[V8] Door locks

[Phil Rose]

At 11:44 AM -0700 2/6/04, Ed Kellock wrote:
>Well, recently both linkages on my 200 have broken within 2 days of 
>each other (unfortunately while the car is on loan to a friend...). 
>So after 7 years of type 44 ownership, I'm finally going to get 
>familiar with the repair procedure.  Afterwards, I'll put on my 
>to-do list the investigation (and lubrication) and possible repair 
>of the linkage on my V8's driver's door.  It may be a while, but it 
>would sure be nice to have the functionality that Dave has, if it 
>turns out that mine is merely broken.

One additional point to keep in mind when troubleshooting the 
operation of the door-lock mechanism: there is a small plastic 
housing atop the lock cylinder containing the electrical switching 
mechanism. The housing can become loose and interfere with proper 
electrical operation of the system.

I discovered that fact after I replaced the broken pot-metal gear-arm 
on the lock cylinder of my '91 200q. I tested the "arming/disarming" 
operation before reattaching the door panel and found that it was 
somewhate erratic. Sometimes it worked fine and other times the alarm 
"beep" didn't sound. I discovered that the cause of this erratic 
behavior was that--as the lock switch was turned--the plastic housing 
was stressed and flexed apart; this created some "slack" in the 
mechanism which could prevent the switch from making contact.  I 
reinforced the housing by snugging it up with some turns of wire (or 
I may have  used a nylon wire-tie, I don't recall the details). This 
worked fine for about 3 years. But over the past 6 months, I think 
that this little plastic housing has started to loosen again, since 
when I lock the car (driver's side) I need to maintain the key 
CC-wise for several extra seconds (with some extra force) in order 
for the "alarm "beep" to operate. Unlike Dave's situation, I have no 
trouble with unlocking, nor getting the other door locks to function 
normally.

Anyway, it's someting to look out for--next time you're "in there".

Phil
-- 

Phil Rose
Rochester, NY
mailto:pjrose at frontiernet.net