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Greetings,
I recently purchased a 2012 997.2 C4S, and found that the drivers side door lock was not working when turning the key in the door handle.
I could insert the key and turn it, but no resistance for 180° in either direction. The button on the key fob worked to lock and unlock remotely.
I removed the door panel to find that this chord that attaches at the back of the lock cylinder was snapped off and sitting inside the bottom of the door. Door Lock Cylinder Chord
I contacted my local independent who told me that this chord was part of the entire exterior door handle reinforcement assembly and that I would need to have a new door handle reinforcement (with lock cylinder) built in Germany to my existing key, coded to my VIN. The quote for this was $535 for the part + $700 for labor for a total of $1,235.
Not wanting to shell out $1,235 for what effectively amounts to a broken piece of plastic, I attempted to hot-staple / plastic-weld the broken chord back together: Hot-stapled chord welded back on to lock cylinder.
The "repaired" chord seemed pretty strong/sturdy and after I re-assembled the door, and it worked for exactly one lock cycle.
The door locked with the key turn... but then when I went to unlock with the key, it went back to turning 180° with no resistance.
I didn't feel anything break, or hear any noises, it just simply wouldn't unlock.
Luckily the key fob button still worked to unlock/lock the door.
I have not re-opened the door innards to see if the chord broke again or if the chord simply slid out of it's slot in the door lock assembly.
Just curious if anyone has experienced anything similar... or if you have any thoughts other than paying $1,235 to fix this?
Maybe you should have used JB Weld instead of what you did. It might still have broken but not where you did the join... that stuff is unreal!
Also, see if you can find someone who has a a 3-D Printer, can scan the part and create it. For that option maybe contact our premier fabricator and forum member Emc2 for advice, possible solutions or contacts.
On ebay the door handle is about $180 with the lock used. I'd look real good at the condition of the door handle and if the plastic part looks correct and is included before buying though. You could try contacting the seller about questions also.
plus one for the jb weld, i even use it as retaining compound on worn bearing housings for gym equipment sometimes. It is quite strong and they make a specific plastic bond also.
Thanks to all for the suggestions.
I finally opened the door panel back up and found that the cord broke again, but interestingly this time it sheared off above the repair I did.
This tells me two things:
1) The repair that I did with the hot staples worked. In fact, it seems that the stapled section was stronger than the remaining intact chord where the new break occurred.
2) The problem is likely in the lock actuator providing too must resistance to turning the key (and the connected lock cylinder cord)
So I've ordered a new lock actuator AND rather than attempting another repair on the cord (I'm not sure it could take another round of hot staples), I'm ready to bite the bullet and buy the new door lock cylinder part. I've attempted to order a new lock support with a new embedded cord; the lock support contains the coded-lock cylinder which needs to be built in Germany to match my car's VIN. I say "attempted" because I've tried to place orders at three separate Porsche OEM online suppliers (one in Florida, one in Maryland, and one in Ohio) and they've all initially accepted my order only to subsequently cancel the transaction saying that the part would need to be picked up locally, and I would need to present proof of registration/ownership when I pick it up. Apparently this is a Porsche policy and there is no getting around it. This seems ridiculous to me, as the part is several layers deep inside the door and it still requires a functioning key to unlock the car... I can't see how it would benefit a car thief to request this part be built in Germany....maybe I'm missing something?
Anyway, this leads me to my new problem. Where to source this part?
I've inquired online at three different local (Illinois) dealerships about pricing for the part 997-538-963-04 and none of them have gotten back to me. Perhaps the margin on the part isn't worth it if I'm not going to pay them for labor to install?
Does anyone know of another way to get a coded exterior door handle reinforcement part in Illinois? Or an online source that will actually ship the part to me (regardless of Porsche's policy)?
Am I missing something here (probably) and I have no hands on experience or knowledge of the door lock cylinder and mechanism, so I will continue on.
The Nylon/Delrin (polyamide, or acetal) part is designed to be a "weak link" AKA a mechanical fuse in the locking system. They are made to fail first before damage is done to the lock/latch when someone thinks they are breaking into a car by overpowering the key rotation by "Strong Arm " dumbass technique. However the part you are messing with is purely mechanical and the only critical security part is the lock cylinder itself that is keyed to your car. Take apart the assembly and remove the cylinder and swap it over to a new/used one. However you need to find out where the resistance is coming from so you don't break another one. I am familiar with the door latch itself (VW part) but not sure how the outside handle fits into the scheme of things.
