The rear driver's side door on my 1997 Honda Civic will not open, no matter what I do! I pulled the panel off, and looked inside at the lock/latch mechanism, but cannot seem to find the problem - I fiddled with the child-lock, etc, but to no avail - Is there any way I can get the door to open, so I can finish my interior? I searched all over for an answer to this, and came up empty, so I'm assuming that it's NOT a common problem

 

Have you tried pulling at the rod that connects to the door handle? That might help get it open. I'd also check the rod that goes to the door lock (the one you pull up) to make sure that it pivots the lock lever in the latch mechanism.

A lot of the pivot joints in there are plastic, and can dry and out and crack over time. I had that happen in my old Miata many years ago, and in my in-laws old Buick before that.

 

I tried all the rods, but it seems that the person who owned the vehicle before took the door apart, and disconnected the lock mechanism, inside lever, and everything else involved - I spent almost seven hours yesterday messing with the door, and just could not get it open, no matter what I did - I need to wire my sound system in, and need to get the door open to run the wires to the subs and amplifiers o_O