Yogii

So who is going to install the new door handle mechanism?
Does your drivers side window have glass or a net?
Hope you are skinny.

It hasn't happened to me, but when/if it does, I'm at least glad that there is a fix.
2 weeks? I would have called some German Parts places and seen if they could high step it.

-Yogii

Cloud9...68

I think I can handle the door lock mechanism install, but my issue is that I don't want the car to be undriveable while I'm waiting for the part. But I don't want to order the (expensive) part until I'm certain I actually need it. But I won't know what I need without opening the door, and I don't know how to do that. And I don't know if I will be able to close the door once I figure out what is broken. Complete paralysis, in other words, so I'm hoping I'm not the first 968 owner on the planet who has had to deal with a broken door lock, in case there's a staightforward way out of this situation that I'm overlooking.

My doors are stock, so they have glass windowns.

touareg

Ok, here are some blatherings of an idiot, i.e. me

This is all from memory, so may be wrong on a few things, and here are a few thoughts.
0. I remember on these cars, sometimes the old mechanisms are sticky, and if the door is locked and the lever/trigger is pulled to open the door, something gets jammed and the trigger wont go back and allow the door to be unlocked. Its the classic person pulling the handle and the other person is trying to unlock at the same time dance. In this case I have to try and massage it back into place.
1. The modern electronics on these cars is pretty much the DME and the Alarm system. Everything else is pretty much analog from what I recall. So this means that the actuator for the power lock is hard-wired direct to the alarm system. I have a write up I did on troubleshooting the power locks, let me see if I can get an image, you may be able to push 12 volts to it to retract and extend. There is also a fuse on the alarm module, but I would think then the whole alarm would be kaput.
2. This may involve some damage, but you I think can pull the led lock plunger cap off and get some long needle nose pliers and pull the door lock **** on the inside up, unless of course that mechanism is broken. I think Porsche just did a cheap route to add the led and power locks. This is all assuming the handle trigger isn't jammed and something else isn't broken in the door.

touareg

Here is my thread, may help in some weird way: https://rennlist.com/forums/968-foru...ock-issue.html

I would check the voltage on 11 and 12, but now that I see this, sounds like it is one output that goes to both locks at the same time. But who knows, maybe a wire was cut accidentally with a PO messing in there!

Another thought, get an ODB cable to see if an error is logged, at least that will rule out electrical issues.

Yogii

This is WAY above my mechanical ability, but it seems to me that you need a locksmith to open your door. Either now, or when the new parts come.
Oncee open, I'm sure that you can find a way to keep it closed. Maybe not race inspection approved, but getting around town approved.
Hope you can get the electrical mechanism to open, if it is that.

-Yogii

Cloud9...68

@toureg,

Thanks for the info on the interplay between the electronic and mechanical components of the door latching system. The thing (actually one of several things) that has me puzzled is that despite the fact that the lock/unlock switch on the console is unresponsive, I can open the passenger side with either the inside or the outside latch. So, to put it very simplistically, while it appears that the LOCK mechanism is electronically controlled, the open/close mechanism is fully mechanical in nature, and something broken in the mechanism is what's prventing me from opening the drivers side door. I don't need the lock to work, since I never leave the car anywhere it needs to be locked (it is literally the last car on earth anybody would want to steal, anyway), but I do of course need to open and close the door.

I could easily get out of this jam by calling a locksmith to open the door, then taking the door apart to figure out what's wrong, then ordering the required part and installing it when it arrives. The trick it doing it without leaving the car inoperable for weeks. I'm competing in a race series at Atlanta Motrosports Park, driving Radical SR1's that I rent from the people who run the series. The races are once a month, so it's very helpful to be able to take the 968 to the local track to run a few sessions between races. So where things stand at the moment, I will probably tackle this after the season ends in September. It's starting to get wretchedly hot and humind in Austin anyway (why everybody in the country wants to move here all of a sudden is completely beyond me...), so this is probably a project best tackled in the Fall.

Paul Waterloo

Cloud, just have to ask, what if you are in an accident or a fire related incident on the track and you can't easily get out of your car? Long shot, but would hate for the long shot to get you. I would think you would want to get the door fixed prior to doing more track events.

