You'll probably have to use a slimjim to get the door unlocked.

Here's a parts fiche for that system.

The most likely cause is a problem with the bicycle cable for the lock knob, which goes from the back of the knob to the latch assembly itself (Item 12 for left side). Once you get the inner door panel off, it may be as obvious as a disconnected cable.

 

Thanks for the reply. Not used to the search on this forum. I tried to find someone else that has had this issue. Found many ways to fix a door that will NOT lock or how to disable the CHIRP.

But with the door locked and not opening and the seat in the way, can the door card be removed?

 

But with the door locked and not opening and the seat in the way, can the door card be removed?

No. That's why @rasterman suggested the Slim Jim.

 

OK, this is a bit outside my level of skills. Sorry but I may need to farm this out to the dealership.

I called my dealerships service desk and they said a Slim-Jim does not work on these door latches.

They also said it would take about 3.5 to 4.5 hours PLUS parts. Shop rate is $129 an hour. So about $450 to $520 just to get the door open and then throw parts at it till it works.

 

I just called the 5th Independent Subaru repair shop and all 5 say that the slim jim will not work. And all 5 say it is a PITA to get the door card off with the door closed.

I am lost on this one. Thanks for the replies.

 

I just called the 5th Independent Subaru repair shop and all 5 say that the slim jim will not work.

There may be some forum members with tricks up their sleeve. @lockmedic, you listening out there?

 

Something doesn’t add up. What happens when you manually pull the handle from the inside? It’s never been bound up before?

 

I have had this car for less than 3 weeks now. So no knowledge of prior histories.

When I push the inside button it does not want to go to unlock, No RED bar showing.

When I put the key in the outside it turns to the right fine but it will not go much past about half way to the left and fells squishy or padded.

The key fob will lock and un-lock all other doors and hatch fine. But watching the inside push lever it cycles to lock fine but will not rotate off lock.

Unlike older cars when the door is locked and you can grab the inside door opener and it opens, these do not.

I may go to Pick-N-Pull and see if I can remove a drivers door card and look inside at the locking setup. I may buy a Slim-Jim at Orileys and practice on a car there with the door card off so I can measure the inside and get the bends right. <<<<EDITED No 3rd Gen Outbacks in any Pic-n-Pulls around here.

I was told to get the door card off with the door stuck, 95% of the times the door card gets snapped or distorted. Some of the plastic clips or push pins can be cut with a hacksaw blade but up around the dash it is real tight.

All I know is my 61 year old butt does not like climbing over the center consel. I am 80% disabled and do not bend like I did when I was in my 20's. My Military pension is 2/3's of my total income so paying the dealer $750 Parts and labor is a big hurt. I can do most all maintenance on these cars, it just may take me 3 times Flat Rate times.

 

I'll be the 6th to confirm there's next to nothing you can do with a slim jim in a 3rd gen door. I do not use in-the-door tools on them, nor does any locksmith or towie that knows what's inside that door (bicycle cables which are rather immune to slim jim manipulations).

So save your money. If you want to buy something that might help fix the problem, get an inspection camera ($100 and up at Home Depot, less if you can wait and buy the cheap cell phone version on ebay), wedge between the door and glass and snake it down to the latch area and see what you can see (hint: not bloody much).

There is a possibility it's something simple and stupid like the cable has come off from the inside door control and is blocked from moving to the unlocked position. If that's the case, removing the inside control (which is bolted to the door panel from the inside) will reveal the problem and remedy it at the same time. The cable needs to be pushed into it's sheath from the control end to move to UNLOCK.

You can get the door panel off with no or minimal damage even with the door closed. It helps to pull the seat first, which yes, is much easier to do if you can get the bloody door open.

If your latch has indeed failed (it's usually a spring that breaks and leaves a cam or two halfway between positions thus jamming up the whole mechanism), that job sucks and there's no easy way to do it. I price it out of the realm of being palatable for most people (around $500) because I don't wanna do it either.

 

Can't help much with the door card (panel) issue, but further to the description of what might have failed that @lockmedic posted, the outer door handle has a part that falls off and usually lands at the bottom of the door. When it's off, the part of the door handle that is pulled up on the outside doesn't contact any of the linkage going down to the latch mechanism. So the outer handle doesn't work. But in most cases, the inner handle, and the lock works.

However, that leads me to wonder if it's possible for that piece to fall away from the handle and land on the latch mechanism in such a way that it prevents the lock/unlock mechanism from moving to the unlock position when using the fob, key, interior switch, or the interior lever.

