Driver’s door will not open.

[1970mcss]

Nice work and explanation, you never know when that might come in handy again. 

[Marks71]

Thanks for posting and keeping us updated. Glad you got it figured out. 

[71MonteCarloMD]

I think I may have same issue whenever I lock the drivers side, it won’t open.  If I have same problem, how do I resolve this?

[Canuck]

5 hours ago, 71MonteCarloMD said:

I think I may have same issue whenever I lock the drivers side, it won’t open.  If I have same problem, how do I resolve this?

Maybe the lock is the problem in your case. It could be that when you pull the knob back up it is not going up far enough. Will it open from the inside?

[71MonteCarloMD]

Aaron, it won’t open unless I pry in the middle to unlatch one of internal rods then it will open.  Does that means I need a new door latch?

[Canuck]

2 hours ago, 71MonteCarloMD said:

Aaron, it won’t open unless I pry in the middle to unlatch one of internal rods then it will open.  Does that means I need a new door latch?

If you can get the latch to function by manually moving the paddle at the top or pulling on the lever on the side of the latch then it sounds like maybe the latch itself works but the rods in the door aren’t pulling like they should. It could be as simple as needing lubrication.

One other thing I ran into is that the pushrod on the outer door handle button wasn’t long enough to push the paddle on the latch the necessary amount to open the door. I had a door handle button with a longer pushrod and cut it down to the desired length. It now opens without a problem using the door handle.

 

[Joe Grassl]

I had this same situation with my 71 Monte. The car sat in my Mom's garage for 16 years, then in mine for another 8 - 9 years. I ended up spraying a liberal amount of gun lube on all the moving parts. After soaking for about an hour, everything worked just fine. the screws that hold the outer door handle on also needed snugging up, but otherwise, all is well!!!