The lever won't release the blade on the DeWalt sawzall. What do I do?

Craig, a drop of penetrate oil and you will just have to work at it with ice pick.small screwdriver, or needle nose pliers if you can, make sure you have blade release depressed while trying to pry blade shank out. Once you get it moving it will fall out. Clean and blow out blade port before inserting another blade.
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check to see if the lever is worn or bent. If so it won't make the sliding piece move enough to get the retaining ball to open all the way. Do you have a broken piece of blade stick in it?

Remove broken blade, install new one. These blades don't change themselves, unfortunately.

Remove the foot, remove the boot (and yellow lever), pull shaft out all the way (so you have more room to work with), remove the spring clip from the clamp block, remove the lever and ball, the clamp block will then slide off once the wire clip that wraps around it is removed.

Sometimes plaster and drywall dust, or other abrasive materials cause these parts to stick... Try some WD40. I spray mine as routine maintenance! (You might have to let it soak for a few minutes the first time) Hope that helps!

It sounds like the set-screw may have caused a burr on the blade, and that's preventing you from removing it. You might use a tool like vice-grips, and apply more force. I don't think you can hurt anything by doing that if the blade is in the fully-extended position.
Good luck,
genetuck

Hi, If you look at the end where the blade goes in, on the right hand side (as holding it for use in your hands) you should see a yellow lever. First take out the battery, each and every time you change the blade. Lift up the lever, wear some gloves to protect your hand and pull the plade straight out. Push in the new blade with the teeth pointing down, and push the yellow lever down. You can replace the battery once you have completed the above. Hope that was of help to you.

The chuck may just be sticking. Remove the front housing with the large screw, tap the chuck with a hammer & pin, and lube.

Hi,
Getting a broken blade our of the sawzall chuck can be difficult and require some ingenuity and patience...
Sometimes there be enough blade left so that you can grab it with a needle nose pliers... othertimes it is flush and that makes it more difficult... holding the chuck in the release position and rapping the saw against a table or with a hammer can jiggle the piece out....of course you have the chuck pointed down while you do that...
Also moving the piece around a bit with a stiff wire and also soaking the chuck and blade with WD-40 helps also....
Usually it will take a combination of these things and some persistance to get the job done...

heatman101

oohh, that a tough one. you gotta, very carefully peal back the hand gaurd, the rubber where you hold onto it, at. Then releas the screws undeneath. Seems like you should be able to cycle the saw to its furthest out position, then remove the blade gaurd, uning some pliers of some sort you should be able to make the release, release.

Hope this helps