Hi all, I am kind of new here. My driver's door lock stopped turning today. I sprayed some WD40 inside the lock and now the key rotates freely in one direction, but won't rotate much in the other. Sounds like something a lock kit would fix. However, the problem is that I can't open the door. Also, the plastic pin (no idea how it is called, the one that shows whether the door is locked or not) now goes only half way up when I unlock the car. I tried both the inside and outside door handle. The outside one achieves nothing, the inside one when pulled lifts the plastic pin all the way up, but still can't open the door. When I release the inside handle, the pin goes back to only half way up. I found a post about pulling the pin up and while holding it up to try and open with the outside handle, but still no luck. Any ideas how to open the door? 

so is the issue that it wont unlock or its unlocked but cant open the door?

 

If its unlocked and handle doesn't open the door, remove the plastic surround around the lock and then pull the tab that is the pulley for the car handle mechanisim, then either pulling will open the door from the outside, if not then realising this should allow the inner door handle to open.

Thanks, I will give it a try.

 

As for the door lock status - when I lock/unlock the car, the door's plastic pin moves up (only half way) and down, so I guess it gets unlocked. Is there a way to tell for sure (except reading diagnostic codes)? It used to open fine while the key wouldn't turn. After spraying WD40 in the lock, the key started turning after a bit of fiddling, but it doesn't stop after 90 degrees - it turns indefinitely when going counter-clockwise (for locking), but stops soon after I start turning it clockwise. When the key started turning again, the door stopped opening.

Is it the same when using key to unlock, and then is it the same when manually lifting it?

 

After you get it open, i would suggest the first thing to do is get the door card off and see whats going on, if nothing is visable you may then need to remove that metal door cover/ remove glass, undo the lock from the centre etc and get to all the handle/ lock mechanism. The popup lock button thing can come out of the plastic clip on the lock mechanism ... but its bit of a pain in the arse to get to, i believe most of the metal surrounds are riveted in, you maybe lucky like me and find there bolted. Ive just replaced my electric window motor and pulleys, lock removal was needed, so its quiet fresh in my head :P

Thanks for the info. I finally managed to get the door open. The only way is by repeatedly pressing the central unlock button (next to the window controls) and pulling the outside handle at the same time. After a few rapid button presses and handle pulls, the door opens. I did some more reading and I just had a garage look at it and I am 99% sure that lock's paddle is broken and a simple lock kit for a few quid will solve it. The garage asked 100£ for that, so DIY it is. From what I understood, to replace the lock paddle I just need to remove the TX bolt on the side of the door and the lock can be pulled out. Will that be enough to replace the paddle and fit the lock back in or will I need to remove the door panel? Any tips will be greatly appreciated!

Edited 6 November, 201510 yr by xlr8

Thanks for the info. I finally managed to get the door open. The only way is by repeatedly pressing the central unlock button (next to the window controls) and pulling the outside handle at the same time. After a few rapid button presses and handle pulls, the door opens. I did some more reading and I just had a garage look at it and I am 99% sure that lock's paddle is broken and a simple lock kit for a few quid will solve it. The garage asked 100£ for that, so DIY it is. From what I understood, to replace the lock paddle I just need to remove the TX bolt on the side of the door and the lock can be pulled out. Will that be enough to replace the paddle and fit the lock back in or will I need to remove the door panel? Any tips will be greatly appreciated!

just replace the lock, I'd guess that might be on its way out so might be better off changing it while you can get the door open. (use the search, loads posts on this)

 

I would also get the door card off ASAP as if the lock gives in (and it sounds like it might) your have to destroy the door card to replace it.

Thank you all for the help. I finally resolved the issue. Turned out that one of the two pieces used to constrict the key turning to +90/-90 degrees was broken. My suggestion for anyone having this issue is to order at least 2 sets of lock kits from different vendors. I got one from Ebay and the top bit (U shaped) that keeps everything in place won't fit because the inside of the U shape is a bit taller than the original part, so it can't slide in. I tried removing the rubber isolation ring to save some space, but it still isn't enough. I had to resort to using the original part, which got a hairline crack while I was getting it out, so the situation is not ideal.