[gbauer]

Hi.

Found you guys from Google searching for a solution to my little problem.

For about 3 months I haven't been able to open my passenger side fronfront door on my 2009 CTS (standard, not keyless, rwd). Won't open from inside or out. The lock is stuck in the locked position.

I didn't really care too much because I'm the only person in it normally but today my blower motor went out.

Tried taking it out to see what's wrong but I got stuck. I need to open the door that won't open.

Any ideas?

 

[gbauer]

Morning bump? Heating up the garage again to give it another try.

 

[CWS_09_CTS]

I'm having a similar issue with my 2009 CTS AWD DI 4door - Sometimes the passenger front door won't unlock with the keyfob or by the door button, I have to reach over and use the manual knob to unlock it.
Two different drivers have now been locked INSIDE my car. Nothing will unlock the drivers door when it decides to randomly not open. It will not unlock from the inside or the outside with the key in the exterior lock, or with the manual knob, or with the key fob, or with the power lock/unlock button on the door, or with the door handle once you manually pull up the door lock knob.[/B] Lucky for me all three other doors unlock, so I slithered over the console to get out the front passenger door. I also had to reenter the car the same way I got out (in reverse) to drive back home, since the driver door still wouldn't unlock. When driving home, while at a red light, I tested the drivers door handle for grins ....and IT OPENED ! ... but when I shut the door it would NOT LATCH SHUT ! After a few attempts at trying different things, it shut correctly and I drove home. Once at home it opened perfectly, as if nothing was wrong. It's been functioning correctly this past week, but it's like playing Russian Roulette when you drive it. I called the service Mgr at my GM dealer in Ellicott City, MD., and he acted like he had never heard of any such problem (where nothing will unlock a door). He also said it will be nearly impossible to find the problem if it's not happening while they have it. Grrrrrrrrr !!!

I am the original owner and my car has approx. 24K miles on it. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened recently (or at any time) to cause a problem to start.

 

[Douglas Rome]

Bauer, you are a man after my own heart, break things down to the basics, it's all pretty easy stuff. good luck with your stuck door. thanks, douglaas

 

[928S]

HVAC blower related thread with dozens of photos and detailed description, thanks to forum member zeevert:


http://www.cadillacforums.com/forum...eater-blower-motor-fan-noisy.html#post3142845

 

[gbauer]

New blower hasn't come in yet but the old one is still working fine. A bit noisy but fine.

On another note over on camaros.net I asked the same question. I'm active over there with my old weekend beater and I know there's a lot of good gear heads there.

One of them was a GM tech for a whike and went through the same thing I'm dealing with on the door. He said he's had good luck opening them with a slim jim. So today I aquired one. He also said it's almost definitely the lock actuator. They're $100-ish online. I'll order one once I figure out if I can get the door open.

To open it I plan on taking the driver's side door panel off first, figuring out what to pull on there and transferring my new found knowledge to the other door.

I'll take pics for future generations to wonder at the massively poor engineering decisions GM made on the door locking system.

If GM wants to hire an engineer who actually works on cars let me know...

Anyway I'll update this within ghe next two weeks. I'll probably wait to do the blower until I can get the door open. It's just a bit tough to hang over the center console upside down with a ratchet in one hand and a camera in the other...

 

[CWS_09_CTS]

You guys are confusing me with this blower info.....
it's my door locks that had the problem. So far it hasn't happened again... but I know it will return.

 

[gbauer]

I'm going to start a new thread on the blower.

I'll come back to this one when I get to the door. probably next month.

 

[AAIIIC]

I moved the "blower how-to" post to the thread that 928S linked, just to keep this one focused on the door issue.

I'll take pics for future generations to wonder at the massively poor engineering decisions GM made on the door locking system.

It's possible that it's not massively poor engineering, but just the simple fact that there's no such thing as a failure-proof design. Maybe you lucked out () and got to be in the tiny fraction of a percent of people who will encounter an issue like this.

Anyway, curious to see what you find. Hopefully the slim jim will let you get the door open.

 

[Cadillac Customer Service]

Hi.

Found you guys from Google searching for a solution to my little problem.

For about 3 months I haven't been able to open my passenger side fronfront door on my 2009 CTS (standard, not keyless, rwd). Won't open from inside or out. The lock is stuck in the locked position.

I didn't really care too much because I'm the only person in it normally but today my blower motor went out.

Tried taking it out to see what's wrong but I got stuck. I need to open the door that won't open.

Any ideas?

Hello all,

I am sorry to see that a some of you are experiencing door - locking concerns with your CTS. Also, I certainly understand how this situation could be disheartening. I am more than happy to look further into this situation by PM. Additionally, I will need the name of your preferred dealership, VIN, mileage, full name, and phone number to further assist. We look forward to hearing from you soon and enjoy your evening.

Best Regards,


Brandon M.
Cadillac Customer Care

 

[gbauer]

I moved the "blower how-to" post to the thread that 928S linked, just to keep this one focused on the door issue.

It's possible that it's not massively poor engineering, but just the simple fact that there's no such thing as a failure-proof design. Maybe you lucked out () and got to be in the tiny fraction of a percent of people who will encounter an issue like this.

Anyway, curious to see what you find. Hopefully the slim jim will let you get the door open.

I'd say an electronic lock system that doesn't have a safety fail in the open position is a pretty big mistake. What if my wife was in the passenger's seat when I got into an accident and the lock failed to disengage when EMS arrived? That's a massive lawsuit waiting to happen.

Really poor design philosophy to put the control units that actuate the door within the door itself with no way to open it should they fail...


