Door Locks Jammed?

[extortion00]

1989 Grand Marquis
I have a problem with locking the car only the back doors lock up when pressing unlock on drivers door.. even with the key hole it just wont turn in the lock position on either drivers or passengers door.. moves to unlock but feels jammed when trying to lock. soo i'm guessing i neeed to pull the door panels off and see what's going on.. any idea how to get the panels off without breaking anything?? i never have any luck when it comes to door panels

[gadget73]

Most likely the lock solenoids have failed. They get water in them and seize up, causing the power and manual locks to not work. Only fix is removing them and either leaving them out or replacing them with ones that work.


To get the panels off, get yourself one of those trim removal prybar things with the notch cut in it and use it to bridge the christmas tree things as you remove the panel. Also make sure you have removed all of the screws and such before trying to pop the panel off. I believe there are one or two above the handle inside if you remove the trim piece, and another one or two under the switch panel for the power windows once you remove that. Memory says something about unscrewing the nut around the power mirror switch and then lifting that panel out. I do not quite recall how to get the manual lock rod out of the switch lever inside without breaking it. Probably thats why I've broken a couple of those.

[extortion00]

Thanks i greatly appreciate that

[VicCrownVic]

Yep, lock solenoids went bad on my 89 and I had the same issues you describe.

Take the fake wood grain trim off the armrest, find the rod that goes to the lock indicator, the thing that slides back and forth from lock to unlock on the armrest, and pull that rod down. It's held in place with a tiny, half circle shaped tension clip which can get lost very easily. I don't remember if it's easier to remove the screw on the top of the armrest first before pulling the lock indicator rod, or if it really matters.
After the lock indicator rod is disconnected you will be able to pull up the switch panel from the top of the armrest (edit: pull up the front of it slightly then slide the whole thing to the front of the car and it should then pull straight up) to disconnect all of the switches. I can't seem to remember if there are actual connectors or if you just have to unscrew all of the switches from the switch panel, I know for sure with electric mirrors there is a connector for that (no need to find a spanner socket for removing it).
After the switch panel has been removed from the top of the armrest, remove the rest of the armrest with either 7 or 8mm (5/16 should work if it's 8mm) socket.
Then the trim prybar things (I've never used them and am not sure what they are technically called) for removing all of the christmas tree clips that hold the door panel on, they are all along the out side edge (front, rear, and bottom). A trim prybar with about 1/2 opening or "V" at the end would be my guess of what you would need.
after all of the christmas tree clips have been removed pull the door panel away from the door, it's kind of hard to clear the door handle so you kind of have to force it. Once you have cleared the door handle lift the door panel straight up and you should be able to set it aside at this point.

Now, finally to the lock solenoid, most people will drill out the rivet that holds the solenoid mount in place (I usually don't but my way is more of a PITA so I wont bother going there) after that rivet is out peel back the plastic lining on the door (if you haven't already, some of this can be done before drilling the rivet) and unplug the electrical connection on the bottom of the solenoid and disconnect the rod (easier after drilling the rivet) from the solenoid at the locking mechanism.

[extortion00]

thanks again!!

[P72Crazy]

What's the easiest way to get a door opened up with the actuator locked and frozen up? Can get it to unlock from inside handle or outside with a door key. Please don't tell me the "red wrench" !!

[VicCrownVic]

I'm glad I've never had to deal with that.
For a rear door, take the rear seat cushion out to give yourself some room to work and I think you will be able to get the door panel off. For the front door, even if you remove the seats I think the dash will be in the way preventing you from removing the door panel. It sounds like you're talking about the front, maybe the method with the least amount of damage (but not quick) would be removing the front seat and ripping into the door panel if you can find another door panel (or maybe after you have already located one). Once in the door try to get the rod from the actuator disconnected.

On my 89 if I wanted to unlock my door with the key I had to turn it first to the lock position, then to the unlock position. For some reason it usually did not want to unlock if I just tried to unlock it like normal.

The 3 lock actuators that do work on my 91 are on the way out, the only way to get them to move all the way is to sit and tap the lock or unlock button repeatedly until they reach full lock or full unlock position.

[sly]

go in through another door and pull the handle (only on front doors) enough to pop the door open so you can pull the panel off and work on the actuator. That's the best bet. less stuff gets bent that way.

if it's a rear door, you're going to have to pull up really f'n hard on the lock pin until it'll let you open the door.

[gadget73]

might also help to bump the switch to unlock while trying to pull up the lock knob if its on the back. Probably won't help, but it surely can't hurt any. Basically you just end up cussing at it and forcing the situation though.

[P72Crazy]

Don't put a Panther in storage with the electric door locks locked! DSF is jammed up on my 91. Can get into the car on the PSF and slide over on the bench. So messed up can't unlock it with the inside handle. Guess I'll try removing the speaker and shoot it up with WD or PB in all the orifices!

[TecNickal]

On the box's you can remove the door panel with the door closed, it's easy.

You can also leave the rivet/bracket for the door lock actuator on the door. Just push, pull, prod the actuator off of the bracket. Then you can unhook it from the latch.

Someone on here mentioned drilling a hole in a coke bottle cap, then use that as an umbrella for the actuator by sliding it down the shaft of the actuator rod.

My 91's passenger door latch has some issue with the locking mechanism. even though teh door is unlocked, the door lock some how is engaging so the secondary latch catches when I try to open from the outside, so I have to hold the lock cylinder in the unlock position hard while pulling the door handle. Got a new latch to install, probably rust. And that's with no actuator connected.

[miamibob]

I would still remove the rivet. I have never found it easy to get the actuator off the bracket. I still think it is worth it to remove the entire assembly and start fresh.

[sly]

flat screwdriver... get it wedged between the bracket and peg on the actuator... work that thing out... just getting one side free will let you get the door open to get at everything easier.