Drivers Door Lock Problems

[StevePem]

Hi All,

I posted this on mg_rover.org but did not get much of a response so thought I would see if anyone in SMS had experienced similar. I am particularly concerned that the lock may fail altogether as it seems the only way to get access then is to destroy the door card.
A few days ago the drivers side door lock started playing up. It started by occassionally either not locking or not unlocking on the remote control button and now it will not operate at all using the remote. The passenger side still works fine.

Are these symptoms of impending total failure? Locks and unlocks fine with the key still.

Any advice or theories?

[Tony]

Can you hear the motor trying to operate when the lock doesn't? if not it would suggest a loose connection somewhere or possible a failing locking motor. If you can hear it, then something in the mechanism must be loose or misaligned. Either way, I'd guess it could fail completely at any time so I'd recomend further investigation sooner rather than later.
Hopefully it's just something simple thats come loose and can be fixed easily rather than the motor needing to be replaced.

[StevePem]

Thanks Tony.

No, there is no noise, when it does not work it is silent. At first I even thought it may just be damp in on the connections or something as when the problem first started late last week, it worked much more often than it did not.

In fact over the weekend it seemed fine again and then on Sunday evening it started playing up again and since Monday morning has not worked at all.

The central locking works fine when I lock/unlock using the key so all the other connections must be ok, must be either the solenoid/motor itself or a connection to that.

I am at Longbidge Saturday so hope everything lasts out untill Sunday when I can have a look.

Cheers
Steve

[StevePem]

Perhaps I should bring some tools on Saturday, there will be no shortage of experts at Longbridge!

[Rich]

Sounds like exactly the same problem I had with my passenger door. After talking to several people I had come to the conclusion I would have to rip the door card to pieces to get to the lock. I could hear the solenoid but it was very lethargic. I even had another door card lined up for the rebuild. I decided to leave it as I was taking the car off the road for a while anyway, but when I went to unlock the car to retrieve my CD case, it suddenly sprung to life and has worked perfectly every time since!

Rich

[Tony]

The central locking works fine when I lock/unlock using the key so all the other connections must be ok, must be either the solenoid/motor itself or a connection to that.

If it's the motor thats failing then using the key will prevent that side from having to do any work so the system would appear to work fine even if it isn't.

There should certainly be a few experts at Longbridge on Saturday. Are you travelling up with SMS?

[StevePem]

Yes, intending to join the convoy

[StevePem]

Sounds like exactly the same problem I had with my passenger door. After talking to several people I had come to the conclusion I would have to rip the door card to pieces to get to the lock. I could hear the solenoid but it was very lethargic. I even had another door card lined up for the rebuild. I decided to leave it as I was taking the car off the road for a while anyway, but when I went to unlock the car to retrieve my CD case, it suddenly sprung to life and has worked perfectly every time since!

Rich

Hopefully it will get sorted while I can still open the drivers door! The annoying thing is I had a pair of doorcards that I took out when I fitted the Grenadine interior. The ones I took out had bright leather pods which I advertised. I only wanted to sell the pods and keep the rest of the cards, just in case, but the guy who bought them persuaded me to sell the cards complete - ho hum!

[Nick]

Might be worth getting a spare lock bought just in case (you dont want to be deadlocked out), it's actually surprisingly easy to swap over anyway (although the drivers side is a little bit more complex) and I'll help do it at the next pub meet if you want?

[StevePem]

Might be worth getting a spare lock bought just in case (you dont want to be deadlocked out), it's actually surprisingly easy to swap over anyway (although the drivers side is a little bit more complex) and I'll help do it at the next pub meet if you want?

Thanks Nick

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