Technical Help, Passenger door won't open?

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Technical Help, Passenger door won't open?

minimad99

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Hi,

I've done a search and found the old threads that mention latches and locks being replaced.

Today i went to my car and the passenger door won't unlock from inside or with the key fob, the little black lock inside pops up but you can't open the door:bang:

Have any techs got a fix for this as my cars out of warranty now:eek:

I use the deadlocks all the time, so i'm guessing it is this that is not releasing, hence the door won't open. There isn't any movement in the door at all, does this sound right to you lot?

Please help

Neil
 
If its an early car then the only option is to remove the door panel and dismantle the lock in situ. There was talk amonst the network, that there was a way of opening the doors but I never managed it. The door lock will need to be replaced, interestingly enough Fiat Italy never had this problem and could never understand why UK vehicles did it.
 
NumanR, any chance of a quick how to? maybe just how to get the door panel off without breaking it would be a start?

What exactly is it that goes wrong? How can a lock break????

cheers

neil
 
Hello All,

UPDATE:
Well i tried to get the door panel off, after 4 phillips screws and four allen key bolts it was loose but not budging. I didn't want to pull too hard and break something so i decided to leave it.:bang:

I tried the lock/unlock a dozen times which did nothing(n) so down to the dealer this afternoon................they recognised the problem and confirmed they'd had a few in (why not a recall then i thought) and it's booked in for wednesday for a new lock to be fitted. At the cost of approx £160 to ME :eek: (£54 for the part), depending on how long it takes to get the door open before they can change the lock it may be more:bang:

I'll keep you updated unless anyone comes up with another solution:D

neil
 
i had that trouble with my 02 stilo 3dr all i did was remove the door card and found the cable had come loose from the inner mechanism so i reconnected it and cable tied it together all works fine now,
 
The only option, if you don't want to spend a fortune, is sit in the passenger side with the fob, keep unlocking and locking while pulling the door handle. Eventually it will open! And you won't have to spend £100+ on a new door card! (you'll have seen this solution on my other post if you found it! :) )

Then when its released, don't use the deadlocks until you get it fixed.

Tell the garage the latch has failed, they'll replace it!
 
give the door a bash with your hand by the exterior handle...then try and open it...if it opens the electronic solonoid in the lock is buggered...door lock required...
 
Thanks for the replies......

YFSTILO, It does feel like something has just come loose rather than broken, so your solution sounds logical. (y)
How did you remove the doorcard with the door shut, i've removed all the screws and allenkey bolts i can find (8 in total). is it clipped on somewhere? It seems to be tight near the dash/tweeter area.

I dare not just pull it as i don't want to make it even more expensive if Fiat are going to fix it.:eek:

Stiloboy, ive tried the fob thing, it doesn't work for me i'm afraid just pisses of the neighbours......beep...........beep beep.............beep.........beep beep, etc, etc, ha ha ha!!!:devil:

Luke, i'll try that hitting it on the outside thing and let you know if it works. hmmmm maybe if i use my head:bang:

laters

neil
 
Hey Neil

Sorry to hear about this, I had this problem on my mum's 5 door a while back, and had to remove it all with the door jammed.

As far as I remember (never taken a 3dr panel off, only the 5dr about 5 million times!), there is a trim "popper" (the christmas tree like clip) about an an inch or two down from the tweeter, one lower down, and two on the left hand side. The tweeter panel needs to come off too I think - thats just clipped on (pull from the top first, the older ones have 3 clips the same, but FIAT changed the design so that the bottom two clips were replaced with hooks, and the top clip remains to lock it in), and then undo all 4 (could be 5, but I'm sure its 4) retaining clips, then you need to undo the inner door handle cable, and push the trim up (I found it easier to start in one corner) - this undoes it from where the window goes down.

Hope that helps!
 
Rroope,

that all makes sense except the last bit about the inner door cable?
Could you cexpand on this bit,
cheers(y)

Does anyone know if a 3dr is the same as rroopes previous explanation?

neil
 
Hey Neil

Ok when the door panel is unclipped you'll see a cable attached to the rear of the interior door handle. What you have to do it unclip the black cable surround from its housing on the trim. You'll see it has a metal hook which goes into a white clip which is on the back of the hande (keep with me here!). Unclip the hook from the clip, then rotate the hook until you can just lift the hook from the hole - its very easy once you see it.

Top Tip: Remember to seat the cable properly back in its housing (i'm talking about the black exterior shroud of the cable). I forgot to do it once and had to take it all apart as the handle didn't work! :D
 
rroope thanks for that, as you said it's probably simpler when you see it!!

i'll have a look on tuesday evening.

any further comments anyone wouldbe appreciated

neil
 
Hello all,

Well I managed to get the door card in one piece which was a result!

I've checked all that I can see and nothing is obviously broken or out of place. Therefore it's not something i can fix:(

Off to the dealer tomorrow, at least i'll save some labour money as it took me at least an hour to get the doorcard off.

I'll update with how much it cost tomorrow(y)

cheers

neil
 
Well it's all fixed now and the door works fine, but it did cost me £163.10:eek:

They replaced the whole lock in the end, i just hope it stays fixed now.

Fiat Middleton had no courtesy cars left so they gave me a lift home and picked me up when my stilo was ready for free:slayer: . and it's 8 miles each way.
Now that's what i call customer service.

Thanks again to Rroope for advice

neil
 
Hey Neil

Glad the car's sorted now! Thanks for the comments, pleased I could help; I've messed up enough things on my cars now, so helping people not to seems a good idea :D. Any news on the reputation thingy stu :p :p
 
I will second that welldone mate(y) instructions loud and clear this is what its all about helping a fellow member long live fiat forum:slayer:
 
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