Cloud9...68

That's actually a fair point. I always drive with the sunroof off, and both windows open, and I have a quick release on my steering wheel, so I don't think I would have too much trouble ejecting myself from the car in the event of an emergency, but it is something to think about. This situation is incredibly, massively frustrating - I can't believe something as simple as a broken door lock is turning into such a quagmire, and that there doesn't appear to be a straightforward way to deal with it that doesn't involve potentially rendering the car undrivable for weeks. There are threads similar to this one on at least two of the other Rennlist transaxle car forums, with pretty much crickets for responses to them all, which tells me this really isn't an easily solvable problem, and one that many owners will be facing as these cars age.

jsheiry

Let me see if I understand correctly....

1 The button on console does nothing to either door. Clearly not doing anything to drivers door but does the passenger door clunk back and forth ?

2 Does the key in the passengers door cause any different reaction to the the locking or unlocking of passenger door? (at this point be sure passenger window down whilst testing)

3 Do all other functions like rolling windows up/down etc....seem to work? Pop hatch etc.... Can you start the car normally ? Wondering about battery functionality or dead?

4 I have a used alarm module if you want me to send for trouble shooting.... Also have plenty of door lock mechanisms from parting several doors.

5 The fuses may look good but have you tested with a meter or randomly replaced with proper value ?

6 I'm not sure a lock smith will get open without removing door panel because of metal guard that protects the linkage from specifically being slim iimmed. Even if you have to brute force get the door panel off as long as its not an un-obtanium color could be cheaper to buy a used one than to pay a lock smith to do same.

7 Have you attempted to wiggle the lock indicator plastic pin with LED up/down. They dont like being moved manually but can be persuaded. Sometimes this leads to the old black plastic LED coming off in your hand as its become brittle over time and threads give up quickly. They do move slightly and I would try pushing down then pulling up on ****. Also have someone with hands push firmly on door while you try this and the hand release inside car. Wonder if it is not completely latched. If plastic **** pops off then use needle nose pliers on metal rod.

Cloud9...68

OK, I think I know what's wrong. I was answering jsheiry's questions, and when I got to #7, here's what I did which led me to my discovery: I removed the plastic **** covering the LED, and found the wires to actually be in amazingly good condition. So I tried gently pulling up on them, but that didn't do anything. Then I noticed that reverse-C-shaped thing in the opening (pictured below)



and grabbed it with a pair of very thin needle nose pliers, and was able to pull up on it. And now the door opens, both with the outside and inside handles! So the problem was simply that the door was locked, and I couldn't unlock it because turning the key doesn't unlock the door, so the problem must be with the lock mechanism. So, this is major progress because I can now get in and out of the car through the drivers door. And I'm suddenly in no hurry to tear into it, because I have a major project on the house I need to get working on, so I may hold off on troubleshooting the door lock mechanism until I get that project done. As I've said, I don't care about being able to lock the car - just the fact that it's a manual will deter 98% of thieves (at least those under 40), there's nothing in it to steal, and I hardly drive it anywhere but to and from the track anyway. I will make sure to always have those skinny pliers with me. Thanks to everyone (especially John) for their help.

DSMblue

The "reverse c-shaped thing" is part of the plastic lock ****. So at some point, the only real fix for that is to get a new or used **** (which comes with wiring for led and a module). I tried to epoxy mine back together, but it doesn't work.

Cloud9...68

Thanks for the explanation, but I never used the **** to lock and unlock the door - I always did that with the key, which isn't working now. So, sometime later this year when it cools off, I'll have to remove the lock mechanism and figure out what is broken. In the meantime, not being able to lock the door is no problem whatsoever, so I'm in no rush to tear into this. In fact, as long as the car doesn't start locking itself and forcing me to pull up on the broken piece continually to be able to open the door, I could live with the current situation indefinitely.

Yogii

Just leave the window down....

-Y

Cloud9...68

There's no connection to the window - the door lock simply doesn't respond to turning the key. As long as the door stays unlocked, I can open the door. Hopefully the jostling from riding the curbs on the track doesn't cause the door to lock on any kind of a regular basis...