When the piece is missing, resistance to the movement of the outside lift handle is provided only by the handle's own return spring. When the part is in place, lifting the handle also moves a lever on the back of the handle assembly, and a link down to the latch lock mechanism itself. IF the small part is missing, the resistance to lifting the handle might be noticeably less than, say, on the front passenger side door when it's locked, because the latter is moving the related linkages. This might reveal that the part is off, and that could another possible approach.

The piece is metal, but I'm not sure if it's magnetic. However, if it is, then perhaps probing in the area of the latch with a magnetic pick-up tool (even if this is done somewhat blindly from the top with the window all the way down, might dislodge the part.

There's a video about repairing the handle that shows the piece that breaks away

and there's several threads here related to the same problem. I've also attached a short paper that a member posted after having this experience; it has good photos.

 

Can't help much with the door card (panel) issue, but further to the description of what might have failed that @lockmedic posted, the outer door handle has a part that falls off and usually lands at the bottom of the door. When it's off, the part of the door handle that is pulled up on the outside doesn't contact any of the linkage going down to the latch mechanism. So the outer handle doesn't work. But in most cases, the inner handle, and the lock works.

However, that leads me to wonder if it's possible for that piece to fall away from the handle and land on the latch mechanism in such a way that it prevents the lock/unlock mechanism from moving to the unlock position when using the fob, key, interior switch, or the interior lever.

When the piece is missing, resistance to the movement of the outside lift handle is provided only by the handle's own return spring. When the part is in place, lifting the handle also moves a lever on the back of the handle assembly, and a link down to the latch lock mechanism itself. IF the small part is missing, the resistance to lifting the handle might be noticeably less than, say, on the front passenger side door when it's locked, because the latter is moving the related linkages. This might reveal that the part is off, and that could another possible approach.

<<<SNIP>>>

I just went out and checked the resistance of the working right side handle and the non working left handle. The working right side has a slight movement of the springs tension and then it gets stiffer and has a slight "Klunk" in it swing, like its moving something inside. Bt the left side only has a smooth spring feel all the way thru its swing with no mechanical feel, just spring resistance. So you may be on to something.

It is cold out today and that does not bode well with my disibilities. So for today I am cleaning crap up in the 3 car garage that is packed with a 1968 Dodge Dart car and parts and two of my CRASHED motorcycles. One of the crashed bikes hit the Jersey Barrier at 75 MPH when a Nissen Sentra lost its wheel and it came across two lanes and hit me causing a hard left turn with no time to slow down. Its amazing what crosses your mind while sliding along for about 400 feet on your back.... :surprise:

 

I want to think you all for the replies. They have been helpful so far just getting my head around this issue. I still may ride the 1 hour out to B&R auto wrecking and remove that door card, all the latching and servo set up. May cost me $100 or so to have that door card on hand.

I may also lay some Dyna-Mat down in the door's outer skin while its apart. Plans are to Dyna-Mat the whole car as I like to be quite. You can still hear noises but not as bad. Makes a cheap factory stereo sound much better at times. I do know that the underseat SUB is not very good.

I only hope I can pay it forward when someone needs an answer to an issue that is in my area of knowledge. I had answered many posts over on LegacyCenteral when I had my 1994 Legacy Touring wagon with its 2.2 Turbo.

 

Just leave the window down and play Batman!

 

Dukes of Hazzard. But it rains a bit more here than Hazzard county GA. :wink2:

 

I will try to get this done soon. I will also take a few snap shots and post them here. I take it I just drag and drop pictures in the BLUE box below.

 

OK, kind of good news. Got the drivers door open. My son came over for dinner and we went out and he was doing all the stuff I had tried. Nothing. Then while he was working the inside latch, I banged on the outside door lock with my fist and the door opened. YEAH!!! It will now open fine when unlocked.

Did not hear any thing rattle or fall. But when locked again, NOPE will not open. Did the bang on the outside lock and it opened again so I will not lock it till I pull it apart to find the issue.
I have nothing stored inside and I am sure none of you know where I live.... and I have High Def Video cameras covering my driveway, I set the motion alarm on those two so if anyone comes in my driveway they will beep.

 

OK, kind of good news. Got the drivers door open. My son came over for dinner and we went out and he was doing all the stuff I had tried. Nothing. Then while he was working the inside latch, I banged on the outside door lock with my fist and the door opened. YEAH!!! It will now open fine when unlocked.

