93 Century Drivers door won't unlock

[Greg Richards]

Hello Y'all, I just bought a 93 Century where the door only opened from the outside. I took the panel off and repaired the broken inside handle and all was fine until a couple days ago. it was night and all of a sudden, the dome light came on and wouldn't go off, the power door lock quit working on driver door control and power windows quit working on driver door control. The driver door was locked and I was unable to open from inside or outside even using the manual slide lock switch. I was able to get the door panel off after one heck of a battle and was able to manually move the rods at the latch mechanism but it still wouldn't release. I read on another forum somewhere that a guy disconnected the battery and everything reset itself so I tried that. It worked! Well sort of. I was able to get the door open but the power locks still don't work. I opened and closed the door several times and no problems and so I put the door panel back on and tightened everything back up and... you guessed it! Door is locked again and won't open from inside or out even with the manual lock lever. What is going on? Is it the power door lock causing the latch mechanism to not release?

 

[CorvairGeek]

I would say yes. In the event the door lock solenoid gets power in the locked position, you cannot move (hard to believe but true) it to the unlocked position from inside or with the key. The linkage will break before a electrically powered solenoid will move. The power door lock solenoids can mechanically jam too when worn, particularly in the locked position.
I had a PDL switch stick (as if pressing 'Lock') in our '92. Could not get in the car with the key. Locksmith, a middle aged gentleman, said he had never seen it before. Our '92 is an oddity with manual windows, so he was able to roll a rear window down enough to press the unlock button. I replaced both switches (I was able to get the driver's to act up when testing) and the relay (behind right front kick panel) from a pristine, low mileage wreck.
I added a home made wiring harness and an unlock switch in the trunk after this incident, before I added key less entry.

 

[Greg Richards]

I would say yes. In the event the door lock solenoid gets power in the locked position, you cannot move (hard to believe but true) it to the unlocked position from inside or with the key. The linkage will break before a electrically powered solenoid will move. The power door lock solenoids can mechanically jam too when worn, particularly in the locked position.
I had a PDL switch stick (as if pressing 'Lock') in our '92. Could not get in the car with the key. Locksmith, a middle aged gentleman, said he had never seen it before. Our '92 is an oddity with manual windows, so he was able to roll a rear window down enough to press the unlock button. I replaced both switches (I was able to get the driver's to act up when testing) and the relay (behind right front kick panel) from a pristine, low mileage wreck.
I added a home made wiring harness and an unlock switch in the trunk after this incident, before I added key less entry.

So if the solenoid is stuck in the locked position, how do I get it to release? If I remove the negative battery cable will it cause the solenoid to release or will it now be permanently stuck in locked mode?

 

[CorvairGeek]

In my experience, they would move when the switch was pushed to unlock. If yours will not, as it sounds, it is mechanically jammed without the ability to move to the unlock position (somewhere in the actuator or linkage), or it some how powered all the time (cause unknown at this point). If disconnecting the battery releases it again, I would lean towards the latter.

 

[Greg Richards]

Nothing seems to work. I've taken off the negative battery cable, manually unlocked with interior slide switch, tried key lock and unlock, reached inside door with panel removed and manually moved the rods (which are connected to latch mechanism) and nothing works. I'm wondering how it can stay locked with battery cable disconnected?

 

[CorvairGeek]

That rules out a malfunctioning factory keyless entry too. I had wondered if you might have one that is commanding only the driver's door locked. It would unlock with the battery disconnected.
FWIW, the module for factory keyless entry is in the trunk above the wheel-well on the driver's side.

 

[Greg Richards]

I'm not sure it has keyless entry but i"ll check the trunk for the module. I'm just using this car for back and forth to work. I don't need it to lock at all, ever. when I finally figure out how to get this door open, i'm getting a new latch and i'm not connecting any electric anything to it! how frustrating! Thank you for your efforts to help! Much appreciated!