Unable to lock passenger door on 911T

[911blex]

I have a 1970 911T I am unable to lock the passenger door on. When attempting to lock the door, I can can only turn the key a very short distance to the left before I feel resistance and am unable to turn the key any further. The feeling I get through the key is that something is interfering with an internal door locking mechanism, keeping it from moving the position required to lock the door.

I am under the impression that an adjustment of some sort would fix the problem, but I have no idea how to go about solving this problem. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Brandon

[KevinP73]

Sounds to me like the outer door handle has been installed out of alignment with the inner mechanism. Has the outer handle been removed recently?

[Christien]

Pull the interior door panel off and just have a look in there. It's surprisingly easy to remove the panel (unscrew the inside door lock post cap and locate the various screws that hold the panel to the door, starting with the top piece). Once you can actually see the handle and lock mechanism, it's pretty clear to see how it all works, so you'd probably be able to figure it out there.

The first time I pulled the interior door panel off I was a bit concerned, but it ended up taking about 5 minutes, so it's no big deal.

[artisticent]

I had the same problem. Its a metal piece that has moved to the wrong side of the catch on the back of the door handle. There is a piece of metal shaped like the letter "U". Then when you turn the key it will toggle another piece of flat metal that moves horizontally in that letter U tipping the "U" to the right for lock and to the left for unlock. Your problem is theat the piece of metal inside the U has moved outside of the "U" to the left. Use a littler force to get it back into the "U" and you are all set.
Make sure you take pics from start to finish and be observant. You will be back in that door for something else.
Goodluck
Nathan

[911blex]

Thank you for all your helpful troubleshooting advice so far. I removed the interior door panel on the passenger door and found that the round-shaped peg that moves when the door key is turned left or right is in between the u-shaped piece of metal that moves to lock and unlock the door.

However, it seems as through the peg is unable to move the u-shaped piece of metal far enough to the left to lock the door. This leaves me with the impression there may be an alignment problem of some sort between the outside door handle and the internal door locking mechanism. I have not removed the door handle since I have owned the car, but this problem did appear after I lubricated the key hole and door jamb latch with Marvel Mystery lubricant.

I should also note that I am only able to move the interior door lock buttons up and down a very short distance. Is it possible that the door lock mechanism problem exists at the area where the interior door lock linkage meets the actual door lock?

Any suggestions as to how I should proceed with troubleshooting and repairing this problem?

Thanks again!

Brandon