I'm having a big problem with my doors

[dgouge773]

It was -24 today with windchill and my car is basically useless right now. It has power locks. I tried to unlock the driver's door, and the lock didn't turn all the way. I didn't want to twist the key so I tried prying on the door and used some lock de-icer. I pulled the handle again and it it gave way and went straight up, so I'm thinking a rod came loose in the door panel. The same thing happened on the passenger side with the exception of my key being twisted. So how it is right now, the car is locked, both locks aren't working, and the door handles slipped loose from the inside. A lot of people are probably having this problem or did before, so what can I do to fix it? Thanks.

[91grandmarquis]

If you can get in to take the door apart you can disconnect the rod from the lock lever to use them manually, probably bad lock solenoids ive got the same problem with my passenger door but it just stays unlocked.

[dgouge773]

I wish I could leave my doors unlocked but there are too many kids around here that would try to steal it. Right now I just need to get in and I can't find out how I'm going to.

[merc91]

lol yeh for me its my passenger door that hasn't liked the -15 celcuis for the last while. My friends have to ride in the back seat and it's retarded with that door not working. I tried it all than as a last resort i had to take some boiling water out and pump it in with a plastic syringe for 15 min until it opened, than blasted in the WD-40 and lock de-icer which kept it working until it warmed up again and new mositure got in and now its all frozen again but frozen unlocked this time.

[dgouge773]

So when I can manage to get inside the car, what rod can I take out so it won't get stuck again? Is it a rod for the power locks?

[91grandmarquis]

Yup it goes from the solenoid to the lock switch, if the solenoid doesnt work its going to be very hard to manually move that lever, but i believe that you can manually lock the door if this is disconnected, though i may be wrong.

Also about my doors being unlocked, its a college town and shit gets broken into once in a while, i dont care about my cheap head unit, and i dont leave anything in my car as it looks messy.

[91grandmarquis]

on a side note I want merc 91s car.

[dgouge773]

Yeah, Merc91 has one of the cleanest GM's I've ever seen. Nice stance too.

[packman]

I had that problem last year with my mom's CV. I wasn't all that smart as I poured warm-ish water over the handle which loosened everything up enough to not do any damage. Though in retrospect, pouring warm water over something that's below freezing could have potentially caused some damage.



Packman

[gadget73]

You can't really take the rod out for the lock solenoid. Its much easier to pull the entire solenoid out.

[91grandmarquis]

Where can i get a replacement? I know its the solenoid that is bad and i should have fixed it with the window, but im thinking that im going to take the door apart again in the spring to fix that as it bugs me.

[gadget73]

i get OEM ones off ebay. Not a fan of the offshore replacement units.

[andymac0035]

I had my drivers door (outer) handle freeze up tonight. I can open it from the inside though.
Are those soleniods the door poppers? I'm definitly grabbing those on my winter slavage project.

[gabegt90]

yeah these cars don't like the cold weather lol that happend to me last winter the drivers door handle would freeze up. I put a replacement door on it's a manual lock door. so what I did was took a hot glass of water and pour it on the handle and it opened although I'm not sure that's the right thing to do but I didn't want to brake something the passenger side I know will not open because the lock solenoid will be frozen lol

[91grandmarquis]

So is the root of the problem moisture freezing in the solenoid when the seal wears out? or do they just go bad, i know mine is bad because it started last winter and no longer worked over summer.