Yet another door lock thread

Sorry to start a new one if this has been answered, but I performed a search and didn't find anyone with this same exact problem.

The locks worked fine up until today. Never a glitch. Now all of a sudden, we cannot get into the car. Both the driver's and passenger's locks are stuck in the down position. I can't turn the key in either door at all, and I can't pull up the lock or pull open the door handle from the inside. The only lock still working is the trunk lock, but it of course does not unlock the doors for me. Is this possibly a central locking problem? Does the central lock system not allow you to turn the key in the door at all? Or prevent you from pulling the inside handle? If so, can I disconnect or deactivate the system so I can at least open the door?

I am sure you have already tried this but have you tried turning the key over? I had the same thing happen to me several times. I noticed if I took the key out and turned it over it would work. Several times I could not unlock the doors via the trunk too.

If you find it is in the system please email me and let me know what you found so i can take action...Maybe I am just getting early warning signs...
Good Luck with it.
Jami

yup. tried turning the key around. Plus, it can't be a key issue because I am unable to manually unlock the doors from inside, either.

One other thing I forgot to mention. I noticed (don't know if it was like this before and I just didn't notice because I had no problems with it) that the passenger keyhole is verticle (meaning I hold the key so notches face up and down) while the driver's keyhold is horizontal. This isn't right, is it? Which way should they be?

This is a royal PITA. I have had this happen on my car and the box behind the speaker on the drivers side had to be replaced. It locked me out of the car and all locks were frozen. I had to remove the seat to have room to get the door panel off with the door shut. then I unbolted the actuator and could open the door manually. I then took it to the shop as I hate electrical nightmares and thought my alarm had something to do with it.

Yeah...I once heard of a guy who had a used car with an aftermarket auto start and alarm...and one day the thing made it so the car would not unlock, or start once he got in through a broken window! I don't know if this part is true or not, but I heard that the insurance company had to total the car because no one could figure it out. Another good reason to keep things as stock and simple as possible...especially when it comes to cutting into wiring.

Originally Posted by Qbrozen

yup. tried turning the key around. Plus, it can't be a key issue because I am unable to manually unlock the doors from inside, either.

One other thing I forgot to mention. I noticed (don't know if it was like this before and I just didn't notice because I had no problems with it) that the passenger keyhole is verticle (meaning I hold the key so notches face up and down) while the driver's keyhold is horizontal. This isn't right, is it? Which way should they be?

Ugggg I too had that problem. I could not unlock the doors to get out at work. Quite embarrassing to say the least. Finally everything worked again and each time after it only lasted a few minutes.

My key slot is up and down on both doors. I wonder if you remove this box that has been talked about if you can operate everything else with out problems..I hate this door set up any ways.
P.s what would happen if you cut the power from it. I mean disconnect the battery?

Please keep us posted.
Have a better day !
Jami

Thanks folks!

At least I know now that the box can cause this problem, so that's what I will need to address. Now I just gotta look up how to unbolt the actuator to get into the car. I managed to pull the door panel off enough with the seat in place that I should be able to disconnect whatever needs disconnecting inside the door (i think). Good thing its a convertible!

What I would like to know is what happens if your battery is dead or disconnected?
Will the doors stay locked if there is no juice to operate the system? Scary thought.
Any one know this?

Originally Posted by Jami1girl

What I would like to know is what happens if your battery is dead or disconnected?
Will the doors stay locked if there is no juice to operate the system? Scary thought.
Any one know this?

well, i don't think the locks will just pop open if the battery goes dead, so I don't think that's quite how it works.

HOWEVER, if the system can jam the locks closed, I don't see why it couldn't jam them open.

Originally Posted by Qbrozen

well, i don't think the locks will just pop open if the battery goes dead, so I don't think that's quite how it works.

HOWEVER, if the system can jam the locks closed, I don't see why it couldn't jam them open.

I was thinking more along the line if the battery was dead or stolen if you could still unlock the door manually.

Then the other part was when they jam locked if you could manually over ride the system by disconnecting the battery ? I have had the same trouble a hand full of times and I do NOT want to get stuck out in the boonies in the middle of the night because I can not get into my baby.

You would think there would be some way to get around this but then I guess if there was all the thief's in this world would have a free ticket....Ugggg what do you do?

