How to Repair a Stuck Car Door Latch

Written By: Kennedy Coleman

Comments: 14

Difficulty

Very easy

Steps

Time Required

2 minutes

Introduction

If a car door suddenly will not close, it may be due to a stuck car door latch. Sometimes a latch may become stuck if someone accidentally knocked it into a locked position while the door was open. On many newer cars, simply pulling the interior or exterior door handle may reset the latch, but in cases where that is not enough, this guide will describe how to manually reset the latch.

Tools

6-in-1 Screwdriver

Step 1

On the car door that will not close, examine the door latch located near the handle on the side of the door.
The car door latch will be locked in a closed position.

Tür ist im geschlossenen Zustand blockiert

Hubert schaub -

Step 2

Position a screwdriver between the legs of the locked door latch.
You may use any size screwdriver that will fit between the latch.

Step 3

Pull the exterior car door handle.

Step 4

While the exterior door handle is being pulled, push the screwdriver against the left leg of the latch.

Step 5

Use the screwdriver to push the latch upwards into the final unlocked position.

Step 6

Close the car door to ensure the latch has been properly reset.

Thank GOD for google! I didn’t know what to do. Very informative.

Shahied Page -

Author

Kennedy Coleman

Member since: 29/04/20

241 Reputation

12 comments

Thanks a lot, you have saved me from one !&&* of a problem!

dee Knight -

This helped me so much!! Thank you!!!

Jasmine Roman -

Perfect. So simple. Excellent advice once again from iFixit. Thank you.

Bill Smith -

Thank you so much! I figured it out because of this post!

Sharan Sahota -

I love this solution. It literally just saved me. Thank you soo much.

Edith Turkson -

YES! I tried following other guides/videos and was still struggling, but you noting to lift the handle made all the difference. Thank you so much!

dlgornan -

Was washing me uncle’s car when i just decided to fiddle with the inside lock with the key, who knew it'd make me spend 30 minutes out in the finger nibbling cold trying to use the same key to unfiddle what i just fiddled. Just happened to open google to pull an exterior wachama-call-it and then refiddle that key.

Oluwaseun Ajifowobaje - 19/02/23

Thank you so much. It was so easy. In my mind, I was already thinking I was going to have to call a tow truck, have it towed, and get a rental car. The directions are clear and concise. It took all of 4 seconds after I read the instructions.

kyellowtooth -

Not really helpful if you have to manually do this literally every time you want to get in and out of the car, which is the situation I’m stuck in right now…

Chrisanna Hibbitts -

hi....use a metal nail file if you have one or something similar ( or the tip of a key.... the manual lock type) if possible....i know not ideal but it's better than nothing if you're stuck somewhere

wjoh5v9 -

and ladies if you are somewhere where you haven't got access to a flathead screwdriver....a metal nail file will also help

wjoh5v9 -

Selbes problem aber andersherum…Tür lässt sich nicht öffnen wegen verschobenen Schloss…lösung?

julian.herber -