I like working on automobiles when it is something I want to do, not when I have to. Recently, I went to lunch with my wife at The String Bean in Richardson. When I got to the restaurant I let my wife out at the restaurant door and went to park. When I finished parking the driver side door wouldn’t open. The remote, manual and key would not open the lock. I had to slide across to the driver side door to exit. I promise you a 6’9" 300 lbs guy should not be sliding across to exit anything. It must have been comical to watch. I had to slide back in to drive home.
After lunch I drove home and parked the Silverado and slid out again. After going to dinner in the wife’s car, I decided to wait until today to investigate the problem. After some google and YouTube work I determined it was the locking mechanism. Here’s what I found on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIFQyUG91qA. Of course, my door was shut so I had to attempt this over the open window. After a little while, I got the bolts, clips and covers removed and the door panel would partially come off. It was not a fun task. I dropped a 10mm socket into the door and had a few other “crap” things that just happen issues.
I managed to grab the linkage cable and pulled on the unlocked door handle and it opened, but just as it did I bumped the door and it shut again. Murphy right? I got it open again and removed the panel completely. It was a good feeling to have the door apart.
This is the broken part.
The part that anchors the inside handle was broken away from the cover assembly which freed the cable from the door so the door stayed locked.
I’ve ordered the part kit from Amazon and it is supposed to be here today. Amazon is really amazing since a trip to the auto parts store/dealer would take another 2 hours from my day.
Now I just have an hour or so when the part arrives to put the door back on. (Famous last words) Turns out it is much easier with the door open than shut.
Apparently this is not an uncommon problem because there are at least 20+ youtube videos on the subject.