Ok, I have a 1997 AMG C36 with that annoying first generation keyless entry. The rear driver side door will not lock but will occasionally lock when Press the key fob. Each time I press to lock/unlock the doors, I hear what sounds like an air leak from that door. I was wonderif it was the actuator that has broken or is it something more serious?

Thanks for the help :)

P.S. how hard is it to take off that rear door? Any pointers? I'm gonna check if it's a vacuum hose leak or something. Maybe have to bust out "Mr. Epoxy" hehe or duct tape, which ever is more handy :P

[Edited by Rocky on 07-03-2001 at 02:06 PM]

Either a leaking vacuum line or a leaking evaporator.
The doorpanel is rather easy to remove.
Take out the plastic trim behind the door handle and remove the Philips screw behind it.
Remove the Philips screw in the plastic trim around the door lock.
Remove the Philips screw in the underside of the armrest (small hole visible from underneath).
Remove the Philips screw in the underside of the speaker grating and remove grating and speaker.
The underside and left/right side of the door panel are clamped to the door with plastic plugs; pull these gently out (straight forward). The top of the door panel is held by steel clamps along the window and needs to be pulled vertically upwards.
Disconnect the window switch from behind when the door panel is loose.

greetingz,

Weird... I had/have the same problem in my driver's side rear door! I was able to diagnose the problem when I took off the door panel. (I noticed the problem because the door would unlock about 5 seconds after the rest of them, and I could hear air escaping. The vacuum pump would also stay on longer to fix the loss of vacuum, or so I'm guessing).
Well I took off the door panel and could hear the air escaping not from the vacuum line, but a black rubbery peice that connects the vacuum line to the mechanism (actuator?). Well I noticed that when I pushed on this black thing, that the air could barely escape. So I shoved something (I think a fuse puller?) between the black peice and the inner of the door frame, thus pushing on the actuator (?). It solved my problem, and has stayed that way for about 4 months now. I expected only a temp fix (knock on wood, burl or zebrano of course!) and I seemed to have gotten a permanent one, or so we'll see.
Anyway, take off your panel and let us know what you come up with.

Thanks for the help guys. I seriously hope it's not a big problem and it won;t cost an arm and a leg to repair.

I'm still puzzled as how to remove the rear driverside door panel as I was looking for screws to remove and I don;t see any. I'm afraid to pull that door panel off fearing I might break or snap something.

I guess i'll have to take another look today and hopefully be able to remove that door panel and see whats going on.

Thanks again.

Ok got the door off...I follwed the instructions on taking the door apart. One missing instruction was that you have to take the door handle lining off to access a screw to take the door apart. Got stuck ont hat for about 30 min. Anyways here's what I found.

A yellow vacuum line was leaking and I tugged on it a little and it snapped. Well the yellow line was about to snap giving the size of the cut.

My problem is that the area where the yellow line is cut open is very very close to the connector thingie that leads all the wires from the door to the body of the car. You know...inside that rubber accordian lookign thing. How how do I replace that yellow vacuum line or so I have to take the whole car apart just to rplaces that line?