Last night I experienced an odd lockout situation. Locked the car with the fob, went to the store, cane out and hit the unlock button twice, beeped as normal on the first push, heard the other three door lock actuators click on the second push, but the driver's door remained locked. Tried locking and unlocking again, no effect...the plunger would rise very slightly and then settla back down to a locked position. Tried using the key in the driver's door, same results, I was able to turn it without any binding and I could hear the lock/unlock motors, but the door itself would not unlock for me. Fortunately the passenger rear door tends to stick in the unlocked position and I was able to climb in and reach forward to the front door inner door handle and once I pulled that, all the doors unlocked as they should. Cycled the locks a few times and the issue did not repeat, but I think the locks are probably either needing maintenance/lubrication or maybe I'm looking at some new actuators in my near future?

Any thoughts? Is there a normal lock cylinder maintenance I should do, particularly with the onset of cold weater? Do we still use graphite dry lube in lock cylinders or something else? Alcohol lock de-icer or WD-40 to displace any possible moisture or contaminants first?

Along the same lines, I've noticed my ignition cylinder is sometimes reluctant to click when I take the key out. It eventually clicks shut and the car stops beeping with the door open like I've left the key in the ignition, but it obviously shouldn't do that.

I locked it when I got to work, so it should be fun to see what awaits me. Maybe more back seat gymnastics!

Edit: Is this possibly related to my already stretched inner door handle release cable? Is that connected to the locking mechanism and might cause issues like this if the cbale is just stretched too far? I was planning on ordering a replacement cable after Christmas when I have money again...maybe I need to do it sooner or just not lock the car for now?

 

Hello, I'm not sure you could actually stretch those cables without something breaking. It's probably the latch and/ or lock mechanism sticking or the cable has come out the the slot where it's held in place in either the door handle or where the cable is attached at the latch. Open the door card and check where the handle attaches to the cable and also check/ spray the latch and solenoid lock mechanism. Spray into the latch from the outside/ door contacter as well. I've had slow or non-working locks at times especially in the cold months and generally just oiling them seems to get things going. I'd caution you from using WD40 as it will eventually dry up and leave a sticky residue that will stick the mechanism worse than before. I generally use spray lithium grease/ oil for all these types of lubrications. Really spray a lot of lithium oil in there, lithium won't hurt anything...

I did have a cable break once after opening the door over time when the latch was sort of hanging up and I had to pull a bit hard to open it from the inside. If it breaks you will know it! Also, I have had times the when the door handle sort of sticks and does not retract all the way. Fooling with the lock generally settles into the correct position so again it seems it's related to the lock mechanism. Just my ¢. Your mileage may vary...

 

Thanks David. To clarify, the inner door handle cable was pre-stretched when I bought the car this summer, haven't gotten around to replacing it yet. I have a handful of things to do to the one door so I was planning on just making a night of it when I've gathered all the parts, but I might address the cable issue independantly before it decides to give altogether. It all still works, but the inner handle sticks out off the door panel quite a bit when its at rest and the door is closed. I have had it apart and the cable is definitely stretched and I'm sure still stretching with every pull, but I saw no fraying anywhere.

Lithium spray sound like a good solution to me as well. Thanks.

Haven't had a repeat of the lock popper not releasing when I press the button on the remote, so maybe I'm just dealing with a underlubed mechanism and age. I've used it a lot, but prior owners I think this was a weekend sunny weather car as opposed to me using it as a daily. Been working on the (presumed) deferred maintenance as I go. Time for some door mechanism maintenance now I guess.

 

I’m having a similar problem. My driver’s door inside handle was becoming hard and harder to pull to get the door open until one day something gave and the handle became loose and inoperative, so I had to start opening the window and using the outside handle to open the door, but all that hard pulling finally had caused the little solid cylinder that’s attached to the front end of the cable broke off its metal little housing in the handle, disconnecting it from the door lock mechanism, so the handle’s now inoperative. It must be that the lock mechanism to which the cable is attached at its back end is totally frozen and in need of a good soak. Meanwhile, I’ve repaired that little housing in the handle and properly fit the cable's little solid metal cylinder back in it, so it won’t come off easy. But, before I try to test my repair it is obvious that I have to take care of what caused this problem in the first place, which is that the cable is still stuck and it won’t pull forward, so forcing the handle to open the door will break something one more time. Funny that when I actuate the lock electrically I see the cable easily moving back and forward, yet if I try to do the same with my hands it simply will not move.

It seems to me (and so I hear) that removing the door’s lock/latch mechanism from the door won’t be fun, so my question is how you guys have gained access to the points in that mechanism that need the lubricant, seeming that it’s hard to find even with the door card removed. I have the WD-40 in my hand, any tips? Thank you.

 

I do not see much access to the latch and solenoid. Did you have to remove the assembly to be able to spray it?

​​​​​​​Much appreciated!

 

Just a quick follow up, I sprayed each of the 4 door latch mechanisms with silicone spray, which I had handy in the garage and have had no further lock mechanim misbehavior since this one incident.

I noticed the driver's inner handle seemed to be moving more rapidly outward and was very near its physical limit for pulling when the door was opening so I opted to dig in and replace the cable as a stand alone item. Good thing I did too as the old cable was literally on its last strand of the cable...probably just a few pulls away from snapping. New cable in, handle feels great now and I can see how the other 3 doors now feel as though their cables are probably pretty well stretched out too. I'll likely add the other 3 cables to my springtime to-do list.

 

Mayhem. if you please....Since you have been in there and changed the cable, can you describe
how this cable/mechanism could have been designed better such that the cable would not fray?

 

Honestly I couldn't begin to tell you. My old cable had the end separating off the cable and it was fraying there, maybe just a weak solder/brazing point...or it was 22 years old and it was in the driver's door which gets 100x as much use as the others and it was just wear and tear. Aditionally the rubber grommet at the latch end was worn beyond usability and was no longer staying put. My Uro replacement part has that grommet made of hard plastic, so it might wear better...or it might get brittle and turn to powder in a year. Time will tel.

 

From your description, it sounds as though the rubber grommet failure allowed the metal
cable to rub, and eventually fray by repeated stress related friction.