Door jamming up is a common issue everybody faces once or twice in their life it can door of your refrigerator or almirah or it can be a door of your room. When your car’s door gets jammed just when you are leaving the home for an important meeting it can be really frustrating and you may turn aggressive trying to open the door of the car.
Jammed car door can be a minor problem but it could lead to missing a very important opportunity after you have been late to a meeting. So, let us in this article discuss how do you open a jammed car door.
Table of Contents
How Does A Car Door Mechanism Work?
On the inside of a car door, the door lock actuator is the mechanism that controls the door lock. It is located directly below the key latch. A thin metal rod connects the actuator and the key latch. A second thin metal rod connects the key latch to the knob that sticks out of the top of the inside of the door (the knob that goes up and down to indicate whether or not the door is locked).
When the actuator is operative, it moves the door locking latch either up or down (either via a supply of power for power door locks, or manual force from manual locks). When the latch is within the “unlocked” position, the door handle on the skin of the car is directly connected to the opening mechanism. this permits the door to be opened and closed at will. When the door locking latch is within the “locked” position, the door handle on the exterior of the car is disconnected from the opening mechanism, which disables an individual on the surface of the car to open and shut the door without a key.
What Causes Your Car’s Door To Jam?
There are several common reasons that cause your car’s door to jam, there can be an issue with the key or with the car door assembly. Let’s discuss the common causes in detail.
1. Broken Connections
Broken connections within your door panel or lock assembly might cause your car door to stuck in a locked position. It could be a broken link from one of the handles, lock cylinders, or interior locking post/switch to the car door latch. If any of these parts are damaged then the whole locking system of your car door gets affected. Whether one or all of these connections are broken, it can result in the car door being stuck in the locked position.
2. Build Up In Car Door Lock
Rusting is a common phenomenon that can happen to any metal surface that is exposed to moisture and air. Any build-ups such as rust and dirt getting accumulated in the door lock can get your door jammed. It can also be an internal part that may have broken off that is causing the door to be jammed.
3. External Body Damage
Due to some mishappening such as an accident or any collision, if your door feels some hard slam then there may be some structural damage that has happened to your car. This damage may cause your lock to be jammed forever, which can result in a bent or a disconnected latch.
How Do You Open A Jammed Car Door?
To open a jammed door, first of all, it is recommended to have some patience and some basic repair skills and after taking a deep breath you are all set up to repair your jammed door on your own.
Tools required to open the car’s door:
- Needle nose pliers
- A Screwdriver
- WD-40
- Flathead screwdriver
- The key of your car
Steps To Open The Jammed Door
These are the steps you can follow in order to get your door to open:
- Using some metal strip, go through any opened window of the vehicle and slide that strip between the interior window and the interior door. You need to reshape the strip as you want it to be and make a hook on one end that goes into the car, leaving the other end straight.
- Slide up and down the strip of metal near the back of the window panel to hook the door leaver. As soon as you experience the tension on the hook, pull that up that will release the door assembly.
- But if this process doesn’t work you will need to remove the door panel.
- After you remove the door panel using the pliers, expel the rod that is connecting the interior and exterior door handles off using the pliers again. Now the rod will become loose from an end.
- Use the WD-40 and lubricate the internal gears of the door. After the gears are lubricated you need to replace the door. To prevent any mechanical snags in the assembly and for better performance of the door replace the interior of the door panel as well.
This will help you to open the car’s door on your own, but if it doesn’t work out then you should ask a mechanic for your help.
The Average Cost Of Replacing The Car’s Door
There are many factors that will affect your car door replacement cost. Between purchasing the car door shell, which can run between $200 and $1,500, and paying for labor and interior door parts, you can expect to pay about $500 to $2,500 total for a car door replacement.
Conclusion
A car door jamming in a place where you are in a rush to go somewhere can be really frustrating but maintaining patience and knowing the correct steps to take can make your car door as functional as it was again. But if you are not comfortable doing the work by yourself you may ask any automobile technician to do that work for you, the average cost is also mentioned above in the article.
Now, you know what causes a door to jam and how do you open a jammed car door. If you are still facing any queries then you may comment your question down below.