My passenger side door switch/knob (manual doors) will no longer fully pop out into the open position. The maximum it will do is about halfway to the open position. The aftermarket door locks can no longer operate it.
I took apart the door panel and played with it and it seems to be something wrong with the rod mechanisms, NOT the motor. The knob is very springy and resistive.
Thanks for any insight.
:bump:
I know you can make adjustments on the handle part itself (forward or backwards), and also at the seesaw lever half way back. You will have to play around with different adjustments for a while to see what will get that rod in the right position. Be careful, cause it will also change the handle pull, and will affect the unlock/opening of the door. So you might want to take a scribe and mark your starting positions, so have something to go back on.
:bump: for any new thoughts. I still haven’t been able to fix this.
does the actual latch move any? in my car when the latch has gotten frozen you get some movement, it is just bending in the rods and plastic pivot things. In my sister’s car corrosion locked up the latch, so the locks turned partway but would not engage/disengage.
try grabbing the rod near the latch mechanism with pliers and see if anything moves down there.
just wondering, I’m not familiar with the car you drive, is it 4 door or 2 door locks that you are talking about?
Yes I would say disconect the rod and try to actuate the latch manually. If it works then you may need to bend the rod (somehow maybe got damaged) or adjust it. If it doesn’t work then lubricate the latch with some white lithium grease and try to get it to work. Just use a screw driver to simulate the striker going into the latch to make the latch close as if the door is closed, then you can see whats going on. Also you said you have aftermarket door locks. Check to be sure nothing is interfering with that, I had a car once that I put the keyless entry/power locks into and when I decided to shave the door handles, the door popping mechanism that I installed got in the way with the locking mechanism and somehow the doors locked and could not be unlocked again…sucked…bad. Hope I helped.
Sorry for the double post but I just had a thought. I’ve never had my door panels off but my guess is that you have two long rods connected to the interior door handle. There should be something between the handle and the latch (usually some kind of plastic clip) to keep the rods postioned and supported correctly in order to operate the lock from the inside. If it is damaged, missing, or unhooked that will cause this problem. Try locking and unlocking the door from the outside, if that works then I think 98% chance thats the problem. My fingers are crossed for you man. 
It’s a 2 door.
I’ve had the plastic clip that keeps the rods aligned fall out before. But that would make the latch totally inoperative. But when I fixed the clip it worked normally.
The main problem is that it is very spring and resistive when you move the “switch” on the inside. So bad in fact that I almost broke it. It’s only when I use the key on the outside do I get the door open. It’s also springy when I turn the key in the slot. Maybe one of the rods IS binding. But I cannot see anything.
I should also mention that it didn’t happen suddenly either. I noticed it getting harder and harder to use the switch, but didn’t think anything of it.
can you see any of the rods bowing when you move the latch? that has usually been the cause of the springy feeling for me
I don’t remember seeing anything like that when I had the door panel off. I think it may be behind the parts that aren’t visible. But I’m weary about removing any metal panels like that. I’ll take another look at it next weekend.
Hey neil, i may have a lead for you. I have the same situation with my door lock tabs being very hard to move inside. I have an alarm system with keyless entry and a gsr that has power locks, but i noticed it anyway. I noticed the problem after i had the door panels off and then put the door handle cups back in. I’m not too sure, and it may be a streatch, but the cups may be able to be positioned around so that it will be looser. The reason why i say this is that when the cups are not in, the door lock tabs move perfectly, but are tight when they are installed.
Update on this: Turns out it was the aftermarket door lock motor / actuator. It didn’t seem like it was seized up at all since I can move it freely. However I just decided to disconnect it for the hell of it. Lo and behold that was the problem. Thanks for the help guys. 