Key Stuck In Drivers Door Lock

[AMacdonald]

Odd one this. I locked my mk 1 alhambra this morning and the key wouldn't return to the vertical for removal. It's stuck wiggling round a few degrees of horizontal and feels like there's a fairly significant block stopping it from moving back. It won't come out of the lock in this position. I've soaked the area with WD40 but no joy. The thing is, as soon as I unlock the passenger side door with the spare key, the doors lock themselves again straight away. I've got time to get in and the car is drivable but it's not ideal. The drivers door is deadlocked and cannot, as far as I can tell, be opened.

 

So, does anyone have any suggestions apart from use more WD40?

[cyborg]

The inside of lock is brass M... so try a hair dryer then when done wd40

[AMacdonald]

The inside of lock is brass M... so try a hair dryer then when done wd40

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give it a go later on but at the moment I have frozen water pipes (for a week), no heating and 8 inches of snow to contend with ;-)

[AMacdonald]

Hah, got it.

 

I was, somewhat to my own surprise, able to to remove the drivers door card with the door closed. It must have been loose from years ago. Once that was done I removed the rear door (!) to get at the screw securing the door handle. I was then able to gently ease the handle out of the door. The barrel mechanism had crumbled away so I removed the broken parts and replaced the handle. A repair kit is on order from Ebay so hopefully everything should be back to normal in a few days.