Folks,

After I searched and found nothing relevant, I decided to post here because the car itself qualifies, if not necessarily the question.

My W201, 1984, 190d has a door lock problem, and I am at a loss for a cause/explanation/solution (easy).....

A couple of months ago the drivers door ceased to open from the outside....I have never, yet, gotten the key to operate this door.....but when the interior locking device on the drivers door is operated...all of the other locks also actuate. I quit driving this car, but was occasionally looking into this.....but found nothing obviously wrong.....

I began accessing the car by way of the Left Rear Door.

A couple of weeks ago, the Left Rear became inoperable from the outside.

I then began to enter thru the Right Front, but it also became unoperable after a few openings.....

All doors open from the interior.....

3 doors will not operate from the exterior.....

I have investigated the Air/Vacuum pump under the Right Rear Seat.....all voltages are good, all door locks actuate from drivers door......

Key works in Right Front, still door is inop......but, I figured co-incidence maybe.....figured that perhaps the little finger on the outside handle that grabs the Door Latching Mechanism must have broken on all 3 doors.....so I removed the Right Front lock and handle....all is fine, nothing broken......

I have Drivers Door open on the interior side.....I cannot unlatch the door with the lever that the outside handle operates.......

Is there anything that I have overlooked that would be common to all of the non-working door latches?

Is it possible that I have had 3 latch mechanism failures within a few months, and 2 within a week or so?

Any input will be helpful.....I have a parts car, and have already removed the front locks and handles....will remove all door latches when it quits raining.....but I hate to do all of that, if I don't have to..!!

Thanx,
SB

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Diesels:
'85 300D, "Max, Blue Benz", 155K, 27.0 MPG
'84 190D 2.2, "Eva, Brown Benz", 142K, 40.2 MPG
'77 240D (parts car)
'67 Eicher ES 202 Tractor "Otto" (2cyl, Air Cooled, 30HP)
Gassers:
'94 Ford F-150, "Henry", 170K (300 Six) 17.5 MPG
'85 190E 2.3, 148K....Parts Car
'58 Dodge W300M Powerwagon (Flat Fenders) Less than 10 MPG

It is possible, especially if you haven't bothered to grease the locks with any regularity. Have you tried the local MB Mechanic?

Take one of your old latches out and inspect. I had a very similar problem with my w124. There is a tiny piece of metal on the latch that will bend, making the outside handle inoperable. 3 doors? what a pain in the a@$

The closest MB mechanic is at least 60 miles from here.....and why would I want to spend $80/hr to repair a door latch on a $600.00 car.....when I have a $150.00 parts car to rob stuff from......

The latches appear to work fine, excepting from the outside hand lever.......will re-read the MB lube spec sheet and see if I have missed anything there......

The actual lock on the drivers door is frozen, and it is well lubed, trust me....Lock Ease, Blaster, Kroil.....runs down the door at the moment......have heated it with an electric heat gun.....am afraid to try anything hotter like a butane torch....

Thanx for the thought...
SB

__________________

Diesels:
'85 300D, "Max, Blue Benz", 155K, 27.0 MPG
'84 190D 2.2, "Eva, Brown Benz", 142K, 40.2 MPG
'77 240D (parts car)
'67 Eicher ES 202 Tractor "Otto" (2cyl, Air Cooled, 30HP)
Gassers:
'94 Ford F-150, "Henry", 170K (300 Six) 17.5 MPG
'85 190E 2.3, 148K....Parts Car
'58 Dodge W300M Powerwagon (Flat Fenders) Less than 10 MPG

I am a bit unclear on what works/does not work. If you are saying that the key turns in the lock but will not raise/lower the button lock thing on the inside of the door I had that problem. There is a small metal key attached to the lock cylinder that plugs into the door latch system. If you have a spare door lock then you can swap them.

If you pull the key cylinder out you will see the key I am referring too.

If this is not the problem, I don't know what else to say. This is all I have.

__________________
Sent from an agnostic abacus

2014 C250 21,XXX my new DD ** 2013 GLK 350 18,000 Wife's new DD**

- With out god, life is everything.
- God is an ever receding pocket of scientific ignorance that's getting smaller and smaller as time moves on..." Neil DeGrasse Tyson
- You can pray for me, I'll think for you.
- When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

Everything appears to work fine......as far as the Central Locking System goes.

