How can I open rear right sliding door of my 2003 Toyota Estima that wont open with the handle

SOURCE: The sliding door handles of my 1998 Toyota Sienna have both broken.

I replaced both of my sliding door handles this weekend. It was actually pretty easy. Cheapest I could find the handles was a little over $70 each. The interior panel is held on with one screw and 10 nylon clips. The one screw is in the cup holder. Put you hand in the cup holder and push out at the bottom. It pops right off exposing the one screw. I started on the clips from the top at a corner. Seemed to be the easiest place to slide a screw driver under. Once I got the screw driver in, I started working my fingers under the panel. The clips run mostly along the top and bottom about 6 inches from the edge. I made an effort to apply the force as close to the clips as I could to reduce flexing the panel. Once I got the first clip to pop out the other followed pretty easy and the panel lifted right off. Carefully peel back the plastic barrier. The exterior handle is held on with two 10mm bolts. Connecting the short cable was pretty obvious once you could see everything. Now I have to teach everyone to open the side doors very gently! Hope this helps.

SOURCE: sliding door on previa wont open or close properly

sound to like the door is out of alignment . It might have been closed hard on something while something was blocking the door. a mechanic need to adjust the level of the door or level the hinges and it should close properly.

SOURCE: My 2004 Toyota Sequoia rear door will not open -

Dig out the broken bits of door handle, then on the right side insert a flat head screwdriver diagonally up and fish around for the release lever.
Push up on the screwdriver handle to manipulate the release lever down and your tailgate will open.
Remove the interior panels by unbolting the 10mm bolt behind the strap and pulling off the interior pieces held on by plastic pop fasteners.
Remove the 10mm bolts around the perimeter of the interior cover plate and let it hang by the harness.
Remove the license plate.
Remove the license plate trim panel (multiple push fasteners from behind and a few 10mm around the lock)
Replace the handle.

Stephen Sywak

• 2 Answers
• Posted on Dec 08, 2009

SOURCE: Toyota ECHO REAR DOOR HANDLE problem

I have this same problem, and I removed the interior door fascia to examine the cause.
As mentioned, the moving, plastic part of the door handle has a recess that houses the return spring. Under stress (under too little stress, if you ask me), part of that plastic that surrounds the spring ruptures (tears), and the spring can no longer exert sufficient force to get the handle to retract flush against the car.
There is no way to fic that plastic part--you have to replace the entire handle. Searching for "Toyota Echo Door Handle" will find you a number of on-line sites that sell BLACK handles for under $7.00! The dealer wants something like $50-$70 for an OEM part, with the right color.
I have the service manual, and replacing these things is a *****! You have to use a TORX bit to remove the actual latch in the door, to get it out of the way.
There isn't actually any fixed linkage between the handle and the interior latch mechanism. When you pull the handle up enough, a plastic cam on the handle strikes a metal lever within the car door, forcing the latch to release the steel hoop. So once you can ACCESS the handle, swapping it out looks straightforward. The problem is, accessing it is a pain. Make sure you have a magnetic grabber handy for the hardware!
I have yet to find a cheap source for SILVER handles on the Internet (none of the Internet Junkyards have responded).

SOURCE: 2003 toyota sequoia rear door latch broken

First, take off the license plate.
Since the hatch wouldn't open, I started from the inside and took down the top trim piece. After that the two side pieces come down, then the main trim piece which covers the bulk of the door comes out. These are all popped in with the white tabs.
There are 3 access hole covers to pop out (don't forget to install them back in when done) and through the left hole you can see the mechanism to unlatch, press it down with a screwdriver and open the door. If anytime you close the door you will have to do this to unlatch, up until you disconnect the cable and pull out the handle, then you have to locate the cable and pull that directly.
Behind the large trim piece you will find a metal access cover, remove the 7 or 8 10mm bolts holding that on and pop the 3 white tabs and let it hang off to the side. Disconnect the cable from the handle assembly by reaching in from the right hand side and popping of the cable from the handle assembly.
From the left and right access holes, locate the two 10mm nuts which hold the license plate assembly to the door and remove them. Then there are 4 plastic tabs that come in from the outside that hold the license plate assembly on in each corner, try and locate those and using some pliers squeeze them together and push it through. Next locate the license plate lamps wire connector and release that from the left side, it’s the simple push in and pull out square white connector.
After these are out, put back in 1 or 2 bolts into the large metal access cover so the hatch can be lowered (don’t close it).
Here is where I had fun, begin to pop out the assembly that it was bolted to. I ended up breaking 3 of the 4 plastic tabs in each corner because I did not use pliers from the other side to pull them out, however it remained somewhat useable (hindsight 20/20).
Now the license plate assembly can be taken to a bench to replace the handle assembly (Toyota doesn't sell just the handle, it is a small assembly). Two screws out and the assembly is replaced.
Before pressing the license plate assembly back onto the truck, make certain all the plastic tabs are in the assembly and not in the truck. Reverse the process to re-install.