Help! Locked Myself out of the CAR! KEY'S DON'T WORK!

[auclutch]

Okay so here's the deal. I just read about a dozen posts about how to adjust the door latches so they work better. I removed the panels and tightened the latches so they worked just fine. Then, I started to put the car back together (i.e. put the door panels back on and the metal thingy that holds the power door locks up) and then suddenly the car went haywire on me and the power door lock just started opening and closing, opening and closing and then suddenly none of the doors will open! luckily I left the rear doors open (i'm not even going to try to shut them to see if I can opent them again) so I can get into the inside. the door panels are still off in the inside so I can reach in and grab the wires that pull up and down on the latches. but I can't get the damn doors open! is there something i'm missing?!%#!%!#%!%# HELP!%#!#%!#% I need to get to work tomorrow!

thanks so much guys for your IMMEDIATE Help!

AUCLUTCH

 

[Rocky]

Do yourself am immediate favor...open a window or two just in case someone forgets not to close the door
I wondering if the ecu that controls the doors has fried itself....
or someone with the spare remote is playing a prank on you...

 

[D Chapman]

Thats pretty funny.......

I wonder if a low battery would cause that?????

 

[auclutch]

well, sure enough the battery WAS dead but after I jumped it (always useful to have a jump kit handy) the doors still won't open. what is this about the ecu being fried? every time I play around with the door lock it opens and closes exactly 10 times and then stops. any other helpful hints? or maybe even a solution? PLEASE ANYONE>? BRAIN STORMING SESSION PLEASE!

auclutch!@

 

[Rocky]

Ok so the battery is now better/good. Sitting in the car engine running, lock the doors (window open
Did it do the 10 cycle dance?

 

[D Chapman]

well, sure enough the battery WAS dead but after I jumped it (always useful to have a jump kit handy) the doors still won't open. what is this about the ecu being fried? every time I play around with the door lock it opens and closes exactly 10 times and then stops. any other helpful hints? or maybe even a solution? PLEASE ANYONE>? BRAIN STORMING SESSION PLEASE!

auclutch!@

Is this everytime, or just in the last weeks or two? Sounds like it could be a battery issue. I'll send you an e-mail of a person to call during business houes....

 

[auclutch]

hi, so this is basically what is happening. the car starts and runs fine. I rolled the windows down as suggested. I also had this gut feeling that the rear doors would be fine (since I didn't fiddle with them today) and they work fine. they open just fine if you open the door locks manually.

as for the front doors, here's the low-down:

a) even if I manually open the door locks either pulling up the button or reaching into the door panel and pulling the wire up (you can feel it engaging so they are definitely still in place) I cannot open the doors.

b) using either the inside or the outside latches on BOTH front doors I cannot open the doors - obviously with the door locks up.

c) reaching inside and pulling the wire on the latches, the doors WILL NOT open.

IS THERE SOME SORT OF MECHANISM THAT LOCKS THE DOORS OTHER THAN THE WIRES THAT RUN TO THE LATCHES AND TO THE DOOR LOCKS?

to recap:

1. the door panels on the insides of both front doors are exposed. I never placed the door panels back on.

2. the power lock actuator on the right side is connected (but wasn't when this first started occuring)

3. the power lock actuator on the drivers door is not connected, every time I try to hook the latch back on it does the same routine of ten times of opening and closing. SHOULD I PLACE THE HOOK THE ACTUATOR BACK ON?

4. the car runs fine. I WAS ALSO PLAYING WITH THE RADIO AT THE TIME THIS HAPPENED, BUT NOTHING MAJOR. JUST LISTENING TO MUSIC and REATTACHING A REAR SPEAKER. BUT THIS WAS waaaaaaay BEFORE ANY OF THIS STARTED HAPPENING.

IS THERE AN ECU FOR THE DOORS OR EVEN A FUSE OR RELAY THAT MIGHT HAVE BLOWN???

 

[auclutch]

also, to answer someone above, this has not been a recurring event. this is fhte FIRST time.

