Expert: Mike Potter - 5/26/2008

Question
door will not open neither from inside nor outside. Have tried "slim-jim" with no luck. Could you possibly provide a diagram of the inner "workings" so I may have a better "visual" of where I'm at with the "slim-jim", or any other suggestions?

Answer
You probably have a corroded lock mechanism. Lock the door, gently pound, with your hand, around the latch area on the out side of the door. Unlock the door and try to open it. Try this several times until it works. The slim jim will not work when the lock is stuck between open and closed. What has happened is the latch gets corrosion built up and the springs get weak, someone tries to open the door while it's locked and it gets stuck in between open and closed. Do not try to open while locked, unlock first then try to open. Depending on how bad it is, it should open after a few tries. When you get it open , lube the latch very good along with all your doors.