Got it!

Thanks for talking it through with me.

The keyhole turned sideways was really bugging me, so I sprayed some WD40 in there, stuck the key in and gently forced it back to the left. With a *snap*, the keyhole turned back to verticle AND I was able to unlock and lock the doors again as if nothing ever happened.

Whew!

Last night, I disconnected my battery to put in another car as a temp solution....

With no battery in the car, I walked, err wheeled, back over to the car and manually locked both doors with the key...

Hope that helps.

Originally Posted by hottweelz

Last night, I disconnected my battery to put in another car as a temp solution....

With no battery in the car, I walked, err wheeled, back over to the car and manually locked both doors with the key...

Hope that helps.

Thank you hottweelz, "It Does" !

i have the opposite problem, my doors will not lock..they haven't since i bought the car. except for once when the passenger door jammed locked but then unlocked by themselves the next day

Originally Posted by KottonMouthKing

i have the opposite problem, my doors will not lock..they haven't since i bought the car. except for once when the passenger door jammed locked but then unlocked by themselves the next day

well, more info would be needed. Unless you don't see the need to fix them.

Could be a simple alignment issue. Or it could be that central locking computer.

it happened again. this time the trunk, passenger door and fuel door are all locked but the drivers door is unlocked. the key holes are messed up too, ones going vertical and ones horizontal. the lock wont turn even after sprayed with wd40 and you cant pull them up or push the driver's door lock down

Originally Posted by KottonMouthKing

it happened again. this time the trunk, passenger door and fuel door are all locked but the drivers door is unlocked. the key holes are messed up too, ones going vertical and ones horizontal. the lock wont turn even after sprayed with wd40 and you cant pull them up or push the driver's door lock down

Well at least you can get in! lol I had something like that happen to me right after I brought mine home. I went to work and could not unlock the door to get out. It took close to an hour all in all and then I could not unlock them later during the night from the out side. Even my trunk key would not unlock anything...

Then it worked out of the blue. Oh hey I remember now when that happened to me I had to get all the locks locked then it worked....it took some time too. Hope some one figures this out soon.
Have a better day !
Jami

lol yeah its good that i can get it but i cant go anywhere now that i cant fill up haha.
but ive been trying to get the drivers door to lock but its not happening..any tricks you have to get it to lock?

ok so ive been messing with it and finaly found the culprit..but now i think i made it worse. its this..lol not exactly sure what to call it so ill just give yall a pic
anyway. now its stuck in that position and i cant figure out how to get it down because now i cant even close the door. but at least now the lock moves up and down, and i was even able to unlock it with the key and every locked worked! but then stopped again.
the original problem was that it wasnt all the way down and sortof in the middle

My mom had a car (not a bimmer) and the same thing would happen to her. I found if I pulled the inside door handle open and pushed on the culprit it would go down so it could be shut....however if the door is locked then that probably wont even help.....
I know not much help.

I am so glad my locks work....

*dOh!* - I just jinxed myselph...

a little more info for yall i just found. if i pump the drivers door lock up and down for a while it will eventualy unlock all the doors. if the lock is up and i turn the key in the door it will lock all doors once, then not work again untill i pump the lock and unlock the car, it will never unlock the doors. wth is going on???? if anyone can help me you will be my personal hero

Originally Posted by KottonMouthKing

a little more info for yall i just found. if i pump the drivers door lock up and down for a while it will eventualy unlock all the doors. if the lock is up and i turn the key in the door it will lock all doors once, then not work again untill i pump the lock and unlock the car, it will never unlock the doors. wth is going on???? if anyone can help me you will be my personal hero

The arm on the door lock cylinder may not be engaging the micro switch and signaling the central locking control unit to actuate the locks.

that actually sounds like something i was thinking it might be (haha although my version was a hell of alot less technical) so thanx swiss..you got any ideas on how to get the door lock cylinder to engage the micro switch?

Originally Posted by KottonMouthKing

that actually sounds like something i was thinking it might be (haha although my version was a hell of alot less technical) so thanx swiss..you got any ideas on how to get the door lock cylinder to engage the micro switch?

replace it, If you try to bend it like I did it will break really easy. I just installed an alarm that has keyless and remote start. Problem solved.