Door lock problem

[Randy McCall]

Still Stumped... (but understanding how it all works a bit better)

I spent another three hours trying to disassembling, reassembling and 
testing repeatedly, with no resolution yet.  I removed the innner panel, 
and the bolted on inner door bracket to get a better view of the locking 
rods and plastic parts that make them work, and nothing at all looked 
out of place or broken.  I disconnected the bowden cable and the removed 
the outer door rod link, removed the door lock, cleaned and regreased, 
and verified that all functions seemed to work correctly and smoothly.   

In no way do I see how replacing the window regulator could have 
disturbed the components of the locking system and inner door 
handle/lock system, unless one of the plastic pivots might have been 
damaged, and since all are far from where the window regulator goes, its 
kind of mysteriously simoultaneous.  I was able to leave the window in, 
and did not remove the window frame.  All that went in and out was the 
regulator, so alignment was not that difficult (I had marked the bolts).

There looks to be no adjustments of the locking rods and pivots - other 
than wear, and nothing that I removed looked worn to any great degree.  
The bowden cable from the inner door handle works smoothly with no burrs 
or visible defects, and when the door stays unlocked, the innner handle 
works like butter.

Only when I depress the lock switch does the trouble start - the lock 
button starts down smoothly as in the in the old days a few weeks ago, 
then seems to catch about midway and then release before fully 
depressing and doing its thing operating the other locks;  I did this 
while peering into the guts of the door, I could see no obvious catching 
of any plastic pivot and rod, or part on any other part.  But it is a 
pretty tough place to view, even with mirrors, so I could have missed 
something.  Once door button is depressed the first time, it operates 
smoothy each time provided you haven't opened the door.  However, the 
innner door handle now has ceased to be useful and provides no feedback 
that its levering the door lock switch.  I have to use the outer handle 
to open the door.  Once I've opened the door with the outside handle 
happens everything reverts back to normal operations and the inner 
handle works just fine thank you very much......

I'm leaning towards replacement of the plastic clips shown in the family 
album as a first step in the process.  I may try a different door lock 
from the local Sacramento yard as well....

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'll post when I get it right...

-Randy
'91 200 20V TQA - 132K







Kneale Brownson wrote:

>Sounds like you got some of the linkages misaligned when you put it back
>together after working on the glass.  There are some pix of door interior
>on Chris Miller's 200q20v site:  http://members.aol.com/c1j1miller/    You
>may have to put "lock repair" in the search box and click on the first result.
>
>At 03:23 PM 11/18/2004 -0800, Randy McCall wrote:
>  
>
>>I recently replaced a window regulator that had broken.  That problem is 
>>now no big deal, but the door lock and inside door lever are now 
>>exhibiting a new behavior I've not seen before, and is so far 
>>undiagnosed.....  
>>
>  
>