Rear passenger door will not close
 

My wife just got back from the store and after we unloaded the bags and went to shut the back passenger door it refused to close.
The hinges were ok it was the door "open stop" bar that locked open.

It took over an hour of swinging the door back and forth until it suddenly popped and closed. Now I'm afraid to open it again.

If it had locked open at the Mall I would have had to drive the 89 420sel 30 miles with the door open, or cal a wrecker at $150.

I tried to remove the door's inside body but only were able to remove the two door handle screws.

How do I remove the rest of the inside door panel to get to the door's open stop bracket?

Has this happened to anyone else?

Rod

Once the door checks start making popping or crunching sounds, time to replace them before they fail as yours did.

On the 124 I believe, you can pull the pin on the B-pillar side, then remove the three bolts holding the assembly to the door, and push the assembly into the door as a temporary fix to close the door and get home. I don't know how the 126 door check is mounted.

Would help to know what car.

He said it was a 89 420sel.

It's called the door check, or door check strap. $25 part.