I have 3 doors that will not open from the outside hand lever. All doors work fine from the interior.

Only the drivers door key/lockset does not operate....BUT....from the interior when one operates the lock button (push/pull) all door mechanisms actuate.....and this has always worked well even though I cannot unlock that door with a key........

The Passenger front door key operates the lockset as designed but door will not open from the exterior hand lever.

The Driver side rear door does not operate from the exterior hand lever......push/pull button moves up and down with drivers door lock......as it should, but the door still will not open from the outside.

Passenger side rear door is the only door that is fully functional.......

Thanx,
SB

__________________

Diesels:
'85 300D, "Max, Blue Benz", 155K, 27.0 MPG
'84 190D 2.2, "Eva, Brown Benz", 142K, 40.2 MPG
'77 240D (parts car)
'67 Eicher ES 202 Tractor "Otto" (2cyl, Air Cooled, 30HP)
Gassers:
'94 Ford F-150, "Henry", 170K (300 Six) 17.5 MPG
'85 190E 2.3, 148K....Parts Car
'58 Dodge W300M Powerwagon (Flat Fenders) Less than 10 MPG

I find it interesting that they failed one at a time. I think its a vacuum issue of some kind. The door farthest from the rear vaccum pump failed first, then the one next farthest (drivers rear), then passenger front, leaving only the one closest to the pump still working. It doesnt make a lot of sense, since default position is unlocked/no vacuum. But I have a hard time believing that three door latches all failed mechanically, one at a time.

Can a slow vacuum leak contribute to this problem. Probably not. But could the pump be working too well? So much vacuum the actuators cant hold it back?

I had/have exactly the same thought process.....but I have ruled out the Vacuum Issue......I think..!!!!

I have swapped pumps with the one from the "parts car".....both are working and both have the same results....in fact, I went to the vacuum pump first, and went thru the "go-no go" troubleshooting procedure as set forth in the W201 MB CD......all voltages are within tolerance.....did not rig the "MityVac" into the system because all doors actuate with an obvious click....so I "assume" that there is plenty of Vacuum/pressure.....

Note: I thought that the "failed" position was whatever the last command from the drivers door was.....and then "if locked" you need a key......

Thanx,
SB

__________________

Diesels:
'85 300D, "Max, Blue Benz", 155K, 27.0 MPG
'84 190D 2.2, "Eva, Brown Benz", 142K, 40.2 MPG
'77 240D (parts car)
'67 Eicher ES 202 Tractor "Otto" (2cyl, Air Cooled, 30HP)
Gassers:
'94 Ford F-150, "Henry", 170K (300 Six) 17.5 MPG
'85 190E 2.3, 148K....Parts Car
'58 Dodge W300M Powerwagon (Flat Fenders) Less than 10 MPG

Since I have the exterior "Hand Levers" off of both front doors.....I sprayed the locking mechanism with "PB Blaster"....the upper portion that can be hit after you remove the lockset......and now both front doors can be operated from the outside.....

I have the drivers locking mechanism from the parts car on my work table.....I can not see anything that would hang up due to lack of lube.....but there must be something in there that does......

Will spray it down with graphited "Lock Ease", before I reassemble.....

Thanx to all who replied here, you folks on this forum are great......

SB

__________________

Diesels:
'85 300D, "Max, Blue Benz", 155K, 27.0 MPG
'84 190D 2.2, "Eva, Brown Benz", 142K, 40.2 MPG
'77 240D (parts car)
'67 Eicher ES 202 Tractor "Otto" (2cyl, Air Cooled, 30HP)
Gassers:
'94 Ford F-150, "Henry", 170K (300 Six) 17.5 MPG
'85 190E 2.3, 148K....Parts Car
'58 Dodge W300M Powerwagon (Flat Fenders) Less than 10 MPG

I have had the same problem intermittently on one of my 190D's back doors for about 5 or 6 years. If I take it apart to see what is wrong, I can't find anything. When I put it back together (after doing nothing to it), it works fine again for a while. If you find the cause of the problem, be sure to post it here!

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1989 250TD Wagon 5-speed, 160,000mi ::: Dark gray metallic / black cloth
1984 190D-2.2 5-speed, 287,000mi ::: Silver-blue metallic / black MB-tex ::: SOLD

SB,

can you tell us how to remove the 'lockset' and if your doors are still working?

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