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door lock problem (I searched)

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personaltrainer

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I have power locks on my 86 Jimmy and I'm having trouble with the pass side door lock. The door is closed and WILL NOT unlock. I can not pull the lock up, use the switch or anything. I looked inside and I'm wondering it it is the actuator? if it goes out can it still be lifted using vise grips? I tried that and this thing is not budging - whick leads me to believe that something else is binding somewhere. I see several places that "could" be binding but after 1hour in the sun sweating my ass off - I figured I'd ask ya'll if you had any similar experience.

Is the next step to soak everything in lithium grease and cross my fingers?
Thanks
 
Pull the door panel off. Forcing anything will either break something thats not broken, or not work, neither of which accomplishes anything that doesn't require pulling the door panel.

It's a pretty easy job.
 
door panel has been off, that's how I can see all of the actuator, lock lever etc. I have pulled the door panels a million times - afraid that my problems are gonna be harder than that to fix. Any other ideas?
 
On my truck, and 2 of my buddies trucks with power locks. If they are locked and you try to open the door while inside, they jam. You have to hit the switch a couple times on one of em to unlock it. On mine, its a sequence, 2 ups, down and up and they pop free. On my other buddies though, oh its fun. It involves punching the button jigglin the door, puttin the key in and turning while hittin the button, and alot of cussin. He solved it though, he just never locks his doors now lol.
 
drivers door on my sub does the same thing. I can usually get it to unlock by pulling the inside handle 5 or 6 times really fast. might work?
 
I tried the lock button a million times and jiggled every handle and tried every sequence known to man this afternoon. I think something might be broken? The actuator should mover freely, right? I even took vise grips to try to move it to the "up" position but it would not budge. The actuator has a few pieces that move in sequence when the door is locked/unlocked so I'm not sure what part of the sequence is binding, might not be the actuator. that make sense?

I have to install the guages,dash pad, instrument bezel, glove box, poly meric mastic, tuffy console, stereo, speakers and carpet but I need this freakin door to open so I can get in the pass side of the truck!!! HELP.
 
I used to have my door "jamb" too. Had to do a combo of shorts to unlock it. Lubricating all the moving parts fixed that. And it makes it sound almost like a new door too.

Does the door lock and unlock with a Key? If it does, try checking the tiny plastic piece that is attached to the bottom of the manual finger lock shaft which holds the shaft to the actuator and locking mech. I could hear the actautor work, but because the plastic peice broke everything came detached. The only way I could lock and unlock it was useing the key because it opporates separately. Replace that piece.
 
No key hole on that side. I wish there were. The push button is atached to the rest of the mechanism (the quick nut was missing but I used a zip tie) I guess I'll just lube everything and hope for the best. I don't think that will do it though.
Any other suggestions?? :confused:
 
my drivers door does this also.

i cant lock the door from the inside and then slam it. it jambs then and the key, the power lock button, or the knob are useless then.

i have to pull the panel and stick a screwdriver in and flip up the locking arm.
it sorta sticks midway between locked and unlocked.
 
I would start with getting the door open first, then worry about repairing it. Cut your tie wrap off, disconnect the actuator rod from the locking mechanism and then pull the lock up or manually engage the lock arm on the assembly. Then when your done shave your door handles and get rid of the locks all together like I did.
 
I'll try it but the actuator will not move to the up position. Disconnecting the rod that is connected to the back of the push button won't make any difference (will it?) I'll work on it tomorrow. I HAVE to get this thing opened so I can get on with the interior install.
 
If the actuator won't move enough to disconnect the rod, try unbolting the actuator. If the mechanism itself is seized, try dry silicone spray or white lithium grease spray. I don't remeber if you can unbolt the actuator from the inside or not. Also try the push button on the outside handle when you jiggle the lock knob. In some cases you have to push the button in to lock the door from the outside when closing. You can also try toengage the actuator maually with a makita or other brand drill battery ( 9-12 volts). Disconnect the 2 wires from the actuator and connect 1 lead to positive and 1 to negative and then switch the wires. 1 way will lock and the other will unlock.
 
The actuator is connected to the rod that sticks through the top of the door to lovk unlock manually. I can pull on that rod and nothing happens, I also clamped vise grips on the top of the actuator (just below the connection for the lock rod) and tried to pull it up, nothing. It will not budge. The power locks work fine and the drivers functions great, but the pass. seems to be stuck between up and down. Seems like something else is binding? might not be the actuator at all. Wish I could take pics, but they would not be much help I'm afraid. Maybe I'll just start disconnecting stuff until i can get the door opened, then try to put everything back together.??
 
May want to take a look at the drivers side mechanism and check out the moving parts and compare to the passenger side. Might help with were it may be binding or missing a part. Good luck.
 
I worked on it for another hour today and made little progress. The actuator now works (somehow it started working) but the door still will not unlock. I thought it was the key hole lock that was holding it up and since the door is a junkyard door I do not have the key, so i disconnected the lock from the inside of the door so it moves freely. Still nothing. I can not figure this thing out. Where would you take it to have it looked at. My mechanic is busy and I'm sure doesn't want to deal with it. Can a locksmith get to the bottom of this?
I'd rather fix this myself but I'm not sure what questions to ask in order to get any specific help. I'm reaching the end of my rope with this thing. I proply should not have worked on it tonight after my crappy day at work! enough ranting. thanks for listening. any other ideas are welcomed!!
 
So even with the rod from the key cylinder dissconnected, the lock knob does not move up or down. Does your door handle move freely? Seems like something is wedged in the mechanism. This is starting to frustrate me as well. Sure you do not have a buddy playing a prank on you? In my old shop, we liked to glue and weld stuff together as pranks. This is almost as bad as when I had the key cylinder for my tool box filled with epoxy. If you have bad hinges and a mis-adjusted striker, you can wedge the door shut pretty good. But I am sure you have kicked the door a few times by now. Keep trying. A locksmith may be able to help, but I would explain the situation to him in detail before you pay him to come out. My guess is he will not be able to help unless you get him interested in conquering it.
 
I've actually gotten the lock knob to move up and down (well, I disconnected it but the actuator moves up and down and when I plug the bar from the lock knob into the top of the actuator it will move too.
The handles (both inside and out) move freely and actually feel like they are doing something - you know? they are not just flopping around, they feel like they are unlocking the door.
You think the hinges are mis-alligned? No I have NOT kicked the door yet! Just got it back from the body shop where it got about $4K worth of bodywork and paint, bumbers, etc etc. - so I'll not be kicking her, although I really wanted to yesterday

Maybe I'll try to take some pics today. Any ideas that might come to you are certainly appreciated and welcomed.
 
I had the exact same thing happen to me when I got a truck from out of state (rust bucket of a truck compared to what I am used to). But After a few hours of trying to figure what the hell it was and going through very similar problems that you are I found that one of the pivot points that the actuator pushes on through the rod was completely frozen not allowing me to move it at all. A little bit of break free then cleaned it up and layed on some litium grease and I have never had a problem since. My actuactor was working, it just could not move the rod at all. If you post some pics I can show you what exactly was going on in there with mine. Good luck and dont give up on her yet.
 
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