Slimwear

After reading this forum and looking around for a while I bought my first air cooled Porsche (I own a 2003 Boxster S). It's a 1986 Targa and my first drive in it was through the monsoon that hit Atlanta in the evening. I had water up to the doors at time but the car never gave a hint of trouble. The trouble came when I got home. The owner had replaced the interior door handle and taken the door apart in the process. When I had it in my driveway I started playing with the controls in the car and locked the door from the inside. I can't get the door open now from the inside or outside. I'm guessing I need to take the door apart but I thought I would ask the group if they have any ideas.

The car is black on black with 130K+ miles. I have a lot of the reciepts for work. Even in the monsoon the top didn't leak. One interesting note on the car is that the first owner of it was Tom Cruise. I would have preferred it to be Steve McQueen or Paul Newman but it's a good conversation starter.

Thanks in advance for any ideas you could offer and, yes, I will get pictures up very soon.

Emery

rusnak

The mind reels at the list of things that can be damaged by that much water. As for locking yourself out....you left the key inside? AAA maybe? Passenger door? If the outer door handle is off, then push the plate just inside the door skin "inward" and the door should open.

Slimwear

Thanks for the reply and I'm sorry I wasn't more clear.

The driver door is locked and I can't get it open. The key isn't locked in the car, I have to crawl in and out thru the passenger seat. I don't have the outside door handle off and I'm not sure how to get it off. I've ordered the repair manula but it won't be here for a couple of days. I may just start by taking the inside door panel off (which is tricky when the door won't open) and see if I can get it open.

Any other ideas?

Emery

rusnak

I guess there must be something loose in the door if the key doesn't work. You have electronic door locks I assume?

TA911-64

Hi Slimwear,
Welcome....and pictures ARE in order!! In regard to your door lock situation, I had a similar problem a few months ago with my '86 coupe. I could UNLOCK with my key but not LOCK the drivers door with key (or interior **** for that matter). I took the door panel off to discover a plastic "socket" from a "ball/socket" joint had broken off. (Not sure of exact terminology) There are seperate "ball/socket" sets for locking and unlocking. I'm sure you'll find it if you can get the door panel off. My advice is to try to remove upper portion of door moulding and pry as much of the upper part of the door panel enough to see inside and find the damaged joint, unlock it manually, and proceed to open/repair joint.
Keep us posted!
Tom....good luck!

r911

pull the interior panel off the door & look at the mechanisms - post pics

you can check for water damage too

Slimwear

Thanks for the responses guys.

TA911-64 - I spent about an hour earlier today trying to get the door open. I was able to pull the top of the door panel off and I can get my hand inside the door. The trigger on the outside handle is clearly not moving anything. Pulling the trigger (door open motion) provides little resistance so something has come off from this piece. I can't really remove anymore of the door panel as there are 2 screws (at least) that I can't access with the door closed. You mentioned unlocking it manually but I haven't been able to. I've tried fiddling with most of the parts that I can reach but I'm not clear (can't see) how the mechanism works enough to get the door to open.

RandyWebb - I'll try to get pics tomorrow but I'm not sure what we'll be able to see. I can't really get a lot of the panel off to get a great look.

I'll keep everyone posted on my progress or lack there of.

Emery

rusnak

Adobe Acrobat took a dump, and I can't find my disc, or I'd have posted the exploded parts diagram by now.

http://www.porsche.com/all/media/pdf...86_KATALOG.pdf

Section 804, you'll see the door lock. You push down on the lock to open the door. If you take the passenger side door panel off, and the outer door handle, you'll see what I mean.

Slimwear

Ok...

So I fiddled around inside the door again with the help of the parts illustration that you provided (thank you) and didn't really get anywhere. I friend stopped by to look at the car and while telling him that the door doesn't open it magically opened. I then decided I needed to take the door apart and make sure everything was in order and realized that the inside handle wasn't working. I closed the car up to go buy a proper allen wrench for the door pull and when I returned I couldn't get the door open from either side again. I was able to get the entire inside panel off now which helps with access but I'm still not sure what isn't catching on the outer door trigger. I'm going to take off the passenger door to get a reference point.

I'll keep you posted.

Slimwear

Atlanta is getting swamped with rain lately so I haven't been worrying about my door problem but I opened it up today and took some pictures. The manual that I ordered never showed so I've ordered another that will be here Thursday. I'm not sure how the mechanism is supposed to work so it's hard for me to look at it and understand what the problem is with it now. My hope is that someone will look at the pictures and see something glaring that is wrong. If you notice anything that can help me diagnose the issue please don't hesitate to let me know.

Thanks for your help!

Emery

sj340

Apparently Tom Cruise bought that car shortly after filming Risky Business.
I guess he liked the 911 better than the 928. I guess there was a substitute for the 928.
That is better than my car,I drive an old Lebaron that used to be owned by John Voight.