My door won't open from the outside - w/ pics

[crashr]

Hi Folks,

I am trying to fix my passenger door which hasn't worked properly for quite some time now. Here are a few pictures of the inner mechanism.





The door can be opened from the inside when unlocked but won't open from the outside unless I use my key to unlock the door (even if it is unlocked). Then I can open it for one maybe two times normally until it goes back to acting like it is locked again.

Another unusual thing is that the door lock knob (1975 model) drops down almost flush with the door top, making it difficult to pull back up.

I have taken some pictures of the inner door mechanism. From what I can tell when you push the door trigger from the outside the small mechanism in the top left of the picture pushes down on the white arm which then opens the door mechanism. What seems to be happening is that after you press the trigger the white arm isn't returning all the way back to its initial position. It sits a little bit forward, which I believe is similar to the position when the door has been locked.

I am wondering if there is some spring or other device which I may be missing which assists in returning that peice to a starting position. Let me know if you have any ideas or see anything unusual.

Thanks,

[Mitch Leland]

Dennis,

I guess you're not too anxious to take your driver's door apart to compare the two mechanism? Have you oiled your lock first off to be sure all the parts are moving properly?

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Dennis,

I would suggest cleaning the assembly to remove all the dirt and old lubricant, applying fresh lubrication, and operating several times to ensure the lubrication has been able to get everywhere. One of the things old cars suffer is a lack of proper lubrication. This is where I would start (as Mitch has pointed out).

[crashr]

Is there a way to remove the entire mechanism from inside the door? From my picture I see two lock nuts. Is that all that holds this mechanism in place?

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Dennis,

I am not familiar with your model.

What I have done in the past is to use a spray cleaner and toothbrush. Be careful to read what might damage your vehicle, remove paint, etc. WD-40 can work great for cleaning some things out, but again check your warning labels. Wear eye protection!!!!

If you are doing this as a remove and clean (better route) you might get a good indication by looking at the PET parts diagram to see where all the attachments are located.

Best,

[crashr]

Thanks for the advice folks. I ended up removing the mechanism to give it a thorough cleaning with WD40, and then some lithium grease. I also took some time to examine the entire device to see why it wasn't functioning properly. To close out this thread I will describe what the issue was to hopefully help anyone else in the future with this problem.



If you take a look at the picture above at the red circled area you will see a gap between the two mechanisms. This gap should not be there, in fact there is a small circlip which holds these two peices together. I pushed the peices back together, and was lucky enough to find a new circlip that fit sitting around. Problem solved, the door now works perfectly. Sometimes the simplest things can cause the biggest headaches. I wish I had fixed this a year ago when it first occurred.

Cheers,