Cant Open Driver Side Door - 04 Coupe
 

So I had a wonderful morning this morning and to top it off when I go to get into my car the driver side door wont open.

-used key fob to unlock the car>cant open driver side door
-opened passenger side fine
-tried opening driver side door from the inside>handle wont budge
-tried opening driver side door with the key>can turn the key but feels stuck

Worked fine when i got home yesterday at 6pm and parked the car for the night. No signs of forced entry as if someone was trying to get inside the car.

I replaced the driver side window motor and lock actuator around a year ago.

Any thoughts? Its becoming a trend that every time I turn around something randomly is breaking on this car :( . It hasnt even hit 80k miles yet.

Its my daily driver and im climbing over seats just to drive it.

It's locked shut from the inside or just doesn't work? Check the link it probably popped off.

It was locked from outside and inside and physically wouldnt budge. Now i can open the door from the outside but not the inside. The lock function also works from inside and out.

Seems like when i try to open the door from the inside its not grabbing anything but all other functions are working properly. The handle moves freeley even when the door is locked, like it isn't attached to anything inside the panel.

Ill have to pull the panel off this weekend. I dont really remember what the insides even look like as Its been over a year since i had to do anything under there.

Looks like I'm gonna have to replace the driver side lock actuator...again....

I took everything apart down to the actual lock piece and the metal wire that deals with opening the handle from the inside has 0 resistance. I don't really see a way of taking the entire lock assembly apart to look inside.

I just replaced this thing like a year ago... If memory serves the parts are like $200.

FML

i have the same problem...driver side door won't open from outside or inside but the lock actuator sounds like its working...
after like few hours of playing around with it it finally decided to open this is what i did
opened the panel checked cables, door was locking/unlocking fine
opens and closes to the. closed it back up. but i noticed..
this is what's happening on it, i opened the door then closed the latch (the thing that holds the door in the door jam) using the key fob/lock switch on door i locked and unlocked it then opened it from inside door handle and works fine did the same thing for the outside handle and works fine too..now.....
pretty much did the same thing BUt when i lock it THEn pull the door handle(of course it wont open coz it's locked) then unlock it, it won't open again..the latch is pretty much getting stuck everytime i lock the door and pull the door handle i had to push the thing that holds the latch to unlock it(this is while the door is open otherwise it's stuck close again) so.......
is there anyone that has the same???
is this like a security stuff or just my actuator/latch mechanism is worn/broken!??

I kinda think i have teh same issue. dorr does not open, no way to open. then it just opened after fiddling around with it.
Fiddling:
TRY to force off interior panel.
Spray lub towards the actuator through the crack where the window is.
Force door up with wedge.
Then it just opened.

Then it did the whole thing over and wont open any more.

may be a moisture/water issue. If I get it open i will lube up wherethe latch is.

what was your issue , did you ever find out ???

I am nearly positive its just moisture as it fixed itself. This is not a great car to have for any climates that have cold weather. Some issues I have noticed

1) Window sticks to door frame gasket/seal at the top & door cant be opened
-This happens during the winter when it freezes shut & i end up spraying tons of de-icer all over it

2) Door lock freezes from moisture inside the lock & keeps the door from opening

Ive replaced my driver side lock once and the window motor twice within 40k miles. I cant seem to get the window reset procedure to work so when I close my window/door I have to nudge it up into the correct spot. :(

The design itself for the window tracks & alignment on this car is a engineering nightmare. Pretty big PITA to replace the window motor by yourself with the way its laid out

These doors and windows do have a mind of their own! I'm an orig owner of an '03 coupe and I've never yet replaced a door or window part (fingers crossed!). However I've had the following intermittent problems:

- drivers door will not unlock from outside with key fob (electronically) in extremely hot weather (it will unlock manually with key). When car cools down it is ok again.

- passenger window defies logic. It usually works, but:
Is sometimes totally inoperative. Sometimes drops half way down and sticks after door opened or window control is operated. Or doesn't return full up when door is closed, causing slight air leak. Sometimes only the control on the driver side will operate the passenger window and/or the passenger side control will only operate the passenger window. Sometimes sticky and motor noise when rolling up, sometimes not.

-Inside door lock control sometimes will not lock/unlock one door or the other or both.

But all usually work most of the time. I guess not bad for 12 years old, but again, totally illogical.

I recently purchased an 03 coupe 6MT from the original owner with complete service records. So far, only the drivers side window motor was replaced in 2007 under warranty. Everything else concerning the window motors and power lock actuators are original and still working, fingers crossed.

Is there anything an owner can do to put less stress on these parts? Is using the key to manually open the door better than using the key fob? Opening the windows only part way instead of all the way down? I'm so not mechanically inclined and I can see me getting reamed by some dealer when these parts eventually fail.

solution to key fob problems
 

I own a 2004 G35 sedan with 300,000 + km (yes, I'm from Canada). The car is in fabulous shape; it's the best car I've ever owned.

I had problems with my key fob recently. It wouldn't consistently unlock the doors and even my regular key didn't work. I worried that I could get locked out even with my key.

I searched this site and heard about solutions that required changing the locking system... Yikes$$$. I did some further research and found out that the fob had a BATTERY. So I gently pried open the fob and replaced the $10.00 lithium battery. The manual says that the battery needs to be changed each year, and mine was original (12 years old). I changed the battery and now it works like a charm, I even notice that the fob has a greater range. I often use the red panic button when I misplace my car at the mall. I hope that this simple solution works for you as well.