorman, #931318, $107 at Rock Auto, with a lifetime warranty. I replaced it back in 2015 so once I return this to RA, I will get $115 back from them. And to confirm, it was the actual latch that failed, so no amount of poking and prodding at anything else was gonna get that free. I think the body shop chiseled the plate free that houses the striker plate bolts and was able to get the striker free to get the door open.

I did go to Harbor Freight and buy two air bladders to try and pry the door open but they were not strong enough to do it. Maybe a pair of heavier duty bags may do it, but you run the risk of bending the door or B pillar area in the process. Note to self, apply some white lithium grease or the equivalent a little more often than usual to hopefully prevent premature latch failure.