I have a 1983 Volvo 240 GL. I locked the keys in the car the other day. My friend took a coat hanger to it. He was able to unlock the door, but upon trying to unlock the front passenger door, he must have jiggled something loose. The door does not open from the inside or the outside. Actually, it may just be a locking issue, as the actual lock only lifts 1/4 of the way up.

So, I can't figure out how to get at the door panel with the door being unable to open at all. I tried yesterday to unscrew everything, but i can't get the panel off because of the trim on the outside.

I have taken out the speaker and tried to stick my arm in it, but it doesn't reach far enough. I also put a coat hanger in the speaker hole, but I don't know what I'm grasping for.

Any suggestions?

 

Lots of solutions...
1. leave it alone...Hell, 3 doors are plenty!
2. locate a replacement door panel FIRST and destroy the one you have opening the door
3. call a locksmith and see if they can't open the door for you. immediately remove the panel so it doesn't happen again.
4. take it to a decent repair shop...anyone fairly familiar w/ the inner workings can get them open eventually Frankly, the locksmith avenue is the cheapest.
5. kick "friend" to curb after collecting funds to pay locksmith

 

not sure how much help this is, but here's he parts diagram for the front door of a 240... the passenger door is a mirror image.

 

This is the kind of thing someone would have to work out by a visual inspection, as there's no way of knowing what your friend bent or dislodged with the coat hanger.

However you mentioned removing the speaker and poking your arm in. That tells me you probably have a speaker in the other working door too. What I would do is, remove the speaker from the good door and lift the door handle several times and watch how the mechanism operates to open that door... Then go back to the stuck side and compare until you work out what is wrong. (Depends where your speakers are mounted though.)

If you can't see, try winding the window down and peering in that way. Also after winding down the window, you could lift the metal/rubber strip on the top of the outside of the door (the strip that prevents rain running down the glass getting inside the door). Get a thick rag or better, a thin piece of rubber like an old bicycle tube, and a thin screwdriver... Then gently lift that strip a little at a time, moving an inch or so along the door each time, being careful not to damage the door paint. Once that's off you'll have a decent gap to see into the door that might help see what's wrong.

Once you can see the mechanism moving, you'll probably see how to disconnect/which lever to pull to get the door open.

This is just me, but I probably wouldn't pull the door trim off unless there was no other option. I've done it many times before, and unless you have the right tools, you eventually (or immediately!) ruin the holes in the card that the plastic clips slot into - so you wind up with an ugly, buckled door trim. There's also a flimsy paper they hang between the door and the trim to stop it being soaked by water. That liner will probably crumble into dust once the trim is removed. (I tried replacing mine with a sheet of plastic, which trapped condensation, which ruined the door trim as well as any rain could have.)

 

I have to say, the 740/940 door panel is SO much nicer to remove/reinstall... massive improvement. The 240 door is like something out of the 1960s.

 

I'm not sure if this will help you but I have an '88 740 GLE wagon and the rear doors wouldn't open. I did manage to jerk the inner panels out while the doors were closed and I think I found the problem. The rod that operates the release mechanism would bow (sag/flex) down and not keep stiff enough to open the door. Your friend may have broken the plastic piece that may be there to prevent this. You may try to slide a coat-hanger (or something similar), with a hook type end, down the middle of the window and grab (and hold) the rod up so it will open the doors. Just a suggestion.

 

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