Now the key will lock and unlock the door - 81 300SD

[tyl604]

For about a year now my key would lock the doors but would not unlock the drivers side; I had to unlock the passenger side door and climb across the front seat to unlock the driver's door. Pretty embarassing.

Thought it was the tumblers in the door lock so I removed the lock this weekend. Took it to a locksmith; he turned the key back and forth in the lockset and said there was nothing wrong with the tumblers and that the lockset was working fine. Headed back home.

Finally saw that the unlocking mechanism is a plastic piece which goes through a hole in a metal flange; when you turn the key, the plastic pulls the flange and the door unlocks. Over the years the plastic had worn down some and it slipped out of the hole. I just bent the flange back a little and reinserted the plastic in the hole and it works again. Cost - zero.

Hope this helps someone out there who thinks he might need to buy a new lock to solve the problem.

[thayer]

Awesome!

As soon as I get it back from the import place I'm going to try that solution. could you send me a bit more detailed description of what you did?

[compu_85]

When I got my SDL that white piece was broken, someone probably tried to lock the drivers door when it was open.

-Jason