Failed Door Lock Mechanism: Quick DIY repair (no pics)

[98T5]

OK< so we all know the story, door lock mechanism takes a dump and you're forced to crawl over the console for weeks until you either fix it yourself or have the Stealership do it for you. Either way you have a dilemma, right? Well not anymore. I figured this thing out after pulling a used one from a V70 in th junkyard that was a perfect match for mine. In a nutshell, if these things wear out, lock up, seize, dry out or whatever that case may be, the unit is pretty much trash at that point and if you think you're going to try and pull it and clean it and oil and get it working properly again is an exercise in futility. What you want is your door lock mechanism working again, period. And to do that you either have to:
#1.Buy one online brand new
#2.Get one new from the Stealership
#3. Or pull a used one from the junkyard.

I chose option #3 since I don't mind wrenchin' on my V's and I got lucky and found one.

I decided after weeks of crawling over the console that I was just gonna destroy the current one that went out. and that I did. Basically, took a huge flathead screwdriver and lodged it in between the mechanism and the door and banged a rubber mallet to it until I could see the striker plate. then I opened the passenger rear door on the driver's side just enough to see these two holes(one has a torx screw in it and the other hole is actually the latch hole that holds on to the strike plate. so I put a smaller philips head screwdriver inside that hole with the latch in it and banged it with my rubber mallet and the door just popped loose!

I reinforced the used mechanism with zipties in various areas to keep pieces in place and I put epoxy on the two opposite ends of the wire where they connect to the lock mechanism and the handle respectively to keep those ends from ever trying to work themselves out of those holes. I then greased up the used mechanism with a combination of White Lithium grease and WD40 and worked it into the inner workings of the mechanism to keep them nice and oily and moving freely.

Reinstalled the mechanism, and lock cylinder fairly easy using a screwdriver to poke into this hole that appears to be there for that reason, to guide the lock cylinder. I read some people took up to 6 hours trying to line that thing up and it only took me 15 minutes. tighten everything down and now the door opens, shuts, locks and holds tight.

LESSON LEARNED. I will be oiling these door lock mechanism every 6 months just for the heck of it from now on and I suggest you do the same. Because crawling over the console is no fun at all.

**Unfortunately I don't have any pics this time around because my camera was low on charge.

[JimBee]

For future reference, I'd like to get a little more info.
What has failed on mine is the lock cylinder on one side. Key goes in but it won't turn. Fortunately the mechanism is o.k. but just in case, I'd like grasp what you did. I'm not there yet.

Isn't the lock mechanism inside the door? The electronic part, right? Or are your referring to the latch where it grabs the strike plate?

Did you get your large screwdriver into the crack between the door end that contains the latch and the jamb? What had to bend so you could widen that space?
I think I sort of follow the rest of it but pics would be nice!

[98T5]

For future reference, I'd like to get a little more info.
What has failed on mine is the lock cylinder on one side. Key goes in but it won't turn. Fortunately the mechanism is o.k. but just in case, I'd like grasp what you did. I'm not there yet.

Isn't the lock mechanism inside the door? The electronic part, right? Or are your referring to the latch where it grabs the strike plate?

Did you get your large screwdriver into the crack between the door end that contains the latch and the jamb? What had to bend so you could widen that space?
I think I sort of follow the rest of it but pics would be nice!

Sorry if I wasn't that clear. that was the short version of what I did. I will explain more.

Ok, your first point, if the lock cylinder is bad, the entire handle has to come out to fix it because they are connected and you have to take it out, remove the tiny circlip holding the lock cylinder in place. then you can replace the lock cylinder and reinstall.

As for the lock mechanism, yes, that entire black box is located inside the door itself you are correct.

Yes, I unplugged the mechanism and move the wires out of the way. and I used the screwdriver to break away the mechanism piece by piece without hitting that window that's already rolled down into the door(BE CAREFUL!). and once I broke away as much of the old mechanism a possible, Using a flashlight, I could actually look down into the door towards the striker plate and I could see where the mechanism was connected to the striker plate. Slide the screwdriver down in there between the mechanism and the door itself and wedge it back and forth and bend the mechanism. the key it to destroy it without breaking the window in the process. . it's not much room so you will have to use your rubber mallet to bang it in there. once you feel like that screwdriver is down in there, BANG IT it the rubber hammer, effectively destroying the mechanism to the point where it starts to break away from the striker latch.

At this point you should be able to see the striker plate/hook after all that banging and wedging and destroying the old one. ***NOTE: as you destroy this thing, pieces will break off and fall down into the door, just pluck them out and trash em because you're already in the process of destroying the thing so don't worry about it.

