Drivers Door Locks Me Out

[winnie]

It has happened about 4 times so far with one or two weeks in between it happening.

I get out of the car, press the key fob to lock the doors, return, press the open door fob button lights flash but the drivers door is locked.

All the other doors are unlocked, I press again to lock then press open but nothing.

I have to go round to the passenger side reach across and open the drivers door, run round and get in.

Any idea's.

Reg  

[Parkesie]

Start at the connection between door and a pillar clean and inspect the wires door side for damage. Solonoid could be seizing or just plain dead.

[paul.h]

If you are sat in the car and lock the doors using the remote key or the dash button and then unlock the doors using these, does the driver's door unlock or stay locked ? When locking the door does it seem to be slower than the others ?

 

I have not had to do anything on the locks but maybe it is sticking and a bit of wd40 may help but to do this it may need the inside door panel removing. You could also check the wiring between the door and door pillar in case it is starting to fail. However, see if anybody comes up with other suggestions.

[winnie]

Thinking about it I think it may have something to do with the way I press the key fob, I remember when it plays up is when I use my left hand.

My left hand has no feeling in the fingers, this is not bad as three years ago I was 75% paralysed but have received an operation now on my spine, sorry to bore you all with that.

My hand is getting better with the more I use it and for a long time did not think I would ever walk again let alone drive a car.

I can live with a door not letting me in from time to time, its me that needs the WD40...

Thanks Reg  

[paul.h]

Maybe for now the best thing is to leave the lock until it gets bad enough to need doing, but I would not think how you use the remote key would cause just one lock to not undo since it would affect all the locks.

[winnie]

Do you think it could be the damp weather as first thing in the morning it plays up then later in the day if not raining it is ok.

I have found when it happens I use the key to unlock the door.

May get a cheap car cover and a tin of WD40, do you think this would help?

Reg

PS. the good news is my wife is now driving after a short break, or two in her arm.

[paul.h]

Rain could have something to do with it since it will get inside the door at the window lower seal and maybe it is getting to the wiring, electrical connector and lock. You could test this on a dry day when the lock is working and then use a watering can or other means to apply water over the door glass and see if the lock still works. May be you will need to remove the door inside panel to have a look for the cause of fault.

[coastline taxis]

if you put the key into the drivers door and turn it manually does it unlock

[winnie]

The key opens the door ok but now have brought some WD40 and sprayed the lock last night plus some more this morning.

Hoping this will do the trick.

Thanks all Reg

[winnie]

It has been about a week since I sprayed WD40 in the door lock and it looks like it worked.

May use a bit on my joints.

I have another question, will put it in on a separate post.

Reg

[aspire_helen]

Hi, i have had this problem for many years on my 2001 c5 mk1 2.2hdi and just live with it. Sometimes the drivers door fails to lock on the remote. Sometimes it fails to unlock on the remote. All other locks operate regardless. Eitherway, the drivers lock works with the key. IMPORTANT - for ages i thought i was securing the car when in fact the drivers door was always unlocked! Of coures, when i used the remote to unlock the car the drivers door was already unlocked, so nothing appeared to be amiss. Now, i always check that the drivers door is in fact locked after ive used the remote. Furthermore, whenever i leave the car (eg with a garage or airport carpark) i leave a written note to tell them to check the drivers door and use the key if necessary. Over time ive removed the lock, lubricated it, but it seems to have a mind of its own.

The good news is that you still have the option to use the key (though it alone does not operate the deadlocks). If one of the rear doors fail to unlock, you are in trouble (and now an mot fail). I had a rear door lock fail. I opened it by accessing the back of the latch screws, by cutting through the rear wheel arch bodywork, and drilling them out. The door opened with the latch still secured into the lock. It was then reasonably straight forward to access the lock through the door card and replace it with one from a scrappy £10. The job took me 3hours. The mot examiner/garage was amazed, they could not work out how i had been able to open the door the same day as the mot fail. They had said i would need to destroy the door and were willing to charge for the privilege.

[paul.h]

If the rear door does not open, I am not sure you need to cut into the body work - this is copied from the Common Problems pinned post and I think was from coastline taxis:

 

14. Rear door will not open from the inside and outside.

This has not happened to our C5s but it is a common problem. To fix:

 

remove the door card, it is awkward with the door shut but can be done

once removed, follow the rod to the door lock and remove the white plastic cover

now try to look into the door and you will see the insides of the lock

use a screwdriver and push the lever down on the inside of the lock and the door will open

replace the lock with a different one.

[C 5 Estate]

In the same way that its a good idea to do a basic "check for fuel in the tank" when a vehicle will not fire up when spun over by the starter motor, its worth making sure you are lifting the door handle through its  full  travel.

 

Sometimes I thought my door lock had not operated but then realised its the last bit of  lift of the handle which brings the lock/latch? into action on my C5.

 

Tim