when i try to get out of my car and pull the handle the door doesnt open, its almost like the door stays locked. i know when you open the door and its still locked the handle should open the door right up. its been going on for a while. should i just deactivate the auto lock, kinda like the feature.

Also i just got some new speakers what a huge difference

when i try to get out of my car and pull the handle the door doesnt open, its almost like the door stays locked. i know when you open the door and its still locked the handle should open the door right up. its been going on for a while. should i just deactivate the auto lock, kinda like the feature.

Also i just got some new speakers what a huge difference


i know EXACTLY whats wrong with it. my car did that, gets difficult to open, you pull it hard enough it will open, but then one day it wont open at all from the inside. mine did that. took it to some auto body shop, they fixed it, but didnt tighten it right, eventually took to the delaership who fixed it for $500!!!

get it fixed now before it completely comes loose, they charge an arm and a leg in labor to get the door panel off to get under there if the door wont open at all!!!

okay, door latch has a cable that gets stretched out & over time becomes harder & harder to open from the inside. i scanned in what the part looks like. the cable cant be replaced alone, you have to replace the whole unit!!
those 3 screws on the side of the door are where that latch is attached to... the whole unit costs $134.72!! it can be done on your own i guess, if the door still opens.

its called the door latch.
part# is 2W4Z-54203A29-AB, CA ASY DR LAT

i feel your pain!! but dont put it off, eventually it will stop opening from the outside too once that cable gets stretched enough!!!! :Bang

heres kinda what the latch looks like... its a horrible scan, sorry!

click here (http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/348000-348999/348671_31.jpg) for a pic of the 3 screws that the latch is attached to.. im sure there are more in there that are harder to get to..

heres kinda what the latch looks like... its a horrible scan, sorry!

click here (http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/348000-348999/348671_31.jpg) for a pic of the 3 screws that the latch is attached to.. im sure there are more in there that are harder to get to..

is there anything else i can do. maybe tighten the cord or something. this sucks.

is there anything else i can do. maybe tighten the cord or something. this sucks.

good luck. once a metal cable has been stretched, the only way to tighten it is to cut it (shorten it), and its a metal cable between 1/4 and 1/8" thick... for the amount of labor you would put into that to weld the cut, put it back into place, and the risk of it snapping apart again, it would be more worth it to replace it.

who knows, this may not even be a problem, its just really coincidental that i had the same problem, and thats what went wrong with mine. another possibility is the actual handle may have gone bad. there are little gears with "teeth" that may have become stripped, or if you look at the handle, its not just the handle, theres a little box with all kinds of fun little gears inside that too that could be going bad... the handle is a $35 piece. but more than likely, your latch is going bad. its an LS, you know its a difficult solution. i know all too well. it sucks. once it doesnt open from the outside, you better take it in that day!! thats your clue that its the latch. then i can tell you, yuor your door wont open from outside or inside.
have a beer :Beer

thanks luckie, im gonna get it checked onut friday and ill get back to you thanks

same thing happened to me but it wasnt a stretched cable rather it was the latch assy that the cable connected to had broken. At the end of the cable is a barrel and it locks in to a plastic cup, if i remember correctly.

I would recomend taking the door panel off and having a look then make the decision whether you want to do it or let the paid amateurs handle it.

same thing happened to me but it wasnt a stretched cable rather it was the latch assy that the cable connected to had broken. At the end of the cable is a barrel and it locks in to a plastic cup, if i remember correctly.

I would recomend taking the door panel off and having a look then make the decision whether you want to do it or let the paid amateurs handle it.


did you have to replace the whole latch assy, and did you diy or have the dealership do it?

also i have a full 2 year warranty will this kinda stuff be covered

did you have to replace the whole latch assy, and did you diy or have the dealership do it?


i did it and it was a parth that had to be po riveted IIRC. this was 2 or 3 years ago so I vaguely remember all the details.

I noticed this thread about the doors not opening! Glad to hear I am not alone! My drivers door don't open from inside. I had it checked out by a mechanic and he said I needed a new door latch and handle. He could fix it for $264! I thought that was high. My neighbor said if I got the parts that he could fix it. I called the Ford dealership and the handle was $42 and the latch is $575!! That is unreal!!! I guess I will have to do like the Nascar drivers and just climb out the drivers door! :) I have a local junk yard looking for a used part today hope to find one. Luckily it hasn't been raining here in MS. That would be a pain to roll my window all the way down to open my door no wouldn't it! Otherwise I LOVE MY LINCOLN LS!! This is the nicest car I have ever owned I am so proud of it!!

Lincoln LS 2002 - rear door won't open from inside or out. I can't get the door panel all the way off b/c screws are located in places you can't get to unless the door is open. I popped the top of the panel off and can get my hand back to the latch assembly (barely) but don't know what to do further. Is there some way to manually release the latch so I can get the door open? Or any other way to solve this issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Well if it is the price you are worried about, maybe try and find a junkyard with at least a door or a whole messed up LS and get the part from there. More than likely you are at least not going to get any worse, and those places only charge like $1 for you to go in there. Not brand new and problem may represent itself down the road but sure beats the almost $140 for the part.

Lincoln LS 2002 - rear door won't open from inside or out. I can't get the door panel all the way off b/c screws are located in places you can't get to unless the door is open. I popped the top of the panel off and can get my hand back to the latch assembly (barely) but don't know what to do further. Is there some way to manually release the latch so I can get the door open? Or any other way to solve this issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated.


When you're in your car, pull the rear handle (inside) out and you'll see a little yellow piece of plastic that fits in the groove right behind the handle, get a screw driver and just push it back in.

The door panel does not need to come off for this... you can see the groove if you pull out on the handle and the yellow piece will be right behind it, not in its groove. Pop it in, fixed. The handle doesn't feel as functional when this piece is not in, unlike other cases it can still feel like its grabbing the mechanism but really isn't.

How long after my driver side inside door handle stops working before the outside handle stops woring, because I need about 2-3 weeks before I can get it in the shop.

the outside wont go out, i havent fixed mine and its been a long time with it like that

I realize this post is older than dirt, but it is relevent to me now. I'm having the same problem and I'm in search of a replacement. The dealership is quoting me a price of 200 for the part. Is that about right? Or, is there a cheaper place I can find it? Any websites?

Sort of off topic but not really. My passenger rear door no longer opens from the inside or outside. One day it worked then a few days later i tried it and nothing. Since i have owned this car that door has only been used 2-3 times.

Luvmyls...the 575.00 was for the complete module, the latch is 199. retail the handle is 64.82 retail at LVC $$ it is 190.65 cost. Plus all the labor to replace.
I Just orderd a set for a 00 ls l/f door for a member.
Max

Hi everyone
I'm reading down this post and i see a few differnt things posted up I have a 200l LS and we can't open the door from the inside we have taking the inner panel off and don't see any thing at all going to the handle no cables no rod nothing it looks like there is a gear set up on the back of the handle so is the a micro switch set up or am I just missing some thing

Just a note for future reference:

I had an issue one day, couldn't open the door from the inside. Fiddled with it a couple times, and then it worked. A couple days later, it happened again. This time I rolled down the window to open it with the outside handle, and found the outside handle had not retracted all the way from opening it to get in. I popped it all the way in, and the door opened fine. A shot of WD40 into the in-the-door portion of the outside handle, and it's been fine ever since.

Andy

It's always something. Since this is an old post, any new ways to fix this problem?