...and don't get me started on replacing the fan... 1" of excessive plastic on a part that's not visible and holds no structural purpose wasn't very bright either. It's not like blower motors never fail. You shouldn't need to remove the dash to remove the blower.

I know most of you don't work on your own cars. I do. I always have primarily because I just don't trust a nameless and faceless mechanic insulated behind a service adviser hired at a dealership for the minimum amount of money they can pay them both while charging the most amount of money they can who's primary job is to swap parts and change oil. I prefer to find out why something failed properly and fix it right so it doesn't happen again.

I'm just a bit frustrated.. USPS lost my blower that should have been delivered on Friday and I froze my butt off for two days in a row now. The blower is now completely dead. Going through the process of filing a claim with USPS over a $50 used part so I can order another $50 used part because GM sees fit to charge $103 for a part that costs about $15 to make. Might as well be made out of printer ink for the mark-up that's being passed around! Heck my BMW's blower was that much and that included shipping it overseas from Germany!

Other than the motor blowing up at 35k (I don't race it, by the way), starter going out at 65k, door not opening, and blower not working the car has been just peachy! Just as reliable as my old Nissan (which I'll never buy again...). Actually nix that. The Nissan's motor never blew up.

----------

Hello all,

I am sorry to see that a some of you are experiencing door - locking concerns with your CTS. Also, I certainly understand how this situation could be disheartening. I am more than happy to look further into this situation by PM. Additionally, I will need the name of your preferred dealership, VIN, mileage, full name, and phone number to further assist. We look forward to hearing from you soon and enjoy your evening.

Best Regards,


Brandon M.
Cadillac Customer Care

PM sent.

 

[tinman]

I have a how-to on getting the interior door panels off. PM me with your personal email so I can sent it to you. Don't post your email here...trolls...and I can't post it here.

 

[928S]

I know most of you don't work on your own cars. I do. I always have primarily because I just don't trust a nameless and faceless mechanic insulated behind a service adviser hired at a dealership for the minimum amount of money they can pay them both while charging the most amount of money they can who's primary job is to swap parts and change oil. I prefer to find out why something failed properly and fix it right so it doesn't happen again.

Well said, gbauer. You've precisely described the circumstances encountered by many of us non-DIYers at the mercy of our Cadillac dealer. At best, it's Chevrolet service at Cadillac prices.

 

[Joe]

It's the actuator inside the door buy the kit and take it on its not that big a deal

 

[gbauer]

Step 1: open door.

Can't do step 1. Actuator won't allow door to open.


Anyway... found out my neighbor has a slim jim. I'll be tackling this project soon enough. The plan is to take off the drivers side panel, get a good look at what's going on inside, and use that to pop the passenger's side. From there it should be easy. It's just opening the darn door in the first place that's a PITA.

On another note: the blower finally camein. My little trimming allowed me to change out the blower in under 15 minutes.

 

[gbauer]

I figured I'd update this thread with what I did to fix the problem.

Let me start by saying the driver's side went out 6 weeks ago. It started with the remote not unlocking the door and quickly went to the door not opening from the inside (I had to roll down the window to open the door...). I ordered by lock actuators online for about $230 shipped.

I did the easy side first: driver's side. I could open that door so I popped off the panel and put the new actuator in. No problems. Doing this side, though, gave me more of an idea as to what was going on inside the door.

I tried to pop open the passenger's side with a coat hanger. No luck there. You can probably do it with a slim jim if you're really good but it wasn't working for me.

Instead I rolled down the window and put a pair of channel locks on the knob and pulled. Ended up breaking about 1/4" off the top of the knob but it's not too bad. Clean break right at the textured grip part.

Anyway with some real pressure it finally popped. I got the door open, removed the panel and disconnected the actuator. Then I went to unscrew it from the door. The bottom torx screw came out fine. The top one didn't. Had to drill it out and use an easy out to get it out. Put it all back together and now for the first time in almost a year I can use my passenger's side door.

One thing to note for anyone doing this: When you put the panel back on the door be sure to hang it in the channel up top. You'll see what I mean when you do it.


They died due to corrosion. Both of them were nasty with the passenger's side worse than the driver's. The area isn't necessarily dry so I don't know why they were made that way in the first place. I'd think an easy fix to stop it from happening in the future would be to coat the guts with WD-40 (for it's water repellent properties, not as lube).

 

[Naujone]

I have the same problem I can't open the driver side door, it's jammed inside and out, I have been jumping over the passenger side for months, Cadillac dealler keeps asking for an extended warranty and when I say I don't have one they ask me to make an appointment in a few days and that it will be about $150 to check it and then it will probably be around $500 dollars? All I want is my door to open so that I can change the actuator that is the problem ( $100 on the internet). Any Help or did any one have luck with a slim Jim? Cadillac CTS 4 2012 with 43,000 miles bought it 3,000 miles ago.

 

[jbassett03]

I am having same problem passenger door won't open from inside or outside so I can't take door panel off. Any suggestions tried messing with pulling handles while locking and unlocking. Tried spraying wd40 into the handles and tried pushing door nothing working for past few days. Does anyone know how to get the door open? Most of google search I find is handle only working on outside. Neither of mine work

 

[Douglas Rome]

From what I know, which is very little, spraying WD40 and pulling on it is useless because the handle is really an electronic switch. The reason I know is because my son, his Buick, temp below freezing but it had rained the night before, he couldn’t get in frozen, pulled too hard and yanked the handle right out. He comes in and gets me to looky see and there it was, hanging by the wires!

Thanks douglas

 

[Soapm]

I wonder if you can open it with a Tech II if it's electronic...