For anyone else out there that runs into this issue, I wanted to highlight the fact that this also worked for me.

My driver-side door would not unlock, and thus not open. I started to gear up for trying to take the door card off with the door still closed... But first I tried banging my fist on the outside handle mechanism while simultaneously actuating the inside door latch handle. Something must have worked its way loose or something b/c all of the sudden the lock came fully-unlocked, allowing me to open the door. (This was from standing outside with the window all the way down). Well it must have fixed something b/c now I can lock/unlock and open/close the door w/o any problems.

Thanks for the suggestion! And sorry for resurrecting an old thread.

 

@Davej98092

Wow, that's an interesting situation.

So as I understand it, if the door is locked (any method), it will not unlock (using any method), except if the door is banged on the outside while someone is working the inside latch. Which inside latch; the lock (lever) or the door open handle?

One thing is clear; the part coming out of the handle that I raised earlier is not the cause, because if the part comes out, the outside door handle does not work at all.

But now, what is changing when the door is banged? Sort of sounds as if the unlock mechanism lever/cam etc., within the latch assembly is binding. It will move part way but then hangs up. The bang releases the bind, and it moves all the way. It's good until the door is locked, and then unlocked again.

This might be a new one for the books (i.e., the knowledge base here); hope you will keep us informed.

 

It gets worse. Today I was 20 miles from home and the door would not latch shut. I had three ratchet straps in a Bug-Out kit so I strapped the door closed. Got home and took it apart. The door latch was stuck "OPEN" until I got it out and now its working normal. So I ordered 1 latch and 1 actuator. I tried to get the outside door handle off so I could inspect it but the left bolt I can not get to with a box-end or a socket wrench, the window brace and tract are in the way.

SUBARU OEM 05-09 Legacy Front Door-Lock Latch Kit 61031AG18B

Fits Subaru Legacy Front Driver Left Door Lock Actuator Motor Dorman 759-044

 

OK, limited driving with my "Red Neck" door latch and lock. I strung a ratchet strap from the passenger seats right front hold down bolt and put a very strong Carbiner on the door. So I get in, fasten my seat belt and then put the ratchet strap on the Carbiner and 5 clicks and off I go.

With no where to work on this but my driveway and it being about 22F to 34F daily, I must wait till after the new year to get to this. I will do all the brakes, rear struts, Banjo bolt filter, lightweight front pulley and JATO pods installed then.

I had to go out in the freezing weather yesterday and went to get my ice scraper out of the back seat and the passenger rear door handle made a POP and I heard the little metal part fall down into the bottom of the door. So now the drivers door and rear passenger side are FUBAR.

My choice is to order all the door handle's one at a time as they go bad or PROACTIVELY order a set of 4 so I ordered all 4 of them from Ebay. But do not order them as a group of 2 front and 2 rear as they want MORE than if you order 4 each, by $30 more. ????

You can get these door handles in BLACK primer or chrome. I priced out locally getting the BLACK ones body color matched and it was another $150 so I just ordered chrome ones for all 4 doors. Now I will need to start "BLINGING" it out with chrome parts....

Picture below is my only other ride right now. It's 650CC's and fully automatic too. Top speed is 115 MPH and it gets 55 MPG. It does have a CAR SNOW tire on the rear 155/65 HR 14.

 

Life got in the way of getting the door latch fixed. I finally got all the parts in and then had to stop. About a week ago could finally get back to it.

The service manual does not show a steel bracket up in side but its there. It makes getting the 10mm headed bolt (#14 in picture below) started very hard. I tried many different wrenches but without removing the glass you can not get a wrench on it while pushing in and turning. There is a cutout hole for getting to it but Subaru made a drop down on the window glass that blocks a socket. My wifes little hand finally got it started and then I could get a modified open end wrench to do a little turn, flip wrench, turn, flip.....
The bracket is in the pictures below but look at where the two #14 bolts dashed lines show them going to.

No way to take pictures up in there. Sorry.

So now my Gold 2006 OBXT has three Body colored door handels and one CHROME. Aint she special?

 

So now my Gold 2006 OBXT has three Body colored door handels and one CHROME. Aint she special?

I had insurance replace a door handle a while back because of vandalism, and discovered that the Subaru parts system didn't stock the various body colors for the XT, Limited, 3.0, etc. The base model black part was all they had, and it had to be custom painted by the shop to match, as I recall.

