Hi guys,

I was wondering if anybody had the driver's door lock linkage assembly? It's an assembly of rods that connects to the key cylinder lock above the door handle and goes vertically down to a part I can't really see. I put my key into the keyhole and I can't unlock the driver's door from the outside. I can lock and unlock the door from the inside. I can open the driver's door from the outside (provided that it's unlocked). I can even lock the driver's door from the outside using my key...but I can't unlock it. I took the interior panel off and I think the linkages that go to the cylinder lock have excessive slack due to these plastic elbow pieces that are cracking apart near the cylinder lock.

Any help would be great!

Anthony

 

My silinoid thingy burned out on my alarm and my key didn't work and neither did the alarm remote. I got tired of opening the door from the pasanger side, so I had the dealer disconect the silinoid didlybop thing deal.

 

I have taken my lock completely apart several times, once just for grins when I fixed the little light, and a couple of other times when my key would not work to unlock it.
Go ahead and take the lock completely out, it really isn't hard to do, you have to unhook the linkages, be careful of those little plastic elbows. Make sure that the key turns fully both ways, if so you can replace the lock into the car and likely get by with lubing the linkages with some lithium grease, or MARVEL Super Lubricant or WD-40 or equivalent.
In the worst case scenario, go ahead and take the lock apart, you pry off the little chrome ring and things pretty much fall out, be careful of all the little TINY springs that work the tumblers. I had to lightly file the tumblers themselves in the 2nd and 4th position to make the lock work right.

Have fun!

 

hmm...sounds like you might have had the same problem i have now....when i had the door panel off, i worked the key in both directions and it seemed like it wasnt moving far enough to unlock the door. when i turned to lock the door, the linkages moved plenty. does this mean the lock is bad?

the plastic elbow thingies were cracked...can i still reuse them?

and how did filing down the tumblers help you unlock the door? what was the original cause of the door not unlocking by the key?

thanks for the advice,

anthony

 

I have an extra external door handle that is broken so I may have some of the pieces you need. If you could please post a pic of what you need and I'll send the parts to you if I have them.

 

It was like there were little 'burrs' on them, and I had to jiggle the key and hold it just SO to get it to work. I forgot to mention that eventually I took those two tumblers completely out. Yes, it compromised the security of the lock some, but let's face it, few people stealing a car actually pick the door lock. Regardless, the key moves completely freely....fixed my problem cheaply without having to get a new lock, which was about $140 if I remember when I priced it from the dealer.

 

thanks rated R1 for the offer...i'll take pics when i disassemble everything down and hopefully i can get a better idea of what's broken...i didnt actually remove the linkage assembly from the door...i just took the panel off and noticed these plastic elbow things that clip onto the rods were cracking apart. it just feels like the key doesnt want to turn freely to unlock the door but it locks the door just fine...it's weird!

if i get a new lock from the dealer, does that require me to get a new key cut? that would suck since i would have a different key for the passenger door and the locker bin and the glovebox....

anthony

 

I also had to remove my lock assembly - not too difficult, and file down the tumblers. Worked great and I didn't have to buy a new lock. A small round headed mirror on a handle really helps to see everything. As was mentioned, be careful when removing the tumblers because of the springs.

 

Well, if you DO take the lock apart, you will see that the tumblers are numbered, this relates to the height of them in the lock, amongst other things. What a locksmith will do is to match the tumblers of the lock to your existing key. Otherwise yes you will have two different keys for the doors, but even that is not bad as how often do you open the passenger door with a key?
I mean, the drivers door unlocking automatically unlocks the passenger door.....

I still have trouble with the HANDLE of the door on the drivers side getting extremely stiff and to the point it won't open the door on occasion, all I do is to unbolt the handle assembly and spray a little lube on the rods, and it works just fine. I have to do this about every 4 months or so.

 

Bajaman, you need to make sure everything is tight where the rods hhok up to the door assembly. I broke my handle and when I went to replace it I noticed the rod was loose. My rod had a nut on it where a lot of cars I have seen have a plastic piece. You might want to look into that before you break your door handle and have to pay the dealer $140.

If your lock core is still good you can remove it from the handle assembly and put it in the new one. This is what I did so I did when I had to replace mine.

 

hey guys i finally got around to taking everything apart and i took pics and posted them in my other thread...please check it out and lemme know what you think...

other thread

thanks again,

anthony