 

[auclutch]

okay, so i've now reconnected the power door lock motor to the wire and it now does not do the 10 on/off close/open routine. so obviously this is not the problem. my next thought is that what if... WHAT IF... WHAT IF... I tightened the bolts too much on the door latch. prior to reconnecting the power door locks they opened and closed just fine. but is there a possibility that they might not open because I tightened the bolts so the doors open easier... too much?

 

[auclutch]

don't know if these pictures help or if i'm just wasting server space. i'll remove them when this problem is resolved. PLEASE HELP ME!

 

[El Ed]

I don't know where you are at now so here it goes anyway. I just replaced my driver door latch completely. I am not entirely clear what you actually did and did not do in terms of the internal mechanism. Did you replace the latch or only tighten the nut that is connected behind the spring that leads to the inside door opener? Overtightening the bolts on the side of the door that attatch the latch will not cause your problem. If you ever get that actuator to open and close repeatedly, just grab the looped end of the actuator and hold it and it will stop.
By the way, do you know you are missing 2 bolts and a metal retaining peice that mount behind the top 2 holds on the the brassy actuator? Not sure why you would have removed it unless you replaced the latch.
If you pull up on the door tab, will the door open then? If so, you need to replace the latch. That is a pain in the ass to do but not too bad if you have all the right tools.
If you do need to replace the latch and have questions, feel free to email me directly.
at edwardmah@mac.com
I hope that helps and good luck.
Ed

 

[El Ed]

I don't know where you are at now so here it goes anyway. I just replaced my driver door latch completely. I am not entirely clear what you actually did and did not do in terms of the internal mechanism. Did you replace the latch or only tighten the nut that is connected behind the spring that leads to the inside door opener? Overtightening the bolts on the side of the door that attatch the latch will not cause your problem. If you ever get that actuator to open and close repeatedly, just grab the looped end of the actuator and hold it and it will stop.
By the way, do you know you are missing 2 bolts and a metal retaining peice that mount behind the top 2 holds on the the brassy actuator? Not sure why you would have removed it unless you replaced the latch.
If you pull up on the door tab, will the door open then? If so, you need to replace the latch. That is a pain in the ass to do but not too bad if you have all the right tools.
If you do need to replace the latch and have questions, feel free to email me directly.
at edwardmah@mac.com
I hope that helps and good luck.
Ed

Since I don't know what you did when you stuck your hand inside the door, a wire the controls the opening on the latch may have come undone or you may have knocked it loose. There are about5 diff. stiff wires or so inside and all should have a locking retaining tab. You have to look deep inside to the left an feel around too for a loose wire.

 

[curtis]

Okay so here's the deal. I just read about a dozen posts about how to adjust the door latches so they work better.

LOL. I hate to make fun at your misery, but c'mon, don't believe everything you read on the internet.

Listen, I don't know crap about the door latches, but it appears that you probably tightened them too much. Go back and completely undo what you did. If you need to re-tighten then do so, but do it with caution and predjudice.

If the servos or motors or whatever powers these things are overstressed it appears they have a mechanism for correcting this issue. That is your symptom. Correcting the initial issue was the problem.

 

[auclutch]

thanks for all your help guys. it's 3.17am now and I just finished fixing it... kind of. the problem was simple. I overtightened on BOTH sides. warning for the next guy, before you start putting things back together, don't just check to see if the door opens from both the inside and the outside. open it and then close it and then LOCK IT and the UNLOCK IT and then try opening/closing again witht he latches. apparenently the locking mechanism on the door will not disengage if the door thingies are tightened too much. the initial problem that I was having that motivated me to rip the door open and start this whole mess was that it was hard to open the door using the latches. you had to pull on the latch a few times before the door actually opened.

either way, to make a long story short, i f'ed myself but was able to get out of it luckily because I didn't put the panels back on before shutting and then lockign the doors. had the panels been on I have no idea how i would've got out of this mess.

thanks for all your help everyone~

 

[antichrist]

Yet another reason I hate power door locks and power windows... If I could find "manual" doors for my '95, I'd replace them. Anyone in the UK want to trade four doors?