Bozo

I have a 2001 cavalier coupe with a broken drivers side door latch assembly. I cannot figure out how you are supposed to disconnect and then re-connect the 4 rods to/from the latch. There is not enough room, not enough light, and the latch is completely obstructed/hidden from view so there is no way to even see how they are connected. Even holding a flashlight though the hole in the door panel after you've peeled back the plastic - there isn't enough room to fit your head in there to see. Surely there is some way to do this? I can't keep driving around holding the door closed. It has been this way for 2 months.

Thanks.

mountainmanjoe

you pretty much have to gut the door: speaker, water deflector, armrest bracket
remove the inside handle
Use side cutters in order to cut off the outside handle rod-to-lock clip from the lock.
Unscrew the remainder of the clip from the outside handle rod.
Discard the clip.
remove the screws holding the lock assembly from the outside of the door.
disconnect electrical connectors.
remove rods from lock.

Bozo

Let me try this a different way. Is there a close-up photo or video or any place that would show how in the hell you are supposed to actually connect the rods to the connector clips. There are 4 rods, so there are 8 total connection points. I assume that, based on the assortment that I see they sell online - that they are all slightly different. My objective is to figure out how to disconnect and then re-connect the 4 at the latch assembly end without disconnecting the 4 at the other ends. But it is too dark and too far inside the door for me to see or inspect how they work to get the rods in and out.