1) Gluing acetal or polyamide parts is not going to work.
2) Let us know your success in removing the lock cylinder from the mechanism.
3) carve a new "fuse link" out of hickory
Usually the only time the key lock is used is when the battery goes dead and you need to get into the car to do the "open the frunk" dance.
report back
Not sure if this will help but on the ebay listing it says you can swap the lock cylinder to the new one so that same key still works. Unsure if that solves any coding problems. However I have a foxwell nt510 porsche off ebay that can perform coding. All you do is plug in the old lock cylinder and save the coding. Then plug in the new lock cylinder and program the coding from the saved file. I can plug it into my Porsche to see if it can program the lock actuator or cylinder whichever one it is that you need.
Speaking of the "open the frunk dance" absolutely make sure the battery doesn't die/disconnect without a way to get in the car or frunk. Only way to get into the frunk if you can't get in the cabin is to take the front fender off to pull a frunk release cable.
Not sure if this will help but on the ebay listing it says you can swap the lock cylinder to the new one so that same key still works. Unsure if that solves any coding problems. However I have a foxwell nt510 porsche off ebay that can perform coding. All you do is plug in the old lock cylinder and save the coding. Then plug in the new lock cylinder and program the coding from the saved file. I can plug it into my Porsche to see if it can program the lock actuator or cylinder whichever one it is that you need.
Thanks. This was actually my first approach. I purchased a used 997 door handle assembly on e-bay for $50.00 including the reinforcement and used lock cylinder. My thought was to swap my cylinder in to the reinforcement or to just swap out the plastic/nylon cord. Neither was possible. The reinforcement, lock cylinder, and nylon cord are all one assembly and I could not separate them without effectively destroying the parts. I confirmed this with my local independent who said the entire assembly had to be re-built in Germany... hence my 2nd approach which was to just repair the nylon cord.
Am I missing something here (probably) and I have no hands on experience or knowledge of the door lock cylinder and mechanism, so I will continue on.
The Nylon/Delrin (polyamide, or acetal) part is designed to be a "weak link" AKA a mechanical fuse in the locking system. They are made to fail first before damage is done to the lock/latch when someone thinks they are breaking into a car by overpowering the key rotation by "Strong Arm " dumbass technique. However the part you are messing with is purely mechanical and the only critical security part is the lock cylinder itself that is keyed to your car. Take apart the assembly and remove the cylinder and swap it over to a new/used one. However you need to find out where the resistance is coming from so you don't break another one. I am familiar with the door latch itself (VW part) but not sure how the outside handle fits into the scheme of things.
1) Gluing acetal or polyamide parts is not going to work.
2) Let us know your success in removing the lock cylinder from the mechanism.
3) carve a new "fuse link" out of hickory
Usually the only time the key lock is used is when the battery goes dead and you need to get into the car to do the "open the frunk" dance.
report back
Interestingly this nylon part is metal in both the 996, and they went back to a metal shaft with only a plastic tip in the 991. It seems Porsche only used 100% nylon for this part in the 9X7 generation.
Have you seen the ebay posting I left a link for? In the description the seller states "cylinder parts are replaceable". You might want to send him a message and ask how it's done. I've seen multiple listings on ebay stating that's how it's done.
Have you seen the ebay posting I left a link for? In the description the seller states "cylinder parts are replaceable". You might want to send him a message and ask how it's done. I've seen multiple listings on ebay stating that's how it's done.
I think it's definitely possible for the 996, in fact I found this DIY on how to disassemble the cylinder to fix the same problem: http://986forum.com/forums/diy-proje...0-dollars.html
But I couldn't find anything similar for the 997.
I didn't catch that comment in the e-bay description on the 997 handle, I'll contact him. Thanks!
Thanks. This was actually my first approach. I purchased a used 997 door handle assembly on e-bay for $50.00 including the reinforcement and used lock cylinder. My thought was to swap my cylinder in to the reinforcement or to just swap out the plastic/nylon cord. Neither was possible. The reinforcement, lock cylinder, and nylon cord are all one assembly and I could not separate them without effectively destroying the parts. I confirmed this with my local independent who said the entire assembly had to be re-built in Germany... hence my 2nd approach which was to just repair the nylon cord.
Updating this thread in case somebody else is searching for this information...
My experience was different! The white nylon part is held in place with an external snap ring and is easily removed. My original part and used ebay part are identical.
I can't figure out how others concluded that this part cannot be removed. Maybe the snap ring can rotate such that the tabs are not readily visible?
Driver Door Lock
