Door Lock Jammed

[Guest CR1]

1996 model with remote central locking

 

By some fluke, my son managed to trap the drawstring of his coat in the front passenger door as he closed it. It may have stuck in the lock itself and the door can't be opened. I had to snap the drawstring to free the coat, but the door will not open all the way. It opens an inch or so.

 

I have tried pushing the door closed and locking it, and then unlocking it, and also double locking it with both key and fob, and unlocking it. I have used both interior and exterior handles simultaneously, and given a big shove from the inside. Nothing has worked.

 

I cannot see the lock mech itself as the door only opens an inch or so, and its possible there is still a bit of the drawstring stuck.

 

I cannot remove the interior door trim/panel as it screws into the edge of the door which isn't visible.

 

Any ideas? I need to get the door working correctly ASAP.

[adrianf.]

If you can open the door enough cut the string in half so at least you can get the door open to have a good look

[Guest CR1]

teh string has gone, but there may be a part of it in the mech, I cant get the door open enough to see the mech so really dont know whats wrong with it.

[adrianf.]

Is it not the string holding the door shut then

[mumof4]

i would imagine..that the end of the string would have had a knot or one of them plastic thingies on it....try yanking the door as hard as you possibly can...

[seatkid]

1. Try and close the door fully i.e latch fully engaged - a good shove may be needed, then lock/unlock with key

 

or

 

2. Try and open with the key held in the unlock position

 

or

 

3. Paint he car red with a white stripe down the middle and enter in"Dukes of Hazzard" style! :lol:

[Guest CR1]

Thanks guys. I did push it quite hard, and it did seem pretty solid.

 

Board seemed to be down this morning, but had another look at it in daylight.

 

The door opened only about half inch, but with the door closed all the way, the door lock seemed to operate normally when I tried to open it. As I said, the double locking worked ok and unlocked ok.

 

So, from the inside, I pushed, heaved leaned against it, and pushed with my feet. Nothing. So, I gave it a BIG kick and it flew open! (luckily, my GFs car was parked just out of reach )

 

Stuck between the moving part of the door mech and the lock bracket/frame was the plastic toggle from the drawstring, as mumof4 suggested.

 

I pushed the mech into the locked position and the toggle was easily removed. I think with the door closed, the toggle was just slightly pinched between the parts, but with the door lock open, it was gripped harder and physically prevented the parts from moving off the keeper.

 

The only damage is to the plastic sleeve on the keeper in the door jamb, and a plastic coating on one of the moving lock parts. The ragged sticky up bits were trimmed with a knife, and with a squirt of WD40, all was well.

 

Thanks for your help guys.

 

Dukes of hazard style wasn't really an option - the usual front seat passenger is physically unable to climb through the car, hence my need for a quick solution.