Outside back door handle broken, child safety lock engaged. Unable to open door.
What is your question?
I have a 1998 Suzuki Esteem, 4 door sedan. The passenger/rear outside door handle is broken, which I know how to repair, but haven't gotten the part for yet. My dilemma, is that apparently the manual child safety lock slipped down prior to the door closing the last time, and now the door cannot be opened from the inside either. I'm considering trying to access the safety lock area from the inside of the car, using a tool to push the switch back up. The other alternative I come up with is breaking out the outside door handle to gain access. Thoughts?
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Update: we laid the back of the seat forward to remove the corner panel by the door. With quite some effort, we were able to pry the top of the door panel enough to reach in with a long tool and managed to get the door to open. We found the child safety lock was NOT engaged, so, apparently it's the opening mechanism itself.
This is just another problem cropping up with this car...great little car for mileage and zipping around in, but it's becoming unsafe for taking my grandkids anywhere (doors and windows not operating correctly - in case of an accident, vehicle access is greatly inhibited). We have someone who may be interested in making it into a Hornet Racecar...a good way for it to finish its lifespan! :)
So, thank you for the advice! Hope this all helps someone else down the road.
Update: we laid the back of the seat forward to remove the corner panel by the door. With quite some effort, we were able to pry the top of the door panel enough to reach in with a long tool and managed to get the door to open. We found the child safety lock was NOT engaged, so, apparently it's the opening mechanism itself. This is just another problem cropping up with this car...great little car for mileage and zipping around in, but it's becoming unsafe for taking my grandkids anywhere (doors and windows not operating correctly - in case of an accident, vehicle access is greatly inhibited). We have someone who may be interested in making it into a Hornet Racecar...a good way for it to finish its lifespan! :) So, thank you for the advice! Hope this all helps someone else down the road.