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Subject: Door lock mechanisms Author: ambishop as Martin : member since December, 2003 : 3238 posts Posted on: 2005-01-13 21:47:11

Door lock mechanisms - "Jill Cheney"

There is evidently an "earlier" & "later" lock cylinder design. The early one is mostly pot-metal & prone to failure. The later one makes more extensive use of ABS plastic for little lever parts. Its obviously superior in its design, but parts from the two cylinders are not interchangeable. It is possible however to re-key the newer cylinder with wafers from your old lock. I'll get more into this later.
Procedure
1: Remove interior trim pieces
1a) Carefully pry out the mirror control switch from the door handle. It will reveal 2 screws - remove them both then pull the top of the handle towards you to disengage it from the armrest.
1b) Remove the 4 screws on the top edge of the armrest. 2 were revealed by removing the handle, 2 are accessed by opening the compartment in the armrest.
1c) STARTING AT THE BACK, pop out the clips that hold the lower panel to the door. Once they are out you must swing the panel out from the back because it engages the door with a swing-type catch at the front of the door. Removing the panel by starting at the front of the door will break this off.
1d) carefully remove the surround from the door release handle. It slides off to the rear. It is pretty tight & easy to break if the plastic is deteriorating. Be firm but careful with this part.
1e) pop the clips on either end of the middle upholstered trim panel. swing it up from the bottom & pull it down & out from under the top piece.
There is no need to remove the top panel from the door. No additional work space is revealed & the part isn’t designed to be removed with the lock plunger sticking up through it. Just leave it be.
Procedure 2:
Remove Lock Cylinder & Lock Assembly NOTE: don’t disassemble any more of this assembly than you have to get it out. You will want to study it on the workbench to make sure you understand how it works.
2a) Remove as much plastic sheeting as needed to access the mechanism.
2b) Trace the lock heater wiring and disconnect at the plug.
2c) Take off the tiny clip which connects the rod coming down from the lock to the door catch mechanism. Don’t lose the clip.
2d) Remove the 8mm nut which attaches the arm to the inside of the exterior door handle. Take out the arm.
2e) There is a U-shaped clip that secures the heater element/power lock switch to the lock cylinder. Press out the U shaped retaining clip toward the back of the door. This clip is difficult to see at first. The easiest way to get it out is to pry at the front & then get a screwdriver & push it out. It will invariably fall down into the door cavity and you will have to fish it out. You should be getting good at this because the little clip from step 2c probably already fell down there.
2f) The heater element/power lock switch must be moved outwards along the axis of the lock cylinder. You must finesse the heater element/switch assembly to loosen it up from the cylinder. When you get the whole thing out you can study this action more carefully. Basically, the cylinder slides inside the hole in the center of the heating element.
2g) Once the assembly is loosened, rotate the whole thing 90 degrees counter-clockwise (drivers door) to disengage the lock cylinder assembly from the exterior door handle.
2h) It is now apparent how the electric lock switch attaches. Go ahead & remove it so that you can move the whole assembly to the workbench.
If you need to fix the lock cylinder, skip to procedure 4. If you are replacing the exterior handle gasket or fixing a broken handle, go on to procedure 3.
Procedure 3:
Dismounting the evil exterior door handle.
3a) Remove the nut attaching the handle to the body. This nut is located at the front of the handle assembly.
3b) There is a retaining bar which runs between the two pivot points of the door handle (note that the handle & its surround are permanently attached to one another). There is a clip by the rearward pivot which secures the retaining bar. Pry this clip off, trying not to destroy it.
3c) Slide the retaining bar towards the rear & out. The handle will probably fall off now. Be careful, if this hits the ground it will probably break.
3d) Replace the gasket or handle or whatever.
Procedure 4:
Replacing the lock cylinder NOTE: This procedure describes the "early" design with the metal retainer & pot-metal lever arm. I didn’t have to tear up a newer design lock.
4a) If the chrome surround for the key-hole has come off & you still have all the parts, you may be able to re-attach it by taking a nail & re-crimping it to the lock cylinder. I couldn’t, but maybe you are really skillful.
4b) slide out the metal retainer which secures the oblong rod-actuating lever to the lock cylinder. Take special care to observe the how the spring underneath it is seated. You will have to put it back because it will spring off. My metal retainer was mangled, causing my cylinder to spin freely & not actuate the lock. I was not able to fix the retainer, I scavenged one from the used mechanism I had.
4c) Separate the heater/switch element from the cylinder itself. The cylinder may fall apart in your hand or it might be stiff as heck. Check for broken metal tabs at this time.
4d) there are 4 main parts to the cylinder assembly:
1) The rear cap (which attaches with a evil little ball bearing & spring - think of a ratchet/socket retainer) which can be finessed off.
2) the middle housing (mine was yellow in color) which simply pulls of.
3) the main housing, which the other pieces group around. &
4) the lock cylinder itself with its rubber o-ring & integrated trim piece. It is easiest to disassemble this mechanism with a key in the lock (even the wrong key) as it will keep the wafers from falling out.
4e) Once this is all disassembled, compare the old & new cylinders. Note how sliding the correct key in the correct lock causes all the wafer to retract? Good, this is what allows the key to turn & what is going to allow you to reassemble your lock. You can CAREFULLY transfer (one-by-one) your wafers to the new cylinder & this will re-key your new cylinder to work with your car's key.
4f) Place the key in the fixed cylinder and start stacking all this stuff back together. Each part only fits in one way, so pay special attention when you take it apart. The worst part is the rear cap where you must fiddle with the spring & ball to get it to stay.
Step 5:
Reassembly notes
a) First study the action where the lock cylinder slides in & out through the heater/switch assembly.
b) When putting the lock cylinder assembly back in, note that you put the assembly in at the 90 degree position (parallel to the ground) and then rotate it to engage the handle mechanism.
c) the heater/switch assembly must slide completely home (all the way to the inside door skin) before the U-shaped clamp will slide back in.
This whole process took me several hours because I had to stop at many stages & carefully study the assemblies.
Good luck!


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• Door lock mechanisms - Martin 2005-01-13 21:47:11 (1909 views)