88 camry back doors won't open

[wile e. coyoda]

Hi, first the Pas. rear door wouldn't open from the outside but was able to open it from the inside. Before I could stop him my child said, "Oh, I know" and he flipped the child lock. So then we couldn't open it from the ouside or inside.

Later the same happened to the other back door. I think something broke inside.

I tried taking off the hinges while the front doors were open but that doesn't work. I'm ready to cut holes in the door panels inside.

Haven't tried a slim jim which I saw as a suggestion in another post.

It's all standard, no power.

My older son says he can get to the lower panel screws by pulling out the back seat. Experience shows that what looks doable just ends up with another mess.

It has 310,000 miles and has a tremendous list of problems but it gets me to school and around town and I don't have to worry about door dings or theft. Such freedom.

Any ideas?

Thank you

[wile e. coyoda]

If the rear doors won't open what options are there to get them open and repair the (mechanisms?)?

I was looking for a diagram for the inside door parts to see if I can rig a slimjim up to unlatch it but I'm not having much luck.

So what to do?

[Sturdavj]

You might consider driving it to a tow company / yard and have them pop open the door with thier slim jim, should not be to much if you take it to them.

Good luck, let us know the outcome

[hotchi]

How does that handle feel when you try to open from inside or out side? I had a problem with my passenger door. would not unlock all the way when using key or electric locks. Ended up buying a complete door from a junk yard for 40% this included hinges door side. (funny but not relevent, i did not have to change out the lock tumblers )

[Highway_Star]

Originally Posted by wile e. coyoda

Hi, first the Pas. rear door wouldn't open from the outside but was able to open it from the inside. Before I could stop him my child said, "Oh, I know" and he flipped the child lock. So then we couldn't open it from the ouside or inside.

The same thing happened to my mom's Camry in '95, I grabbed the rear seat foam that is next to the latch and pulled it back far enough to fit a long ruler between the seat and the door and flipped the child safety lock off, opened the door from the inside, took off the door panel, found that the plastic clip that holds the handle-to-latch rod had broken and the rod was no longer attached to the out side handle.
I bought a new clip and put the door back together. That was the first time I ever fixed a car (not bad for a 13 year old).

[66conv6]

You can pull the door panel off from the inside by pulling on the bottom of the panel near the front of the door. If you're careful you might be able to pop it off without breaking the door panel. You could then pull the panel back enough to get your arm in there and pull on the door latch rod. It's possible you may need to remove the screws holding the armrest/door grab too. They are underneath plastic caps. There are two of them.

This worked for me when my electric door lock solenoid got stuck.