Car has Aftermarket remote electronic door lock and engine start installed. The door lock started causing 'issues' (locked without signal initiation) (back passenger door will not lock on signal initiation) in early winter 2008 then in March 2009 it permanently locked itself.

Manual key unlock and electronic signal initiation both raise the lock pin but the door will not open.

The Honda dealership speculates it is the door 'actuator' and the cost to replace is $500. The local scrap yard says they have seen this before and with a long shanked chisel on a hammer drill they can solve the unlock problem.

Because the door is locked, the interior panel cannot be pulled out far enough to verify what the actual problem is and I am reluctant to take any drastic action (Hammer drill and chisel).

The mechanical door latch mechanism seems to work fine and appears to be a mirror image of the passenger door which I was using as a template to figure out a solution.

If anybody out there has gone down this road and can offer a 'fix' I would appreciate hearing - Climbing over the transmission shifter almost qualifies this complaint as a Pain In the Ass but for now I am still limber enough to stay clear.