 

I was quoted that to have the replacement black primered handle color matched would cost about $100. Then my right rear door handle broke and for the pair to be painted it was $150. He said it is a three part process and even if they had the OEM color formula, it would have to be blended to match the fade on the car.....

I bought 4 new Chrome units off Ebay for $78. I will change the others out later in the spring/summer time when my fingers work again.

 

@Davej98092

Did you replace the latch/actuator assembly on the driver door? Any idea yet of why it wouldn't unlock, without a bang?

 

I went through the same thing. Looking at the why - it seems like the bottom of the rod that attaches to the mechanism is supposed to be connected with a plastic clip. On my lower latch mechanism the plastic clip is floating loose on the rod and when you pull the handle when the mechanism is locked the rod comes out and doesn't return the latch to its normal position. When I use the fob to unlock the door the mechanism has a slight delay before it actually "klunks" and unlocks. I have to be careful to wait for the "klunk" before pulling on the handle - otherwise it is climbing over the front console to get in and out until I can open the panel and manually push the rod and latch back into normal position again.

 

The latch is not easlie repairable or servicable. It is housed in plastic. It was kind of gummy and gritty but nothing was broken. I tried to spray some PB-Buster Garage Door lub inside but it did not help. The lock part would not swing free so it stayed locked until I tapped on it.

I bought new Handles, left front Actuator and left front latch parts as I do NOT want to go back in twice. So for $180 I have fixed the drivers door and have new chrome door handles. Now I just need to find more chrome items to BLING it up like a 50's Buick.

 

I'm posting on this thread because I just had the exact same problem on my '05 and with a combination of prayers, violent frustration and blind luck I found an easy(er) trick to getting the door open that doesn't involve any major demolition. I saw a couple other older posts about the same(?) problem. It might be a little too late to help the OP, but hopefully it helps the next guy who Googles it.

To recap the problem: The drivers door won't unlock - which keeps you from opening it from either side. Ever. Which obviously prevents any repairs of any kind. The key just springs back, the outside handle feels like it has a little klunk or slip in it, the inner lock just pops back, and the fob does nothing. So after a month or more of passenger side crawling and Dukes of Hazzard acrobatics I finally had enough.

You know how the door doesn't unlock while someone is yanking on the handle? I was fully prepared to take a hammer and chisel to the thing (I literally was looking for the best place to break it) when I discovered this is basically the same problem. The exterior handle rod was jammed in the open position (pushed down) which keeps the lock from functioning.

If you have the same problem I did it's actually pretty simple to get the door open:

1. Open the window all the way and pop the top of the inner door panel loose so you can see down inside. You'll have to remove the screws holding the door panel on. One at the latch and a couple more at the handle.
2. Find the outside handle latch connecting rod. It is the larger one going down from the outside handle. The smaller is for the lock. See attached photo.

3. Using a long curved needle-nose pliers you should be able to grab the rod and pull it back UP to where it belongs. See attached photo.

4. Now you can unlock the door and open it to remove the door panel to get at the thing.

It appears that the latch mechanism got gunked up and a little lever thingy inside was no longer springing back up after pulling the outside handle. I hosed it all down with PB Blaster and worked it back and forth awhile using the pliers and the outside handle to get everything moving again. If you take a screwdriver and pry (break) the top rounded part off the plastic mechanism cover you can see inside enough to squirt it. Now my whole car smells like Blaster, but I'll sacrifice a few brain cells for the convenience of being able to open the door.

I unfortunately discovered all this after I had already wrenched the door panel off with the door shut. It seems to still be in decent shape though, considering what I did to it... Since this seems to be a recurring problem, hopefully this fix will help someone else avoid all that.

 

I'm posting on this thread because I just had the exact same problem on my '05 and with a combination of prayers, violent frustration and blind luck I found an easy(er) trick to getting the door open that doesn't involve any major demolition. I saw a couple other older posts about the same(?) problem. It might be a little too late to help the OP, but hopefully it helps the next guy who Googles it.

To recap the problem: The drivers door won't unlock - which keeps you from opening it from either side. Ever. Which obviously prevents any repairs of any kind. The key just springs back, the outside handle feels like it has a little klunk or slip in it, the inner lock just pops back, and the fob does nothing. So after a month or more of passenger side crawling and Dukes of Hazzard acrobatics I finally had enough.

