Itinerant Air-Cooled

Hey all.
About a month or so ago my passenger door lock decided to be a little bitch. When the door is closed and locked, my key cannot open the door. The key will not turn. I've lubed the works and everything works smooth as can be with the door open. I think the culprit may be a hardening door seal that is putting too much pressure on the lock but I just was looking to see if anyone else has run into this before I dive into deeper troubleshooting. Thoughts?

They "key turning" facility should not be affected by how tight the door is.

Luckily for you, removing the handle itself is just two Allen screws behind the door panel. Once the handle is out, you can put the key in and see how it turns. I bet it won't turn easily, and then you can disassemble the handle lock cylinder to clean, lube, and adjust it. If the key does turn easily, you can take a skinny finger into the hole in the door and actuate the locking mechanism by hand. One of those should be difficult, and you'll quickly see how everything works.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!
Robbie

Betcha it's the little spring shown at A:



Note 1: the image is showing the new longer, stiffer spring. The earlier version is WAY shorter and weaker.
Note 2: the image says "driver's" cab door lock, but I believe it's a right-side door latch/lock.

It's difficult to explain with words, but the loss of that little spring can make the lever the key cylinder operates on become misaligned and
jammed in a way that is far more likely to happen with the door latch closed than with it open. Best take the thing out and have a look.
Also, it is really not possible to give the latch a good lube job with it installed.

Kreemowheet, where do you get all of these fine tidbits of information like when they decided to strengthen the spring? Is there a TSB bible?

I too vote for the little spring as the cause.

http://type2.com/rvanness/lock.htm

I also had a weird symptom where the door would bound back open if trying to lock the door with your hand squeezed on the outside trigger:

Thanks for the replies. After further troubleshooting i was convinced it was the spring as well. However, one more dose of lubricant sprayed on the mechanism and into the exterior handle did the trick. Problem solved!

LiveonJG wrote: ↑

Mon May 08, 2017 5:21 pm

Problem solved!

Great to hear!

Now don't be a stranger .. or at least no stranger than you usually are.