I searched many of the existing threads but was unsuccessful in finding what I was looking for. I have an 04' TL with about 80k miles on it. I am having a problem with the rear driver side door. The door will not open from the inside, even when the car is unlocked. The child safety lock on that door is in the off position. I have tried opening the door with that switch in both the on and off positions, but was unsuccessful. I am able to open the door from the outside, but this is often very inconvienient. Does anyone know what the problem may be?

 

Well I have an 04 TL too and the exact same thing happened. There is a connecting rod from the inside door handle to the door latching mechanism. My old neighbor is a locksmith...so I gave him a call. He stopped over and said that someone may have been trying to get into my car with a "slim jim"...a tool that locksmiths use for getting into the car. In the hands of an untrained thief, it is easy to knock the connecting rod out of the hole that its in. We (ok he) pulled the door panel, put the rod back in place and I was back in business. It cost me a beer....so I was pretty happy.

 

Ok - this is bizarre. I am having the EXACT same problem but my 2004 EL wont open from the INSIDE or OUT. My son inadvertently shut the seat belt in the door one day and it broke it from opening from the outside. Now, a friend of mine tried to figure it out and moved the little plastic thingy (yes, Im a girl) on the side of the door..... and now the bloody thing wont open from the inside or out.
Im about to take the panel off... as I have a feeling this is gonna be a whopper to take in and get fixed. Any ideas?

 

I think the "little plastic thingy" you mention is the Childproof Door lock and with the lever in the LOCK position, the door cannot be opened from the inside.
I believe, not positive, that the inside door handle and the outside door handle operate the same mechanism. So it's possible (again not positive) the door mechanism has somehow gotten disonnected or broken. Getting the door panel off will allow you to diagnose what the true problem is. Now admittedly getting the door panel off a door that doesn't open is going to be a little more difficult.

 

I don't even know how you would open a door where the door handles have been disengaged. Maybe hire a thief for about five minutes?

 

my guess is the lock cables snapped or were jostled enough to move out of place, or break the clips that hold it onto the lock assembly.they are very cheap parts, but have to take the door panel off to reassemble. good luck

 

Definitely not going to be easy, but I would start with the window fully down and then possibly call AAA or someone with a slimjim to try and catch the mechanism to open it. Another option is to try and move the Childproof Door Lock lever via slimjim or otherwise. Last would be an indy shop or the dealer.

 

I had this same problem briefly after changing out the actuator. This happened to me because the door release cable (not sure of the exact term as I don't have my repair manual in front of me) wasn't put back together properly when I put the door back together. There is a little hook that goes into a hole, as well as a clip that hooks on to the rod.

I only had the clip hooked up, but forgot to put the hook thing back into the hole, so every time I would try to open the door from the inside, the clip would fall off. rendering the inside handle useless. Once i got the door panel back off and hook everything back up properly, the door handle worked fine.

I am thinking it should not be that expensive if that is indeed the part that is causing the problem. Here is the part I'm talking about...



72631-SEP-A01
cable, r. rr. inside handle
Emission: KA - US Market Spec
Origin: USA
$6.47

Its basically a long cable that hooks into the door handle on the inside of the door and the other part hooks up to the lock assembly.

http://estore.honda.com/acura/parts/...b=B++5410&dl=#

 

^that's exactly what i meant! hopefully OP will figure it out.