1Quik7 Posted March 12, 2021 Report Share Posted March 12, 2021 Yep, it's been one of those weeks. The wife broke the outer handle of her Escalade(60k mi.) on Sunday, no big deal, ordered a new one on Amazon. Monday she goes to pick up dinner and comes in to tell me the inner handle doesn't work as well now. I don't see any way to get the panel off with the door closed. This ever happened to anyone? Is this a dealership issue? Locksmith? Interior Indy shop? Suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillbot Posted March 12, 2021 Report Share Posted March 12, 2021 You may be able to get a coat hanger in to pop the door but I’m not sure of the mechanism. Maybe a google search to get the layout would give you an idea if it’s possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Nice Posted March 12, 2021 Report Share Posted March 12, 2021 Damn. How strong is your wife? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mensan Posted March 12, 2021 Report Share Posted March 12, 2021 I don't see any way to get the panel off with the door closed. Cut a hole in it, or cut it off completely. How much is a new handle? Could you use JB weld or some such thing to attach something to the broken handle in the door? Like on the end of a plastic rod or something? Can you post pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Quik7 Posted March 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2021 Cut a hole in it, or cut it off completely. How much is a new handle? Could you use JB weld or some such thing to attach something to the broken handle in the door? Like on the end of a plastic rod or something? Can you post pics? The handles are cheap, but to get to the cable/mechanism that releases the door you have to remove the entire interior door panel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Cranium Posted March 12, 2021 Report Share Posted March 12, 2021 (edited) I saw a video where they unbolted the front seat, and moved it into the back. That gave them enough access to get the panel loose. They could not remove the panel entirely, but they were able to pull it out enough that they could get access to the inside of the door. I'll see if I can find it. Edited March 12, 2021 by Richard Cranium Added video Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trouble Maker Posted March 12, 2021 Report Share Posted March 12, 2021 I saw a video where they unbolted the front seat, and moved it into the back. That gave them enough access to get the panel loose. They could not remove the panel entirely, but they were able to pull it out enough that they could get access to the inside of the door. I'll see if I can find it. Make sure you don't disconnect any harness to the seat without research first. I'm guessing these instructions take that into account since you say just unbolt and move back. But I know if it were me doing this, I would want to disconnect and remove the seat all together to make more room to work. I'm not a pro mechanic (far from it) so ease of doing something trumps speed, I like removing more stuff. Butt a pro's going to want to do it as quickly and do no harm as possible, so that probably means just unbolting and moving the seat back without disconnecting. Depending on the year there could be a ton of stuff in the seat, including airbags. Just disconnecting without some process before could make some system unhappy to see something in there disconnected. That could be as simple as disconnecting the battery, or something more complex. Sometimes the system will be happy when things go back to normal e.g. reconnect the seat. But sometimes the cure is much harder than the prevention in these cases, at least needing some code reset in an ECU reset that 'needs' an 'OEM' tool. So, that might mean having to go to a dealer and paying a tech 0.5 hours to do a few minutes of work. All for something that could have been prevented by a battery disconnect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mensan Posted March 12, 2021 Report Share Posted March 12, 2021 Make sure you don't disconnect any harness to the seat without research first. I'm guessing these instructions take that into account since you say just unbolt and move back. But I know if it were me doing this, I would want to disconnect and remove the seat all together to make more room to work. I'm not a pro mechanic (far from it) so ease of doing something trumps speed, I like removing more stuff. Butt a pro's going to want to do it as quickly and do no harm as possible, so that probably means just unbolting and moving the seat back without disconnecting. Depending on the year there could be a ton of stuff in the seat, including airbags. Just disconnecting without some process before could make some system unhappy to see something in there disconnected. That could be as simple as disconnecting the battery, or something more complex. Sometimes the system will be happy when things go back to normal e.g. reconnect the seat. But sometimes the cure is much harder than the prevention in these cases, at least needing some code reset in an ECU reset that 'needs' an 'OEM' tool. So, that might mean having to go to a dealer and paying a tech 0.5 hours to do a few minutes of work. All for something that could have been prevented by a battery disconnect. Solid advice. My Porsche was like this, I had to pay the dealership to turn the light off after disconnecting the seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brent1976 Posted March 12, 2021 Report Share Posted March 12, 2021 See if you take off the inside handle and trim around it, if you can get the door to open with the rods that go to it. Or if you can reach back far enough through the hole and open it. They’re pretty simple on the inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky31186 Posted March 14, 2021 Report Share Posted March 14, 2021 When I have ran into this in the past I have always unbolted the seat and moved it back, removed the screws and clips for door panel and forced it off far enough if not completely to get to the latch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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