Passenger door lock failed

[Pinner-man]

Having locked the passenger door, it will now not open. The central locking relay appears to be working as you can hear a click inside the passenger door when you open the drivers side door, does that suggest the central locking system is working and it is a mechanical problem. When you try to operate the interior door lock handle it will only move slightly and it is the same situation when you try to use the key to open the door, it hardly moves. Has anybody got any ideas how I can get to the lock mechanism without destroying the door card.

Regards

[Pinner-man]

Hi
Thanks for the reply. The key fits into the passenger door lock as normal. I have managed to get some oil into the passenger door lock and the key now revolves more than it did. As a result of the increased movement the key operates the central locking system and so locks the drivers door and tailgate, unfortunately it still does not unlock the door.

[MarkV6]

If you lower the window glass, could you get a 'slim jim' or wire coathanger in to try and coax the mechanism? Of course if it has deadlocked then that function is to prevent what we would be trying to do.....

[Pinner-man]

Thanks for the suggestions, I am pleased to say that after 3 days of continually that getting oil into the lock mechanism and moving the key in the lock the door finally opened. I bought this car two months ago and the owner stated that it had been parked in a garage for several years, the low mileage and seemed to confirm this -49000 miles for a 1996 car. So far it has had two faults/problems, the locked door and before that for about a week it would not idle - come to a set of traffic lights or a queue and the engine would stop. According to the fault code the problem was a faulty air flow sensor, this is a very expensive item. However suddenly the problem disappeared and it now idles perfectly - fingers crossed it will stay good. Could these issues just be a result of the care not being used for such a long time.

[Callyman]

HI Richard, the MAF sensor can certainly play up if sat for years, it can get dirty and give a false reading.

No reason why it shouldn't now stay ok now.