2019 Sierra; exterior door handle removed, door closed

Hangman0417 · October 4, 2019

I work for a prominent wrap shop as their assembly/disassembly tech.

As I was performing standard door handle removal, another of the vinyl installers jumped in to try to help remove the handles. He got the concept, but then re-threaded the door handle removal set-screw.

Without knowing he had done this, I closed the door.

The inner door panel has been removed (Pre-handle-mishap).

The interior handle pull cable doesn’t work, I’ve tried that.

The child lock is not on, I’ve checked.

The door is not locked, manually or electronically, I’ve tried that.

The plastic surround of the fingers that pull the release cable are “stuck”, and I cannot get them to rotate.

I’ve gone as far as to reach my hand inside the door, from inside the truck, and tried to manually pull on the release-hook; no such luck.

Does anyone have any advice, other than a BFH?

FiatDale · October 5, 2019

Reach your finger in the hole and pull on the lever that’s inside, it’ll open.

Hangman0417 · October 5, 2019

6 hours ago, FiatDale said:

Reach your finger in the hole and pull on the lever that’s inside, it’ll open.

That little lever in there is stuck, unfortunately. That lever pulls on the cable that goes down to the catch itself; I’ve gone as far as to pull on the catch and it won’t release.

FiatDale · October 5, 2019

Which door is it, rear I presume? Hook up the window switch. Sometimes weird shit like the switch not being plugged in will unlock the door. Obviously you’ve tried the lock right? I don’t know what else it could be. I’ve taken apart tons of these doors and never had this issue

PhengPain · March 2, 2020

Has anyone figure this out yet? Doors won't open now after removing door handles.

Corban · April 7, 2020

On 3/2/2020 at 9:13 AM, PhengPain said:

Has anyone figure this out yet? Doors won't open now after removing door handles.

Did you ever figure it out?

flat350 · April 21, 2020

Has to be a way to reset it.

Crazy Canadian · May 31, 2020

Okay I am in the same line of work i have had this problem too. The first time I had the door panel off like you (THANK GOD). Make sure window is up and what I had to do is loosen the black screw on outside of door that will allow you to release the whole mechanism inside. Now you need to have someone take your place outside the door and put their fingers in the holes and slide it to the left. Make sure they don't lose it, while this is being done you need to be inside the truck with your hands inside the door, you are going to grab that mechanism from the persons fingers and you can now slide it out from under the window track, this will be tight and snug. Once you have it in that big void inside the door where you can work on it you should be able to access the screw let it go back all the way in as if you re installed the door handle (this will reset it) and you should then be able to pull the wire where the interior door handle attaches too and open the door. Hope this helps.

Now My problem is this time I got lazy and left the door panel on .... DO NOT DO THIS !!!! The door can still latch even with the screw all the way back now I am in a situation I have no idea how to fix ... so always remove the door panel regardless just in case it wants to latch it self at least you will be able to fix it relatively easily. If you have any ideas how to fix my new problem please share.

nino · July 8, 2020

On 5/31/2020 at 12:31 PM, Crazy Canadian said:

Okay I am in the same line of work i have had this problem too. The first time I had the door panel off like you (THANK GOD). Make sure window is up and what I had to do is loosen the black screw on outside of door that will allow you to release the whole mechanism inside. Now you need to have someone take your place outside the door and put their fingers in the holes and slide it to the left. Make sure they don't lose it, while this is being done you need to be inside the truck with your hands inside the door, you are going to grab that mechanism from the persons fingers and you can now slide it out from under the window track, this will be tight and snug. Once you have it in that big void inside the door where you can work on it you should be able to access the screw let it go back all the way in as if you re installed the door handle (this will reset it) and you should then be able to pull the wire where the interior door handle attaches too and open the door. Hope this helps.

Now My problem is this time I got lazy and left the door panel on .... DO NOT DO THIS !!!! The door can still latch even with the screw all the way back now I am in a situation I have no idea how to fix ... so always remove the door panel regardless just in case it wants to latch it self at least you will be able to fix it relatively easily. If you have any ideas how to fix my new problem please share.

So, how did you end up unlocking the door? I'm stuck in this position, with the panel on. smh Please help lol

ArtworkatPats · July 26, 2020

GOT IT! After removing the black screw on the outside when the mechanism is out of the way. from the interior lay acroos the seats. while to window is up reach your hand in where the door latch actually. is. be clam and feel around, you can feel the plastic on the metal part and it pulls up and boom! door open. (make sure lock is up). I just struggled for 3 hours. lol

I screwed up and had the cable off so I wasnt able to use that to open it.

Edited July 26, 2020 by ArtworkatPats

Manuela Fernandez · April 4, 2021

I need Help! I removed the door handles, i loosen the screw to allow the door handle to come off. Then i tight the screw back to be able to open the door from inside while the door handle was off. But now when trying to put the door handle back i am not able to get it to work. The mechanism inside wont even move. I tried loosing the screw again to see if it moved but have had no luck. Does anyone have any idea of what i can do