2009 Bentley GTC passenger door will not open...... HELP

[Peter-3dweh]

Hi Guys, I have a concours GTC Bentley, the passenger door will not open, it is not an electrical fault both batteries are showing 14 volts and the fob key is fine, from the inside on pulling the handle you can hear it connecting 2 feet to the rear at the outer door handle point, from the outside the handle feels limp and not as taught as the drivers door, I rang the RAC who sent two chaps of which one opened the door on the first few pulls!! and then shut it again! that was two days and over a thousand pulls ago.

Of course the RAC are not allowed to take door card off if only i could get to it to remove the door card which seems impossible with the door closed, I have spoken to many garages but no one seems to have an answer, Bentley the company says it needs a new lock assembly but when i look on the door schematics it has come undone at the outer door pull, I just need to get the door open to get the card off but don't know the method so I am desperate for help,,,,

[r1monkey]

has it got speakers in the door that you can remove and get access to the innards?

[Pericoloso]

Why did the RAC send 2 blokes out for a non broken down car ?

The AA will be sending a van for insecure loads next .....

[Peter-3dweh]

The doors do have a speaker even with that out it would be inaccessable

[Peter-3dweh]

The RAC sent two guys because i said i was stuck in the car apparently this is classed as an emergency on their system

[Bill]

Wife's Mazda (I know, but bear with me...) had a similar issue due to the deadlock getting worn and sticking rather than engaging full when the car was unlocked. It would work occasionally when locked/unlocked in between each handle pull.

[Peter-3dweh]

Hi Bill, if it was only that easy, there must be an answer to this problem I am hoping the knowledgeable people here on Piston Heads will give me an answer

[GreenV8S]

From your description, you're trying a manual internal release which operates the door release mechanically. Is that correct?

Are you able to lock and unlock that door either internally, externally or via central locking? If the unlocking mechanism has jammed that might explain why it won't open. In that case, locking and unlocking a few times might help free it.

Does it have any other way to open the door other than the internal manual release?

Does this door have a child lock?

If you get fed up fiddling with it, I suggest you get a locksmith to trigger the door release mechanism. Being able to open the opposite door and see how the mechanism works would probably help here since this does not sound like a common car.

[Peter-3dweh]

Thanks for your reply, the door has no child locks it does have a soft close feature, I have approached numerous locksmiths but they consider it too difficult to try and because its a Bentley they are frightened of causing expensive damage.

[nsa]

This sounds very similar to what happens on Porsche 996s and Boxsters. Either the cable inside has become disconnected or a new lock mechanism is required. The parts aren't expensive, even for a Bentley. A good independent will be able to strip the door mechanism. Bentley will charge £££.

Is this similar to your problem?

[Peter-3dweh]

Hi nsa, thank you for your advice and video clip, I had seen this clip before and tried that method however the aperture is too small to reach the rear of the door. the video clip was for a malfunctioning problem near the inner door handle, i spoke to a so called Bentley specialist in London who told me both front seats have to come out the door card is broken into and a large hammer is used to smash the lock!! needless to say it wont be going there.

[GreenV8S]

I have no idea how much difference the soft close system makes, but if it was a conventional lock there would be a mechanical link between the manual release handle and the lock itself. If this is similar I'd look for ways to get an endoscope inside the door and use that to see whether the lock was being actuated fully. The glass/door gap would be the first place I'd try. If you can see the mechanical release isn't pulling full travel, it may be possible to feed a pull wire into the door to pull it further/harder. The fact it did open once hints that it may be a question of limited travel rather than something fundamentally broken.

I would start by taking the door card of the working side and getting a thorough understanding of how the lock normally worked.

[rustednut]

You might have to force your way in through the door card, if it can't be released any other way.

Find price of a new card and then work out where in the card you need to make access, probably by removing the other side to decide where to enter, especially if the other side is removed to understand the assembly.

Almost certainly will be messy, and therefore expensive, but its cheaper than attacking from the outside, in.

[M_A_S]

Peter-3dweh said:

Hi nsa, thank you for your advice and video clip, I had seen this clip before and tried that method however the aperture is too small to reach the rear of the door. the video clip was for a malfunctioning problem near the inner door handle, i spoke to a so called Bentley specialist in London who told me both front seats have to come out the door card is broken into and a large hammer is used to smash the lock!! needless to say it wont be going there.

If it's the same as VAG locks from that era, which it probably is, then a broken door card and a large hammer is often the best way.

[anonymous-user]

If you remove the weatherstrip and wind the window down is there enough access to get a torch or endoscope in there ?
It's possible you might be able to see the mechanism

[rustednut]

V8covin said:

If you remove the weatherstrip and wind the window down is there enough access to get a torch or endoscope in there ?
It's possible you might be able to see the mechanism

If it has airbags fitted into the doors, be VERY careful of pushing anything into any gap

[GreenV8S]

If you do end up breaking into the door card, I'd aim to cut a hole that could potentially be covered by a speaker grill rather than just going at it with a hammer. Look inside the other door to find where the lock is and where you need to cut in to access it.

[Demelitia]

Have you tried pulling both inner and outer door handles at the same time? Pushing the outer door handle in towards the car slightly then trying to pull both can help on some cars.
Banging with the base of your fist Around the door handle area outside whilst locking and unlocking the doors via the fob can sometimes be enough to shock a sticking mechanism loose.
If it’s a failing actuator, having the car fully charged (after a good long journey) and then revving the engine to spike the battery voltage whilst trying some of the above can help on some cars.
As mentioned above, taking the passengers side door card off will probably help you plan your attack if you have to get a bit physical with things.

[Peter-3dweh]

Thank you for your replies, I am loath to damaging the door card as its diamond shaped stitched cream leather and it probably took a full cow to make it, getting the door open will be the only way for me to get the door card off, I am going to try and get the weather strips off and try and put a torch with an endoscope for a better idea.

[Peter-3dweh]

Well after a few more hours of trying to open this door by trying to get the weather seal and chrome trim to get a endoscope between the gap only to be thwarted by Bentley's security, unlike many high end cars which can have the chrome trim removed with a little persuasion Bentley's trim is screwed down at both ends makining it impossible to remove.

Trying to lean on the door whilst electronically opening and closing door and pulling the door handle did not work, pulling internal and internal door handle simultaneously has not worked, there must be a way and I am happy to pay a nice cash sum to someone to help me solve this problem, its getting really frustrating.