Nissan Repair: Nissan Altima 2007 - Drivers Side Car door stuck in lock position, nissan altima 2007, 2007 nissan altima

Question
Dear Calvin,

I have a question regarding my 2007 Nissan Altima.  Unfortunately it seems to be a complicated one and any insight and/or comments would be much appreciated!!

Issue:

While driving home from vacation today, my Husband and I accidentally locked my key less entry inside (I have a push start Altima).  Normally the car will not allow me to lock the key less entry device inside the car, but unfortunately the battery is going dead in the device and I think that is why the car did not indicate it inside.  

Well my Husband bought a Slim Jim from the gas station we  were stuck at, and one of the gas station employees helped with getting the car unlocked.  During all this we believe the latch on the driver's side door was either broken or disconnected to the power locks.  We came to this conclusion because after he was able to press the unlock button from the inside with a metal rod, the driver's side door will not open while pulling open the door latch from the outside and inside, and it will not open when I tried to unlock the car with the actual key that was pulled out of the key less entry.  Before my Husband was able to get inside the car with the rod, he tried to open the door latch by sliding the thin metal strip tool between the window and weather stripping.  Not sure if this is useful information or not, but all of the electronic controls still work on the driver's side as well.  

I was wondering, is there any way to be able to pull the door panel partially off or at least gain access to the inside of the door while the door is unable to open?  I scheduled an appointment with a mechanic for Monday morning....

Thank you so much for your assistance!

Kind regards,
Sonya

Answer
Hi Sonya -

You are correct. The slim jim activity probably disconnected the linkage.

The door panel is removed by getting a putty knife or scraper and twisting the panel off at the plastic snaps. Remove it carefully as it is only particle board. There might be a screw at the top to remove as well. Also look at the arm rest, it may be secured with a screw as well. Remove all wires and the panel can come off. Once off, you can get to the linkage and re-attach it.

Hope this helps -
aloha
calvin