81 drivers door won't unlock
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 66
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From: boxford MA
81 drivers door won't unlock
hello all... yes i posted somthing like this before.. but now i have narrowed down the problem a little bit, and was wondering if any of you have heard of this.
whenever i lock the door, and when i am out of the car WHILE ITS LOCKED and try to open it, the handle pushes down... and you can feel it giving resistence (like it should when you try to open a locked door) but if you try it again... the handle swings free and doens't give any resistence. VERY CONFUSED. anyone heard of this? know what part needs refreshing?
thanks
whenever i lock the door, and when i am out of the car WHILE ITS LOCKED and try to open it, the handle pushes down... and you can feel it giving resistence (like it should when you try to open a locked door) but if you try it again... the handle swings free and doens't give any resistence. VERY CONFUSED. anyone heard of this? know what part needs refreshing?
thanks
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 140
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From: Houston Tx
Re: 81 drivers door won't unlock (deftones1407)
I had this exact same problem. If you get the door panel off and look inside at the handle assembly, you can see where the door handle lock actuator comes down but doesn't go up. Believe it or not, you can remedy this with WD-40. Spray a good bit on the lock mechanism inside the door and actuate the handle a bunch of times. Keep doing this until you can lock the door and then push the handle and feel resistance on the way back up. The other thing to look at is at the front of the inner door mechanism. There should be a small spring that you can see. If you don't see this spring it needs to be replaced.
Sorry for the bad description but as we all know it is about impossible to describe lock parts. :)
Simply put, WD-40 the heck out of it. I promise this will help.
Russ
Send me an e-mail at russellfulks@hotmail.com and I'll send you some pics to help.
[Modified by 77-4speed, 2:26 PM 6/17/2002]
Sorry for the bad description but as we all know it is about impossible to describe lock parts. :)
Simply put, WD-40 the heck out of it. I promise this will help.
Russ
Send me an e-mail at russellfulks@hotmail.com and I'll send you some pics to help.
[Modified by 77-4speed, 2:26 PM 6/17/2002]
Racer
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 260
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From: Ipswich, MA
Re: 81 drivers door won't unlock (deftones1407)
This also happened to me...although in my case all the lube in the world wouldn't work. I ended up having the lock assembly replaced and all has been fine since.
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 140
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From: Houston Tx
Re: 81 drivers door won't unlock (deftones1407)
The lock mechanism can be had from Zip for about $195 (see link) but I've seen them for less from other places. Just have to look around. You might check tld-corvette.com
This is the zip page http://store.yahoo.com/zipproducts/b...actuators.html
I would seriously try the WD-40 first. I had the exact same problem with the door handle "hanging" what happens is that the door handle doesn't return to it's normal position so the lock mechanism thinks the door is open and won't let you unlock the door. I sprayed a bunch of WD-40 and worked the door handle a bunch and finally it worked. I am also missing the spring I mentioned but the lock still works, albeit a little loosely.
Russ
This is the zip page http://store.yahoo.com/zipproducts/b...actuators.html
I would seriously try the WD-40 first. I had the exact same problem with the door handle "hanging" what happens is that the door handle doesn't return to it's normal position so the lock mechanism thinks the door is open and won't let you unlock the door. I sprayed a bunch of WD-40 and worked the door handle a bunch and finally it worked. I am also missing the spring I mentioned but the lock still works, albeit a little loosely.
Russ
