syoo8

Hi everyone,

My driver's side door lock will not lock. I feel mechanical resistance. Of course, since the driver's side doesn't lock, the passenger's side will automatically unlock itself... Feel very queasy about driving a car 1000+ miles tomorrow without being able to lock it.

Background:

1) I applied Dynamat to the inside of the door. The Dynamat does not come into contact with any moving parts, but it does make the door a bit "thicker."

2) I had both lock cylinders out (driver's and passenger's) when I powder coated the door lock surrounds. Each door lock was completely cleaned and lubricated with Teflon.

3) I changed the driver's side door lock motor.

4) I calibrated everything as per the WSM AND the Technical Service Bulletin. Everything was working correctly until I put the door back together.

5) Tonight, I tried to lock the door. The door cylinder feels like it is turning, but something is stopping my key from turning "all the way."

I removed the door panel and tried again. Lock worked!
Put door panel back on- lock worked.
Put door card back on- lock worked.
Put door handle surround on- lock worked.
Put door **** circular surround on- lock did not work.
Removed door **** circular surround- lock did not work.
Removed door handle surround- lock did not work.
Removed door card- lock did not work.
Removed door panel- lock did not work.

So I am completely confused.

I took a picture of the inside, just in case any of you see something amiss.

Avar928

Wish I could be of more help with this but I don't have any experience. The best I could say is either there's something wrong with the lock cylinder or something is obstructing it. Can you take it apart? If you're feeling resistance, something must be in there.

Mrmerlin

Loosen the **** surround part,
use the palm pf your hand,
it gets tightened to snug , any tighter then it causes the lock to bind.

NOTE the locking **** also gets tightened to snug,
you will note the blue loctite on the the screw for the ****

syoo8

Hi Stan!

The lock binds with the **** surround off. Any further advice?

Mrmerlin

Did you get the door panel on correctly at the area of the lock button ,
there is a small metal tab thats got to go behind the door bracket,
maybe this isnt on properly and its loading the lock button

syoo8

Solved!

The lock seemed to get into trouble when I installed the interior door handle plastic surround. (The rectangular plastic piece on the door panel, on the inside.) It occurred to me that perhaps the door handle cable was pulling on the lock in some funny way.

As you can see, I installed the door lock motor incorrectly. You can see the door handle cable (the black sheath) is making an abrupt upward turn in my photo below. The cable is actually supposed to be routed just above the painted "928" in the picture.



This caused the door to "think" that the inside handle was being pulled open "all the time." That's why the door lock would not turn with the key.

Re-routing the door handle cable solved the problem.

Fogey1

Kudos on a useful, keeper post. Thanks.

Mrmerlin

Glad you got things figured out,
Goodluck on your wedding and Honeymoon