bureau13

OK, first things first...finally got the shark...Brian's (IcemanG17) silver 86.5...delivered two days early! Here it is pre-wash (naturally it started raining immediately following it's bath).



The new baby! I'll take better pics when it's all cleaned up, etc.

OK, so I'm fiddling around with it, and I locked the driver's side door with the key. Later, I go to unlock it, and...it won't turn enough to unlock. It turns part way, and then I feel it give if I try harder but it feels like I'll break something off. Not sure what's going on there, but I don't want to break it. I can unlock the passenger side door and open it. I hear the motor whirring, and if I close the door it relocks itself (I believe because the central locking system notes that the driver's door is locked, so it relocks the passenger door) but if I leave the door open, the motor rumbles on forever, it seems. Not sure if that's normal?

Anyway, the master unlock switch won't unlock the driver's door, and the **** feels much like the key...I can twist it, but not far enough to get it properly unlocked. If I mess with it a bit, I can get it far enough up and use the handle to open the door from inside, but it's still essentially locked. As soon as I close it I have to do all this again. So, something has gone awry with the driver's door lock mechanism. Also, I never hear any motors whirring in the driver's door. Again, not sure if that's correct or not for this case.

Any advice for this newbie would be greatly appreciated!

jds

yaskota

I have this same behavior. I think the cause is (someone please correct me) a short on this circuit. I just haven't chased mine down yet as it's kind of a low priority for me.

I should ad that when I open the problematic side, the lock motor will run continuously...until I close the door and it locks... OR until I press the lock pin (?) down- at which point the motor stops. I don't think leaving it unlocked (without motor running continuously) is an option, if I remember correctly.

I'm going to do some electrical work Sunday and will post follow-up as appropriate.

-tom

bureau13

It would be low priority for me as well, if I could actually open my driver's door from the outside :-) I may actually have two problems: The passenger lock motor running continuously if the driver's door is locked and the passenger door is unlocked, and the driver's door lock being "stuck" locked. For the latter issue, I'm wondering if the motor is not working at all, and holding the lock engaged. That's my suspicion, now I'm going to try and verify that this afternoon.

joejoe

bureau13, congrats on car (I was trying to get it, but health got in way) For the door open it from inside first (unlock, got through passenger side) When unlocked open door and look at back of door. On line with lock cylinder there will be a rubber plug (may be missing) You will see a screw there (actually two) for adjustment of lock cylinder set.. If loose then cylinder will rotate. This adjustment is also to keep lock cylinder flush with outside door.

If this is not problem then it is time to remove inner panel, security plate, and check mechanical connections. Time consuming and fiddly but defenitly do-able (have done this for all 3 cars, and 944's currently here) Hope this helps.

ajricker

I had this same thing happen with my 86.5. It turned out to being a blown fuse. ( they are at the top of the fuse panel) and the winder on the passenger door was out of alignment.
writeup on aligning them is in VOL. V 57-23 of the shop manual.
Once the realignment was done they worked perfect.

bureau13

Thanks for the input guys. I ended up taking off the door panel and exploring, with the aid of the WSM. I had noticed I'd never once heard the lock motor running in the driver's side door. I thought maybe it was the fuse, but the plug had +12 at the proper terminals and in the correct scenarios (i.e. other side door locked and unlocked). When I disconnected the plug, the passenger side motor stopped it's continuous running. I also noticed that the driver's side motor was extremely hot. Pretty sure that motor is bad. At any rate, with the plug disconnected the key and **** can both lock and unlock the door properly. There is no central locking function now, but that's way down on the list of priority to-dos for this car. I was going to pull the little motor out anyway, while I was in there, but the WSM indicated 3 bolts holding it, and it still wasn't coming, so I put the bolts back and buttoned it up. I'm sure I'll be back in that door at some point :-D

Joejoe, sorry about the health issues, hopefully things are better now.