After you've broken away as much of the mechanism as possible and can actually see the striker latch, get out the car and go to the rear passenger door, open it up to where you can look down in between the door seams and see the two holes on the rear of the Driver's door. One hole has a torx screw that you can see, it's one of the 2 torx screws that holds the mechanism onto the door. the other hole just looks like a hole, but it's actually the black lock latch that's stuck in place. That's the hole you wanna stick your smaller philips screwdriver into. it won't go into the hole, that's how I knew it was not a regular hole but actually the release latch that was stuck in place. So I hit the screwdriver with the rubber mallet and it just popped open.

-- > AND just an fyi, you will have to bend the inside of the door where the lock mechanism is connected just a bit when your doing all that wrenchin' and hammering with the huge screwdriver/breaker bar up front but you can tap that back into place with the rubber mallet after you get it out and install the new one. It's a soft metal, and actually that slight bend in the metal that you cause actually helps you remove the unit and install the new one easier. I look at this way, I would rather break/bend something on my car myself and know I did it, than to have the shop do it and lie to me and claim they didn't do anything.

I'll post pictures of my procedure when my camera is back up, but I will just show the steps since the job is already done.

ALMOST FORGOT --- if you don't like your knuckles to take a beating, and if you are afraid of breaking a nail or cutting your knuckles, don't do this job. Because the area to work in it tight, and there are sharp edges everywhere inside the door, including glass! At the end of the day I counted 4 cuts to my knuckles and banged my knuckles quite a bit...So BE CAREFUL!

G'Luck.

[98T5]

Ok let's see if these pics show up

Tools you needs to break off the old lock mechanism

Take the door handle off. You can re-use this part if you wish or sell it as a spare part

V door handle.JPG (139.76 KiB) Viewed 13445 times

Door handle wire. remove this too. I wouldn't waste time trying to re-use. keep it in combination with the handle you may be able to sell it.

V door handle wire.JPG (114.45 KiB) Viewed 13445 times

Big screwdriver and rubber mallet. break away as much of the old mechanism as you can. TRY NOT TO BREAK THE WINDOW!...**Disclaimer!!*** Roll up the window if you're nervous about it.

V huge screwdriver.JPG (135.32 KiB) Viewed 13445 times

Some cosmetic damage is gonna happen to this soft metal part from all the wrenchin' and hammering you will be doing to break it off. But only you know it's there behind the panel so don't worry about it. just tap it back into place with the rubber mallet. better for you bend it than the Stealership right?

V cosmetic issue.JPG (92.53 KiB) Viewed 13445 times

Here you can see the 2 holes in between the doors. the holes are on the rear of the driver's door. this pic is taken from the back seat behind the driver's seat looking into the door seam. ** Notice the lower hole has a torx screw in it but the top hole doesn't. That's because the top hole is not a hole, it's the actual latch. This is the part where you put in the smaller screwdriver on and BANG IT with the rubber mallet. and the door should pop loose!

And here is what the latch and second hole(torx screw) look like with the door open.

Sticky this Matt!

[98T5]

Now we have pics!

[JimBee]

Ah, now I'm 90% there in understanding. The part I'm still not getting is how you remove the door panel if the door is stuck closed.
Thanks!

[98T5]

Ah, now I'm 90% there in understanding. The part I'm still not getting is how you remove the door panel if the door is stuck closed.
Thanks!

Very carefully...lol I lost almost all my plastic door rivets trying to get it out. but I took my time not to damage the actual panel. those plastic notch rivets are easily replaceable at Lowe's.

Just make sure you take off all the pieces that will come off, first. like the door handle trim, door edge trim in that corner, buttons, etc... and unscrew it from the door.

[98T5]

and JimBee, if you don't feel comfy taking the panel off with the door stuck, just jump down to my last step and bang out the latch from the back seat. After I did mine I thought of this as something I could've done and saved some time. worth a shot. the mechanism is trash anyway, might ast well knock that latch out and see if it releases.

FYI I read on blog that knocking out that latch IS the way the shop will do it. that's how I knew to look for those holes at the rear of the door.

[JimBee]

Okay, got it. After looking at the pics, I was wondering about that. I have a set of pin punches that have come in handy a few times for tricky tasks like that.
Thanks! I've got this one bookmarked

afterthought: is there also an access hole for the rear passenger doors?

[98T5]

Okay, got it. After looking at the pics, I was wondering about that. I have a set of pin punches that have come in handy a few times for tricky tasks like that.
Thanks! I've got this one bookmarked

afterthought: is there also an access hole for the rear passenger doors?

Unfortunately there is no way to access the holes on the rear doors, you'll just have to keep them oiled and pray they never lock up, if they do, follow the first few steps and just bang it out until it opens.