sTyleR

The drivers side door of my 924S won't unlock with a key. The only way to lock it is by going in through the passenger side and pushing the lock down. I tried the graphite/lube in keyhole trick today to no avail. The mechanism simply won't budge when I try to turn the key.

Has anyone else had this problem? Any diagnostics, thoughts or sympathies would be greatly appreciated.

xsboost90

had this happen on our old 924s- took the lock cylinder out of the door handle and soaked it in laquer thinner- then coated it w/ some graphite lock lube and reinstalled. Crap got in the tumblers and was jambing it all up.

sTyleR

Did you remove the whole door panel from the inside, or did you simply remove the door handle from the outside to access the lock cylinder?

xsboost90

just pull the one screw that holds the door handle in.

kilodawg

I just resolved a similar problem in my case the tumbler keys were worn and wouldn't release all the way. I got some spare tumbler keys and swapped them out. A real easy fix

sTyleR

I'm having the same problem. The key wont turn the locking cylinder at all, and I have the door handle out right now. But what do you mean when you say tumbler keys?

kilodawg

May not be the correct terminology but this is what you need to do.

Remove the lock (tumbler) from the handle. Do this by inserting the key into the lock first. Then remove the phillips screw on the backside of the lock. Pull off the two metal parts that work the **** and the small spring. Then just carefully pull out the lock with the key in place.

At this point you will see the top of several, I call them keys (there is probably a more correct term for them) that fit into the tumbler. There will be some on either side of the tumbler. When the door key is inserted in the tumbler, the tops of all the tumbler "keys" should be flush with the tumbler body. If they are not but stick up even a little they will stick out into the grooved slots in the door handle body. Look in the handle where the tumbler goes and you will see what I mean. If they do the key will not rotate the tumbler in the handle due to the obstruction.

I think the tumbler keys and the small springs that push them up when the door key is not inserted wear out over time since my passenger door did the same thing.

You have a couple of options that come to mind to fix this. eithe remove the offending tumbler key or keys or better yet get a couple of used tumbles and or keys and swap them out for the lock that doesn't work. It's not hard at all. I scored some script handles last week and swapped out tumbler keys until I got my original key to work in both locks..

Good luck!

sTyleR

I checked Clark's Garage for a complete procedure of the door handle removal. I followed the steps, so that I could remove it from the exterior. Upon reading step three, I pried away the white plastic piece away from the lock mechanism as instructed and it proceeded to fall all the way down to the bottom of the door panel. As a result, I had to do what I didn't want to do in the first place. I ended up having to remove the entire door panel to retrieve it.

Once I had the plastic piece back in hand, I realized that it was just a loose piece and wasn't attached to anything on the other end. So my question is this: What is the white piece supposed to attach to, from the door lock mechanism directly on the outer panel? Attached, the first and second picture shows the said piece. The third picture shows where one side of it latches on to (where circled).

In addition to the above, I ran into an issue with step four. I can't find a way to access the linkage rod in order to remove it from the lock mechanism. It seems to be hanging, what I'd assume is 2-3 inches down and I just can't see how I'd be able to pry it away with such limited access. Even if I could, how on earth would I be able to reattach it?

Here's a link to the Clark's Garage procedure. http://www.clarks-garage.com/pdf-manual/body-12.pdf

If you're reading this, please feel free to advise.

P.S.- It's amazing. I can manage to replace a clutch, which is straight forward, aside from all of the frozen bolts you'll encounter along the way. But something which you'd think is as simple as removing a door handle or mirror (another small issue) just seems borderline impossible. Freaking Germans!!!!!!

But I guess if all else fails, I'll just say good good riddance to my frustrations and lay them off to the local Porsche specialist to take care of. However, I'm really hoping that I can finish what I've already started and get this locking mechanism working myself.

sTyleR

Anybody?

xschop

That white piece goes between the door handle key lock mechanism and attaches to a smaller pivot-ball on the door latch mechanism. I recently fixed mine and put the white piece on the door handle first and reinstalled handle with adjustment rod, then from the inside (with panel removed) used long nose needle-nose pliers to reattach the white piece at the door latch mechanism.....

After fixing that. I discovered that the door latch mechanism will not work after a certain point in which the door handle mechanism gets worn out past the point to where the plastic ADJUSTER cannot make up for the entire linkage lengths needed for the key lock to unlock the door mechanism.....

I posted the diagram for what is needed to fix this problem that even a brand new Plastic linkage adjuster CANNOT fix.... I did it to both sides of the doors and it works like a charm....no need to go buy new door handles or door latch mechanisms....

All you do is epoxy it to your factory plastic adjuster and screww it back into your handle linkage.....voila

till_that_day

When I've done mine, you get the white lock linkage attached to the back of the handle first. Then get the door handle "most of the way" back in the door. Then using a spelunker headlight and a long thin flathead pop it back on the door release cam (90deg, back side of door). Then attach door release linkage, which is much easier with the rear window track popped free (8mm bolt at the bottom).

If the lock doesn't work after sufficient amounts of oil, take it to a good locksmith. They can fix them up right.

sTyleR

After some good trial and error work over the past two days, I was able to get the lock cylinder freed up and the mechanism working all together, with the assistance of my uncle.

We ended up removing the lock cylinder, via a screw found on the back of the mechanism. Upon doing so, we removed the aforementioned 'keys' in the lock cylinder, sanded and smoothed them down which rid the surface of slight imperfections. After doing so, we greased up the lock cylinder before reinstalling it into the door.

Thereafter, we installed and removed it a few times trying to determine the exact position of the mechanism's assembly, as well as the positioning of the spring. After looking back at a picture I had, we were able to determine the correct positioning with little problem. We tensioned the spring correctly and reinstalled.

One problem I ran into was how to effectively attach both ends of the white piece. I tried going through the inside of the door panel, to no success. No matter what you take off from the inside of the door panel, accessibility too limited to be truly effective. I did it by slipping it onto the release mechanism inside the door first, and then mingling with it's positioning, as well as the door handles until they were close enough for me to slide it on with a finger (as unbelievable as that may sound).

The key to success here is making sure that if you remove the lock cylinder by unscrewing the single screw behind it, that you put everything together the right way. If you don't, the turning of the lock cylinder may result in removing the white plastic piece that works the locking mechanism in the door, rather than actually locks the door. The best way to ensure this if by taking a nice picture of the assembly before removing it, or by referring to a picture which can be seen under the door handle removal/installation/adjustment article on clark's garage.

BTW, I didn't end up having to make an additional extension piece such as the one that xschop was referring to. The white plastic piece alone worked out just fine for me.

Everything is back together now, and the locking mechanism is in proper working order. It feels good to be able to lock and unlock my door without having to go over to the passenger side. I'm glad I tackled this one myself, as I learned much about how the locking mechanism works and I'm confident that I could free up a locked up lock cylinder with ease now. The painstaking part is endured through the time you spend trying to get everything else back together properly.

Thank you everyone for your words of advise. I hope this thread can be used as a reference for others who may have a similar dilemma with their locking mechanism's. Questions in regard to the prior are welcome.