Re: Power lock woes on '88 5kCST...

[steveb@newkla.kla.com (Steven Buchholz)]

> Well, it's me again, with another strange problem.  This one involves the
> lock on the passenger side front door.  My power lock mechanism works fine
> when I use the key or the inside lock on the driver's side, locking all the
> doors on the car plus the trunk.  I can also lock all the doors when I push
> the lock from the inside on the passenger's door.  The problem is when I
> use the key on the passenger's door, it locks/unlocks only that one door.
> It even feels "dead" without that vaccuum-assisted feel the other doors
> have.
> 
> What might this be?  Could it just be a bad hose or something?
> 
Greetings Chris!

The problem that you describe is most likely to be electrical or mechanical
in nature.  I doubt that you have a bad vacuum line.  You stated that the
door lock works correctly when activated from the other door.  The reason 
you don't feel the vacuum assist when you use the key is because the bi-
pressure pump is not being activated.  You said that you can actuate the 
power locking mechanism when you lock the doors from the button on the 
passenger door, can you unlock the doors this way also?

I suspect the problem has to do with one of two sources.  The first is that 
the locking mechanism on the passenger door has worn or is misadjusted to 
the point where the lock must be taken to an extreme before the power lock 
system is activated.  The second is very similar, and it would be that the 
actual external (key) lock has worn to the point where it is not able to 
move the lock far enough.  I've never had to work on this on my '88, so I 
can't tell you exactly how the thing works, but if you sit down with the 
Bentley and look in the section on the door locks as well as the appropri-
ate wiring diagram it should be possible to figure the thing out ...

Let me know if you need any further assistance!
Steve Buchholz
s_buchho@kla.com
San Jose, CA (USA)
'88 5kCSQ Avant
'83 QTC (urq)
'78 Fox GTI 4+5
'92 k1
'85 Nighthawk S