Puzzling door lock.: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Aug. 19, 2008 1:35 p.m. corsepervita New Reader

So my little 924 is driving me nuts.

On the driver's side door the door will lock. But only once the door is closed.

For instance i can open the door, lock the door on passenger side, close the door. Locked.

When the door is open on the driver's side it will not lock when the door is open. Nor will it unlock when it is open. Closed though? It'll do whatever.

The only way to unlock it is to get inside is from the window (I guess i could jump in the car dukes of hazard style) ... or the other side. Once the door is closed it will lock and unlock when i want it to. It's strange. The lock appears slightly kinked sideways a tad too...

I haven't pulled off the door panel yet. Any things I should look for? My friend thinks it's part of a vacuum seal or something like that (he said these cars are vacuum locked? never dealt with that before, never even heard of it...)
Aug. 19, 2008 1:37 p.m. Salanis Dork

Has it just developed this behavior? Frequently car companies build their locking mechanisms to do this to prevent people from locking their keys in the car.
Aug. 19, 2008 1:38 p.m. corsepervita New Reader

It's been this way since I bought it. I'm confused, if it was designed this way how would one lock the car and get out without crawling out the other side of the car?
Aug. 19, 2008 1:41 p.m. corsepervita New Reader

Nevermind, a friend just clarified that it only locks with a key. Now I feel like a retard. Never had a car that locked that way.

Touché.

T3h Fail. (before anyone else says it)
Aug. 19, 2008 1:43 p.m. rob_lewis Dork

When it's closed, can you lock it with the key?

If so, then that's by design. If not, then there's a problem with the tumbler.

-Rob
Aug. 19, 2008 1:44 p.m. corsepervita New Reader

rob_lewis wrote:

When it's closed, can you lock it with the key?

If so, then that's by design. If not, then there's a problem with the tumbler.

-Rob

Haven't tried it. I will try it when I get home. If it works I'm going to feel like an idiot haha.

If it is the tumbler (if it has an issue), is this something i can take the lock out of the door and bring to a locksmith?
Aug. 19, 2008 1:53 p.m. Salanis Dork

Also, many Japanese cars have a system where you can lock the driver's door while it's open, but you need to hold the handle when you close it. That extra step is to make you think before locking your keys inside. I think I've only seen that on Japanese cars.

Yes, you should be able to lock it with a key.
Aug. 19, 2008 2:40 p.m. fiat22turbo SuperDork

The bonus is that those are Rabbit door handles. Be prepared to replace them and do not keep anything valuable in the car as they are incredibly easy to break into as the handle just pops off (sometimes it will do it all by itself, heh)
Aug. 19, 2008 2:40 p.m. confuZion3 HalfDork

Salanis might be onto something. Open the door, lock it, and close it while holding the outside door handle in the open position (if it's a button, depress it; if it's a handle, lift it / pull it).
Aug. 19, 2008 2:43 p.m. corsepervita New Reader

I just got my butt handed to me on the 924 boards.

924 boards said:1980 Toofah Owner's Manual, p. 11 wrote: Doors . . . - The driver's side door can only be locked from the outside with the key. This precaution was taken to prevent locking the driver's door while the key is still inside the car

Rabbit door handles? Just like the flipped rabbit steering rack eh? Lots of rabbit parts. I always had a joke to my friends that for E36 M3s and giggles i'd drive a diesel rabbit that had the paint stripped off with a rattlecan paint job that said "Type YARRRRR" with a pirate flag flying from it for autox. Sounds like i'm halfway there! Haha ok just kidding...
Aug. 19, 2008 4:13 p.m. fiat22turbo SuperDork

My uncle got his DSP GLH doors blown off by a turbocharged A1 Rabbit diesel fully prepped for DSP.

So on the right course, and the right amount of work, it can work very nicely. With the newer TDi parts that could be a lot of fun ;)

Don't sweat it, it isn't like you had an owners manual and they really weren't being mean about it :)
Aug. 20, 2008 12:31 a.m. NYG95GA Dork

I worked as a locksmith for over 20 years, and unlocked a LOT of cars. I was never called to unlock a 924.

This is why.

Also, IIRC my '74 124 Fiat had the same system.
Aug. 20, 2008 12:37 a.m. mad_machine SuperDork

as does the BMW E36.

the fiat spider is impossible to lock without the door being closed. This is due to the fact that you must push the inner door handle down to lock it from the inside (you pull upwards to open the door)
Aug. 20, 2008 1:15 a.m. gunner New Reader

the toyota corolla for 2001 (presumably at least 98-02 as well) with automatic door locks, will not allow you to lock the drivers door with the key in the ignition and the driver door open. but will allow it with the key out of the ignition. cool feature in a similar vein I think. If you push the automatic door lock or try to push down the door lock in those circumstances, the locks (all of them) pop back open.