Door stuck shut covers panel screws (how to remove?)

[Stuart A. Bronstein]

I'm stuck inside my truck.

Details:
1998 Toyota 4Runner, power mirror, locks, & windows.
Driver door stuck in the shut position covers two panel screws.
How (the hell) do we remove the panel to fix the door?

I bought the Chilton "68604 1997-00 Repair Manual" for "Pick-Ups/Land
Cruiser/4Runner" which shows me two screws need to be removed on the door
panel next but they are covered by the side of the dash. Is there an R&R
procedure you know of that covers this possibility?

Unfortunately, the Chilton photos seem to be from a pickup truck (Tacoma)
so everything can be different than what it says in that manual. (I
couldn't find a Toyota Factory Shop manual at Kragans. Do they sell them?).

I can't be the first person to be stuck with a shut driver door on a
4runner with power windows so I'm hoping there's a writeup somewhere or at
least a Toyota user group that I may ask.

Can you get me going (I'm an advocate, not a mechanic).

I googled for "toyota auto repair stuck door" and got these newsgroups as
the most likely first lead. Where should I go next?

Thanks,
Stu

[Stuart A. Bronstein]

I don't see how a locksmith will help as I have the key but I do agree
that I hadn't thought of the slim jim (I picked up two from Kragans)
which I'll try to squiggle in there to open the door when I have time
this weekend off from work.

It turned out what was broken was two things.

The yellow plastic clip on the bar that connected the outside door handle
to the latch mechanism disintegrated so that the bar fell off and was
getting in the way of the window which bent it up in a mess. This is why
the outside door handle was just flapping loosly.

The bar that looped around an inch long knob was all bent up so much that
the loop was opened and the bar fell off. This is why the key wouldn't
work.

I'm not sure why the electric door lock/unlock wouldn't work but I think it
was related to the bar all bent up that looped around the white knob.

I made sure I bought the entire latch assembly (part number 69040-35150)
which came with the latch, the electric lock mechanism, three of the four
bars attached to the lock mechanism (it did not come with the long
horizontal inside door handle bar), and a separate small yellow plastic
clip for the inside door handle bar to connect to.

I had to buy the large yellow plastic clip separately that held the outside
door handle to the latch mechanism (this clip broke and I believe is
seriously flawed so it will break again in the future).

The mechanism came slightly greased but I added a ton more to loosen up the
works. I'm writing this so others can start where I left off.

Stu

[davidj92]

Post by Stuart A. Bronstein

I don't see how a locksmith will help as I have the key but I do
agree that I hadn't thought of the slim jim (I picked up two from
Kragans) which I'll try to squiggle in there to open the door when I
have time this weekend off from work.

It turned out what was broken was two things.
The yellow plastic clip on the bar that connected the outside door
handle to the latch mechanism disintegrated so that the bar fell off
and was getting in the way of the window which bent it up in a mess.
This is why the outside door handle was just flapping loosly.
The bar that looped around an inch long knob was all bent up so much
that the loop was opened and the bar fell off. This is why the key
wouldn't work.
I'm not sure why the electric door lock/unlock wouldn't work but I
think it was related to the bar all bent up that looped around the
white knob.
I made sure I bought the entire latch assembly (part number
69040-35150) which came with the latch, the electric lock mechanism,
three of the four bars attached to the lock mechanism (it did not
come with the long horizontal inside door handle bar), and a separate
small yellow plastic clip for the inside door handle bar to connect
to.
I had to buy the large yellow plastic clip separately that held the
outside door handle to the latch mechanism (this clip broke and I
believe is seriously flawed so it will break again in the future).
The mechanism came slightly greased but I added a ton more to loosen
up the works. I'm writing this so others can start where I left off.
Stu

Thanks for the feedback, we all learn from that. Glad you got it fixed.
davidj92