You know how the door doesn't unlock while someone is yanking on the handle? I was fully prepared to take a hammer and chisel to the thing (I literally was looking for the best place to break it) when I discovered this is basically the same problem. The exterior handle rod was jammed in the open position (pushed down) which keeps the lock from functioning.

If you have the same problem I did it's actually pretty simple to get the door open:

1. Open the window all the way and pop the top of the inner door panel loose so you can see down inside. You'll have to remove the screws holding the door panel on. One at the latch and a couple more at the handle.
2. Find the outside handle latch connecting rod. It is the larger one going down from the outside handle. The smaller is for the lock. See attached photo. View attachment 415930
3. Using a long curved needle-nose pliers you should be able to grab the rod and pull it back UP to where it belongs. See attached photo. View attachment 415938
4. Now you can unlock the door and open it to remove the door panel to get at the thing.

It appears that the latch mechanism got gunked up and a little lever thingy inside was no longer springing back up after pulling the outside handle. I hosed it all down with PB Blaster and worked it back and forth awhile using the pliers and the outside handle to get everything moving again. If you take a screwdriver and pry (break) the top rounded part off the plastic mechanism cover you can see inside enough to squirt it. Now my whole car smells like Blaster, but I'll sacrifice a few brain cells for the convenience of being able to open the door.

I unfortunately discovered all this after I had already wrenched the door panel off with the door shut. It seems to still be in decent shape though, considering what I did to it... Since this seems to be a recurring problem, hopefully this fix will help someone else avoid all that.

Just wanted to say that this WORKED for me. All I needed was a philips for the three screws, a small pry bar and some long reach curved needle nose pliers. Took me less than ten minutes start to finish and now my door locks and unlocks no problem. Please note this will not totally fix it and what I’ve noticed is this - as long as you don’t try to open the door while it’s locked (from the outside), you will be able to continue locking and unlocking your door as normal with the key, inside button or the fob. BUT if you try opening it while it’s locked, the rod that moves with the opening of the handle will get stuck and you won’t be able to unlock it. I found that if I accidentally do that I can just wiggle the door handle a bunch from the outside and it will unlock as normal again. Thank you SO MUCH!

Jesse

 

@Mtn_air - Great "how to" procedure you've documented there! I assume you got in there with a boroscope inspection camera to get those clear images; which one do you use?

 

Thanks johnre! I actually just used my phone. It took a little creativity tho ?

 

@Mtn_air

Open the window all the way and pop the top of the inner door panel loose so you can see down inside. You'll have to remove the screws holding the door panel on. One at the latch and a couple more at the handle.

I thought the door panel hooks over the top edge of the inner door sheet metal, requiring the panel to be lifted slightly to release it at the top. As the door panel seems to be pressing against the weatherstripping with the door closed, lifting would seem to be a problem. Is this incorrect? Were you able to move it away along the top with the door closed?

 

That's right, the top hooks over the door at the window. I didn't have a problem with mine. The top about three inches of the panel doesn't hook behind the door weatherstrip. You still have to get a little aggressive with it to lift it free, but it's not hard. Definitely not as bad as trying to rip the whole thing out with the door shut...

 

Jonneylaw13 want to know how I modified a 10 mm wrench to get up to that bolt for the handle.

I used Mapp Gas in a Propane torch to heat the wrench and then when Cherry Red I bent in my vice twice to make a more staggered bend.

I have a Extra Large hand and could not get my mawl up in there. After working on it for two days, my wife went out and had it threaded in finger tight in less than 5 minuets. I then used that wrench to turn the bolt one tooth at a time, about 40 moves to tighten it up.

 

I have the same problem with my 05 outback... thank you very much for posting this info, hoping I’ll be able to get the door open! Will say banging the door lock doesn’t work for me, I get a metalic “ding” noise in the door when I do though...

 

I went through the same thing. Looking at the why - it seems like the bottom of the rod that attaches to the mechanism is supposed to be connected with a plastic clip. On my lower latch mechanism the plastic clip is floating loose on the rod and when you pull the handle when the mechanism is locked the rod comes out and doesn't return the latch to its normal position. When I use the fob to unlock the door the mechanism has a slight delay before it actually "klunks" and unlocks. I have to be careful to wait for the "klunk" before pulling on the handle - otherwise it is climbing over the front console to get in and out until I can open the panel and manually push the rod and latch back into normal position again.

 

Mtn_air, you’re writeyp was very helpful, and with it I was able to get the door open again! Thank you!