Driver Door Lock suddenly does not work

[dsscpa00]

Central locking and manual locking with the key in the handle worked fine until today. I had some paintless dent repair done on the driver door and now the door will not lock. At first the actuator would fire but not lock. Now the actuator will not fire. The passenger actuator fires fine but will not stay locked.

So clearly there is power to the central actuator relay. I have the door apart and have examined the wiring and connections. Found one that was frayed and could have grounded out, repaired that. All fuses are fine (still not clear on which ones are related, Bentley says #1 and #2). And still the driver door will not lock manually or with central locking.

What else can I check? It seems to me this is a simple fix since it was fine this morning...

Thanks in advance
Dave

[MConn]

It's been a few years since I worked on the central locking system, but here goes-

Does driver door lock and unlock when turning the knob on the inside of the door? if not, then maybe something is mechanically jammed

When you turn the key in the outside door lock, to lock and unlock the door, do you hear it clicking? turning the key hits a microswitch that tells the solenoid in the door to lock/unlock the door

When you push the central locking button on the console, do you hear the door clicking? This should bypass the door lock microswitch

I had something like this happen, and it was a broken solenoid rod end (plastic), it is item #6 in the diagram -



Since you hear the passenger side clicking, I'm guessing it's not the alarm system.

Good Luck
Mike

[dsscpa00]

When I turn the key in the lock, door closed, nothing happens on the driver side. The mechanism does not move at all. The passenger side locks and unlocks. The inside knob will not turn.

[MConn]

Originally Posted by dsscpa00

....The inside knob will not turn.

If the knob inside the door does not turn, the linkage is jammed. I would remove the door interior panel to check it out. Here is a picture of the mechanical linkage, this is the version before central locking but the linkage is the same.





Mike

[dsscpa00]

After a little work the inside knob does rotate and lock/unlock manually with the door closed. So the linkage is free and operating. The actuator in the driver door is not firing when I try to lock/unlock from outside with the key and if I press the lock button on the console. The passenger side is firing normally but will lock then immediately unlock.

[911h20]

Originally Posted by dsscpa00

Central locking and manual locking with the key in the handle worked fine until today. I had some paintless dent repair done on the driver door and now the door will not lock. At first the actuator would fire but not lock. Now the actuator will not fire. The passenger actuator fires fine but will not stay locked.

So clearly there is power to the central actuator relay. I have the door apart and have examined the wiring and connections. Found one that was frayed and could have grounded out, repaired that. All fuses are fine (still not clear on which ones are related, Bentley says #1 and #2). And still the driver door will not lock manually or with central locking.

What else can I check? It seems to me this is a simple fix since it was fine this morning...

Thanks in advance
Dave

Mine acted the same way. It was the relay under the truck cowl on the passenger side.

[dsscpa00]

Found the relay on the Pass side. No way to test this I assume, basically replace parts until you get the right one? I have a new actuator and microswitch on the way now.

[dsscpa00]

Ok mission accomplished. I replaced the Microswitch first and that did not fix it. I then replaced the actuator and the wiring/ plugs. That did it. The existing actuator I took out was clearly not original, did not look like a Porsche part. Happy it is back together.

[kanadary]

hi, having the exact same issue and it came up all of the sudden. where did you find the actuator? ken

[kanadary]

nevermind, maybe. i just went outside to see if i could hear the actuator on the drivers side, just to verify the symptoms and its working again, maybe i moved a wire while i was checking on the actuator rod being in place, who knows. but its working now. i assume you got the actuator from our host. ken.

[archstanton]

I have the exact same symptoms in my 86 carrera as Dave had, so sounds like a bad actuator.

This malfunction started shortly after replacing the actuator connecting rod on the driver side which had a broken plastic end. And It all worked for a short while after that. I did notice that the plastic replacement rod (964 part?) that I got from Pelican wasn't the exact same length that Bentley sprcifies the original style rod should be adjusted to (146.5mm, a pretty exact spec). I don't remember whether the new rod is longer or shorter than that, but its maybe a couple of mm different if I remember right.
Is it possible that this new rod at a slightly incorrect length could cause an actuator malfunction?
Thanks for any input on this

Brian

[Noah930]

Sounds like the actuator. While you're in there, I would also replace that plastic rod. It has broken in 3 of the 4 doors in my ownership experience.

[archstanton]

Good idea. I'll get a new end for the originall rod and put that back in. Thanks for the suggestion. This central locking is a hassle. I don't even care about it!

[gassian]

My driver side door is not locking from outside with key. Central locking is working as well as locking from passenger side
I can unlock woth key but i think unlock is mechanical and not electronic.
I took door card off and looked inside, everything seems connected, rod and all are intact.
Is this a solenoid issie or microswitch?
Any help is appreciated

[gassian]

More pictures

[gassian]

[proporsche]

do use the search option here many topics regarding your problem.In your case it is possibly the micro switch at the door handle is not working...Your model of 911 door handle is opening only by using the micro and manually locking....

here
https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/1090125-1987-911-door-lock-microswitch-issue.html


Ivan

[gassian]

Originally Posted by proporsche

do use the search option here many topics regarding your problem.In your case it is possibly the micro switch at the door handle is not working...Your model of 911 door handle is opening only by using the micro and manually locking....

here
https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/1090125-1987-911-door-lock-microswitch-issue.html


Ivan

thanks Ivan for the link, i really did use the search and stumbled thru other threads but definitely not the one you shared (my bad)
i will take out the door handle and test manually the microswitch and see if it works or not, i hope it is not that plastic sleeve issue