Ford explorer driver door lock problems

Can not be opened from the inside or outside. Auto body shops say they have to break the door panel to open the door. Passenger door will not unlock. Only able to open the door after locked by using the interior door handle. Problem is on 3 doors. If you have a for-profit service, contact us.

Most Common Solutions: replace lock actuator 3 reports not sure 2 reports. Find something helpful? Spread the word. Share on Facebook Retweet this page Email this page. Helpful websites No one has added a helpful site for this Explorer problem yet. Be the first! Add a site ». Find a good Ford mechanic Read reviews of repair shops in your area. Enter your zip code: A free service from CarTalk. Send Comment Add Complaint.

Not what you are looking for? Search for something else:. Cpsc i12aa. Consumer stated that a day after she brought the car it broke down. The consumer stated there was a problem with the engine, as well as a hole in gas tank, which had rusted out, the bearings needed to be replaced, the tire were dry rotted, as they kept going flat, the driver's door did not lock, the rear doors did not open from the inside, the rear driver's door did not open at all, the outside handle was broke, the rear hatch would not close, and most of the time it had to be slammed shut.

The contact stated that the doors on her vehicle latch and unlatch intermittently. The vehicle has not yet been taken to the dealer. The failure mileage was , and current mileage was , The contact stated that he could not open the driver side door from the inside or outside.

The door handle would not respond to any movement and the door would not unlock. The manufacturer has not been notified. The purchase date was unknown. The current mileage was , and failure mileage was , Rear passenger side door locks work intermittently. All locking door mechanism's have failed and I have spent money to repair them. The rear hatch lock is no longer operating unless the key is in the lock and then, only sporadically.

The driver's side handle, has broken off twice and been replaced twice. I was unable to open the door with the engine was off, thereby effectively "trapping" me in the vehicle. In an emergency, I would not have been able to exit the car and remove myself from any potential danger. In order to exit the car, I had two options, either climb out over the center console or put the key back in the ignition, turn on the vehicle, lower the power window and open the car from the outside, I opted for the second solution until I was able to order a second new door handle and replace it.

Locking mechanism on the inside of the driver door stopped working after only 41 thousand miles. When vehicle was taken to the dealer for the problem to be addressed, they advised that the wires for the lock mechanism were caught inside the door jam, and had to be replaced. The locking and unlocking button on the inside drivers door would not unlock or lock the car. This is obviously a safety hazard as if there is an accident the button would not work to unlock the door and allow the passenger to get out of the car.

I contacted Ford motor company and they advised this is not currently a recall, therefore I am submitting this request for review and follow-up for potential safety defects. No accidents led up to this event, it was just a sudden onset where the locking mechanism failed after very little use.

Thank you very much for your time and assistance. I am having problems with my Ford Explorer drivers side door. It worked fine up until a few months ago. It stopped unlocking with the remote then it eventually stopped unlocking with the key. I have to now reach through my passenger door to open my drivers door.

I am afraid of getting into an accident and the only way to get rescued is for someone to open my drivers door to get me out. If it is locked, and it normally is because it locks automatically when start to drive, no one would be able to get me out. This is a very serious problem if this were to happen. I have looked it up online and have found that quite a few people have had the same problem.

To make things worse my back door has done the same thing except I can not get it to open at all. I have two very young kids and I would hate for them to get trapped inside. I can't open it from the inside because the child safety lock is on. Another safety issue I am having is being scared that I will be on the passengers side when unlocking the drivers side and maybe having someone else get into the car before I can get in and leave.

I have purchased the part to get it fixed but I can't afford to pay the dealership to fix it for me. It has yet to get fixed but I do plan on getting it done soon. Please help with this problem. This is a very dangerous safely hazard.

What happens when this vehicle is in a accident or starts fir and passengers can't get out. Should be recalled. Customer states that it began with the rear doors not unlocking, hatch door will now not unlock.

Customer thinks doors will stop opening. The consumer has tried oiling the mechanisms, but that still didn't work. The contact stated that the rear passenger doors will not open. When the failure began, she was able to open the door from the inside or from the outside by rolling down the window. The dealer has not diagnosed the failure. There were no warning indicator lights present. The contact will follow up with the manufacturer on NHTSA campaign notice number 03v vehicle speed control:cables she received.

The contact stated that the hatchback support gate would not properly support the glass. Also, the child safety locks do not work properly. The vehicle has not been taken to the dealer for inspection. The passenger door lock stopped popping up on the first press of the unlock button on the door. This began almost 2 years ago. It required multiple presses on the unlock button to get the door to unlock. The problem has now occurred on the driver' s side door.

Only this time it required many more depresses to unlock. I have to physically pull the handle and pull up on the door lock knob to force it to open if it will open.

My fear now is if I am in an accident or the truck catches on fire I may not be able to unlock either door. The door was inoperable from the outside. An independent repair shop determined the door handle needed to be replaced.

My family and I went to my family members house and after putting the vehicle in park and unlocking the doors my daughter's door rear passenger would not unlock nor open for the inside or outside, by switch nor manually. For my daughter to exit the vehicle she had to climb in the front seat to exit the vehicle, we have a baby that rides in a car seat so she couldn't exit on the driver passenger side.

I've discovered that the only way to fix this is take the panel off and take the one screw off that holds the handle mechanism and pull it a few times to finally release the latch. I just read about a Ford recall on faulty latches. The only difference in this recall and my latch issue is my latch will not return to an open state. I feel that my issue is related in the same context, and feel that there is a safety issue because if something happen my daughter could not get out of the vehicle.

The door locks felt loose, while the door is manually unlocked, prior to each failure. The rear left door will not unlock from the inside or outside of the door.

The rear right door failed to unlock from the outside, and the rear hatch failed to unlock on an intermittent basis. The service dealer and manufacturer have not been contacted. The first was the passenger's side rear passenger door followed by the rear driver's side and now the front driver door.

The vehicle was taken to the dealer each time and the latch assemblies were replaced. One of the pieces is made of a type of plastic which is not strong enough. Both vehicles are operated as normal daily driver vehicles.

When locked, the door would not unlock. The power lock cylinder was actuating, but not disengaging the lock. Also, the real concern - the door could not be opened from the inside by pulling the door handle which normally would unlock and open the door. In each of the three doors, a small retracting spring inside the door latch was broken. Had the vehicle been in an accident or some other situation requiring an emergency exit from the vehicle, the occupant sitting by the affected door possibly could not exit the vehicle without moving to another door of the vehicle.

The small spring appears to keep the lock mechanism pulled off unless the lock is engaged, without the spring, the lock would not disengage under normal operation. Removal of the door panel and latch assembly was required to fix the broken spring. Normal operation; a the drivers door latch failed in the locked position. As a result, the door could not be unlocked or opened by normal means.

The door was finally opened after the door panel was removed allowing the latch to be unlocked by reaching a hand inside the door.

The failure is a broken spring. The failure resulted in an internal lever interfering with the lock portion of the latch during the unlock attempts. I have not repaired the failure as of this date.