Help: Replacing N/s/f Door Lock Mechanism

[fishears]

Hi

My front passenger side door lock started to make one hell of a noise when being locked so I bought a replacemnt from eBay. I've disassembled all the necessary parts on the door but I'm being held up by one problem:

 

How do you remove/replace the cable that connects to the outside door handle? Access to this is severely hampered by the metal of the door itself and the handle is pop-riveted in place (please don't say the handle has to come off) :rolleyes:

 

Any practical advice would be greatly welcomed. I just don't want to fiddle the old one off and not be able to get the new one connected because I don't know how the old one came off....

 

Thanks

[iannez]

you can pop the metal bar out that the spring is wrapped around but you realy need to have had one out prior to see how it works because most of the work is done by feel. best way is to drill the rivets out and build it all up on the floor and then re-fit it as a whole.

[fishears]

you can pop the metal bar out that the spring is wrapped around but you realy need to have had one out prior to see how it works because most of the work is done by feel. best way is to drill the rivets out and build it all up on the floor and then re-fit it as a whole.

 

Thanks for the helpful reply.

So it IS possible to do it in situ? When you say "metal bar", is that the metal bar at the end of the lock cable? Is the bit on the external handle that takes the lock cable end anything like the bit doing the same job on the interior handle?

[iannez]

yes. pop it off and it will release the cam so you can fit the end of the cable. naughty to get back together tho. take note of where the spring sits before removing it.

[fishears]

yes. pop it off and it will release the cam so you can fit the end of the cable. naughty to get back together tho. take note of where the spring sits before removing it.

 

Yeah, that's a no go. I fiddled about for a long time without success. I feel like I could pull it off but then I would never get it back on because I can't see what I'm doing in there. Can you tell me how to get to the pop rivets so that I can drill them out? I'm assuming part of the external handle can be prised off for this....

Many thanks for sticking with this/me

[iannez]

look inside the door at the back of the handle and you will see a white plastic part that moves when you pull the outer handle. hook a right angle pick behind it and apply a bit pressure pulling it towards the front of the door then while doing this slowly pull the outer handle until you feel it click. this is the removal position. now pull the outer handle out and slide it back and it will come out. remove the rubber seals and drill out the 3 rivets. to refit the handle hook the front in and push the handle all the way in and slide it forward. keep it pushed in and push the white plastic thing towards the back of the door and it will lock back into place. here to help mate. let me know how you get on.

[fishears]

look inside the door at the back of the handle and you will see a white plastic part that moves when you pull the outer handle. hook a right angle pick behind it and apply a bit pressure pulling it towards the front of the door then while doing this slowly pull the outer handle until you feel it click. this is the removal position. now pull the outer handle out and slide it back and it will come out. remove the rubber seals and drill out the 3 rivets. to refit the handle hook the front in and push the handle all the way in and slide it forward. keep it pushed in and push the white plastic thing towards the back of the door and it will lock back into place. here to help mate. let me know how you get on.

 

Fantastic. Thanks for that. As soon as my pop riveter arrives from eBay I'll get stuck in and report success or failure.

[fishears]

I DID IT!!!!

Thanks entirely to your instructions - there's no way I would have had the confidence without them...

 

I've upped some photos of the inside (hard to get at) part of the door handle mechanism which might help anyone else trying to do this job.

1. Outside with handle off

2. View of mechanism in situ

3. Overview of mechanism (removed)

4. Another angle

 

The only problem I had was when trying to get the white plastic bit back into position to refit the handle, I couldn't do it. Eventually I pushed the large cylindrical black bit with a metal centre (see pic 2 & 3) above it and that worked great. It might be easier to pull this instead of the white plastic bit when removing the handle...

Oh, and the rivets were 4mm.

 

Thanks again, iannez :lol:

[techbod]

excellent pictures and professional feed back indeed im sure it will be useful in the future,

 

confidence is the key word here ive had similar issues with other cars because they are basically the same setup because of anti theft blanking plates.

[Guest Bobster]

Hi Guys,

 

Have just joined and am impressed with the advice and the quality of the images on this.

 

My wife has a C3 1.4i SX which has a buzzing n/s/f door lock. This has been most helpful; the pictures are so much clearer than those in the popular aftermarket owner's manual!

 

Best wishes,

 

Bob.

[fishears]

Glad the thread helped you Bobster - welcome to the forum.

My n/s/r lock has started making the noise now so I'll be replacing that this week. I don't expect much difference apart from the window winder (but that probably just pops off with a split-ring or something). If I come across anything special I'll post it here!

[Guest Bobster]

Hi Fishears,

 

Thanks for the welcome!

 

I have just had a reply from Car Mechanics Rodney Jacques who says that lock solenoids usually buzz for 2 reasons, either they are not receiving full voltage (so check contacts etc) or they are under load (so check if they need lubricating etc).

 

I wondered whether you looked at the one you took out to see what the fault was? If it is just lubrication, might you be able to use the solenoid on your rear door? Just a thought.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bob.

[fishears]

Thanks for the thought - I'd always assumed the noise was caused by the motor running on after locking, say, if the bit that stops this had broken - but if it's a solenoid doing the work then I must be wrong... Never looked inside though because they are a "B"-word to open up. I've already bought a replacement now (only £30 delivered) but I might try cracking the old one open or spraying some WD40 in it before I bin it - it could be saleable!!!

[fishears]

Well, I finally got round to replacing the rear passenger lock today. It was going like a dream and I was just thinking "20 minutes isn't too bad for a job like that" when the spring popped out as I was refitting the exterior handle! Had to drill out my rivets and remove the whole thing again to refit it...

All done now though so I thought I'd return with what's different on the rear doors:

1. The window winder - it just pulls off in a straight line.

2. The glass guide - when you have the door panel off and have gone through the foam membrane you need to remove the glass guide. It's right in front of the lock (photo of where the torx screws are, photo of guide removed) - Do remember to refit this :D

3. Getting the lock and handle innards in and out is more of a squeeze than the front door so take care that you don't pull anything off when refitting!!

 

I decided to crack the old lock open to see if I could find the fault (and when I say "crack" I mean just that).

There are two rotary solenoids in there which to my surprise operate on both metal AND plastic parts. There are a few pretty flimsy looking bits of plastic in there being used as levers to switch microswitches etc. Lots of small plastic shavings fell out when I opened it - I'm amazed they last more than a year.

Photo 1 of inside lock

Photo 2 of inside lock

Photo of a solenoid

 

I was hoping the new lock would also fix my "stuck on" child lock on that door - it did until I tried pressing the child lock button on the dash. That turned the child lock on and now it's stuck on again!!! I take it that's not a lock related fault?