Classic Sonoma third door problem.

[garyoa1]

Ok, 2003 Sonoma with the classic "3rd door won't open". (handle and top latch work fine) No where on the planet can I find a schematic for that door.

Yeah, common answer is take the handle off and spray a gallon of wd40 in and wait. Why is beyond me since liquid wrench is much more powerful at cutting thru rust. But I digress.

If that fails, the only other option seems to be to remove the door panel. Most likely cracking it in the process.

So my question is, since I can't find a schematic, from the front of the door is there some sort of baffle (seat belt in the way or whatever) that stops one from drilling maybe a one inch or so hole in the front of the door to be able to reach in and un lock the latch? Would be simple to just put a rubber plug in the hole to seal it again.

 

[drwet]

I had exactly the same problem with my '03 when I got it. Buy a new lower latch assembly. Remove the inner panel from the third door. It is easily removed without damage. Once the door panel is off, you can access the latch assembly from inside the door. Take an air operated die grinder with a cutoff wheel and start cutting up the latch. Be careful not to slip and cut into anything important, but you're going to have to mutilate the latch until it comes apart. Once it does you can get the door open, and once the door is open, you can unbolt the latch assembly and replace it with the new one. Once the new parts are in, make sure you keep the lower latch well lubricated. Its a stupid design. The latch is surrounded by a rubber boot that seals the latch from any rust preventive you spray in the door, and keeps it exposed to the moisture and salt from outside. Makes no sense.

 

[garyoa1]

Ah, since it's covered by a boot I guess drilling a hole won't really get access to unlatch it with a long bar or something.

But I've heard 9 out of 10 times the panel gets cracked trying to remove it. Not that it will be unuseable of course.

It would seem to me tho that once you get the panel off, you gain access and you can unlatch it. Then remove it to clean it up and put it back.

Don't have one, but from the pics I've seen it looks like you can drive a tank over it and not scratch it. Really heavy duty. So the only thing that can really go wrong is the spring breaks.

Like I said above, it's odd that there isn't a schematic or even a picture of the door with the panel off to see what someone is getting in to.

And I agree, the engineer who designed that should be shot. I can think of a dozen other ways to do it that would be solid. Having it latch inside the cab would have been much more efficient, not to mention weather sealed.

 

[lmleck]

Pic and components of third door

 

[drwet]

It would seem to me tho that once you get the panel off, you gain access and you can unlatch it. Then remove it to clean it up and put it back.

Don't have one, but from the pics I've seen it looks like you can drive a tank over it and not scratch it. Really heavy duty. So the only thing that can really go wrong is the spring breaks.

Yeah it would seem that way, but mine was rusted into a solid lump. There was no possibility that any of the moving parts would ever move again. No amount of penetrating oil was going to do anything useful. Like I said, I ended up carving it up with a die grinder with a cutting disc. Hope you have better luck.

Once you get the latch replaced, get yourself an aluminum latch handle and keep the latches well lubricated. Here's the source for the aluminum handle:

http://gmseatsolutions.com/