car door won't unlock - HELP!

[Rÿcher]

I feel like I'm driving a cab again.

The passenger's side door's lock won't unlock. We think it's the internal mechanism and not the keyhole. We can fit the key in the hole and turn it and the lock nub seems to try to raise and when we try to do raise it from the outside with the key and from the inside in tandem it'll raise all the way but the door stays locked. We've tried blasting the heat from the inside and parking in the sunshine but the temperature has been so cold around her that even the sun has little warming effect.

Any mechanically-inclined folks in the house who might know what's going on?

 

[backstept]

try warming it up with a hairdryer and then spray some WD40 in there and work the lock until it feels like it moves smoothly

 

[acappellasaurus]

This has happened to me periodically over a few automobiles I have owned....I recall just flipping the handle on the inside and outside of the door a few times, and that usually did the trick.

 

[trampledamage]

This has happened to me periodically over a few automobiles I have owned....I recall just flipping the handle on the inside and outside of the door a few times, and that usually did the trick.

Me too - my old car used to do that, and I had to flick the outside handle to get it to re-engage.

 

[Australis]

When you say doesn't unlock...

- you mean remote lock?
- you mean internal lock?
- you mean external lock?

Each has different solutions. Apologies if it's obvious to everyone else.

 

[Rÿcher]

- you mean internal lock?
- you mean external lock?

yes

 

[Fist McStrongpunch]

Go to a gas station and get some lock de-icer.

 

[Australis]

Assuming external:
Does the key work in any lock? Does it work in passenger door? If not does it work in boot? Some cars have a way of getting through the boot into the back if the seat folds down, though admittedly that's later models.

Also, WD40 sprayed into the lock, using the red nozzle they supply.

IF internal:
can it be unlocked from the outside with the key?

If none of these work, you'll need someone with some mechanical knowledge to open the door with one of those devices they use when the keys are locked in. Then get them to take off the internal lining and see why it's not working. Sometimes the levering locks up, which sounds like the problem here, rather than the cold.

I only know this because my sons have had to fiddle with stuff. Myself, my mechanical knowledge is pretty woeful .

 

[Outpost4]

I'd recommend against WD-40. It will gunk things up.

Do you need an oil change? Get one. While it's in the shop, if the problem is cold affecting the mechanism, the car will warm up enough for the door locks to work. Then use graphite, available at your local hardware store. Blow it in the lock and the mechanism. It will keep things moving smoothly after that, even when it gets cold.

 

[Rÿcher]

we think the lock is broken. When I turn the key, it'll move all the way to the right as if I'm unlocking it but the nub behind the window glass won't go up bit I notice that the metal rind where the keyhole is in will move out slightly which tells me that it's probably broken.

 

[Australis]

^ Yeah, that sounds right It probably is broken, and that will mean a trip to the mechanic. Let us know what happens.

I agree with I Want A Pony. Except about the WD40 But they're right about the graphite.