Hi guys,

I have a 2005 Volvo S40 and the driver side door won't open from the outside, opens fine from the inside, it locks normally. All other doors open fine and all they all lock and unlock fine. If anyone knows what might cause this issue and how to fix it, please share 😁

Thanks y'all.

 

Did it start doing this intermittently before it stopped opening altogether? Or was it "instant"?

Either way, you're almost certainly going to have to pull the inside door card off to access the mechanism. Chances are you're going to find one of three things:
1) A little rod that runs from your outside door handle to the latch mechanism has fallen off
2) The latch itself has failed in some way (the portion that connects the outside door handle to the latching mechanism)
3) Your door handle mechanism has failed, and no longer pulls that (probably) rod.

This is all based on numerous other (non-Volvo) cars I've worked on over the decades. There may be subtle differences with the S40 / V50 (etc.) but probably not. The mechanisms are simple enough, though access can be "interesting".

 

It was instant, I parked the car, locked it, got out after a while unlocked it and the door won't open. Never had this issue before. Thanks for the reply, I'll try the things you suggested. I heard that removing door cards from these Volvos is a bit tricky but I'm sure I'll manage. I don't want to take it to a workshop because they more often than not break a couple of plastic clips and stuff like that and in addition to the issue being solved the car comes out mangled.

 

You're right about "professionals" (at least, too often that's how it works out). I've found that what I might lack in experience, I more than make up for in motivation to do the job right.

I'll bet you're going to find a misplaced rod or maybe a broken handle.

Here's what you're going to see with the door panel off (photo from my replacement of the fabric, which always sags in Arizona because the glue apparently is "Sweden rated". ;-)

 

The door fabric came off on my car too, that seems to be a problem on all of them. That doesn't bother me much but when something is not working... oh boy, if I have to go to the end of the world to fix it, then so be it.

 

Common problem (the fabric coming off / drooping). One of the reasons I was able to buy the car for chump change.

Here's what the doors looked like after I spent a few bucks at the local fabric store (they had a surprising range of material that would work, and even carry headliner material I used on my Jeep).



Before

After

 

I redid all the fabric on my 96 850 and it came out so nice. The carpet fabric on the bottom of the panels was turning pink and I replaced it with black fabric for contrast. Very inexpensive DIY for huge results. I also repainted the door cards in the process, because I used good automotive interior paint, that was the most expensive part.

 

You might have the same problem described in the linked post. That's a later xc but the door handle/regulator construction is the same as yours.

https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...orking-109366/

 

Thanks for this. Taking all that stuff out to fix a door handle, I thought I'd be fine just with taking the interior door card off 🙃.

 

You never know 'til you get access to the problem. With any luck, it'll be something you can swap out without removing the handle or the latch (like a broken cable). Just take photos before you disassemble anything to help you figure out how to put everything back together.

I've done a few of these kind of jobs - it's really frustratingly fiddly, but if you go slow and pay attention to details, you'll come out with a door that works.

 

Taking the door panel off gets to to the picture below. - To get any further you have to start with the outer door handle or things break when you are trying to get it apart - the door handle is attached to that big silver thing that has everything else attached to it.

 

Its probably the handle pin that broke , they are made of alloy and last around 15 years , its streches and opening the door becomes close to the end travel of the handle movement some last longer but others just snap , simple fix but unfortunately like all cars difficult to get to I never had this problem but I lubricate it at least once a year