Re: [DML] Locked Out

[Mike Substelny <msubstel@xxxx>]

Bill Schafer has a problem with his driver's side door:

> Some of the fixes I tried were:

> 1. Used the key on the outside to unlock it.
> 2. Reconnected my electric door locks and tried that.
> 3. Entered through the passenger door and tried to unlock
> the door from the inside.

> Has anybody had this happen to them before?

Things like this have happened to me many times, Bill. I got a good deal on my
DeLorean because the previous owner was frustrated with the driver's door, and he
had gotten a good deal on the car for the same reason. My very early car was
made without door guides, and so the latches inside the door seldom lined up
correctly and became badly dameged over the years.

After years of working on this problem, I am very familiar with the inside of the
door mechanism.

The good news is that your late VIN car should have door guides already.

The bad news is that you do not yet have enough information to diagnose this
problem.

When you lock/unlock the door, can you hear a click from both latches? When the
door is unlocked and you pull up on the handle, can you hear a different click
from both latches?

One possibility is that the door is wedged closed. This can happen if someone
pushes the door in such a way that it torques clockwise or counterclockwise as it
closes, with one latch reaching the level of its post before the other latch has
reached its door guide.

If this is the case, you may have one latch closed normally and the other
(probably forward) wedged shut. You might be able to open the door by pulling up
on the inside handle while punching or kicking the forward part of the door. At
the same time you should have someone on the outside pulling up on the bottom
edge of the door. That person should wear gloves.

Try this and let us know what happens. If it works, please note the condition of
your latches and mention it on the DML.

- Mike Substelny
VIN 01280, 7 years