Only about two or three days passed since I repaired the clutch fork in the 1996 Subaru. Then the fuel pump died. Sigh. So we borrowed a car from a friend. It was a 2002 Toyota Camry. They didn't tell us about this little quirk it had. It seems the car is a little possessive. I'm not sure if it liked me or just wanted to toy with me, but it locked me in the car. That's just my luck. I borrow a car and it breaks on me.
The driver's side door wouldn't unlock. It wouldn't unlock from the inside or the outside. It's supposed to unlock when you pull on the inside handle. I tried turning the key and pulling the lock lever at the same time. I tried moving the handle and the lock different ways. I even tried pulling on the handle and turning the key at the same time. I pulled the inside handle and the outside handle. I turned the key back and forth while pulling on the inside handle. It was jammed.
There was no problem with any of the electric locks. The lock cylinder was functioning correctly. The linkage for the inside handle and lock lever were functioning correctly. The actuators were working on all the doors, except it wouldn't unlock the driver's door. I could turn the key to unlock twice and all the other doors would unlock, but the driver's door was stuck locked. The problem was inside the lock/latch unit.
To replace any parts, I needed to get the door handle off. There was just one problem. I couldn't get the door panel off without first opening the door. So I rolled down the window and took a look inside the door. It's a narrow gap, but with a flashlight and a small inspection mirror, I could see most of what I needed to. One of the clips for the outside handle was not connected properly. I clipped it back on the rod, but that wasn't the problem.
I said a little prayer and decided to try again. I tried the key and the inside lock lever at the same time again. Then I got a crazy idea. I turned the key the other way, to lock the door. I wanted to see what would happen if I pulled on the lock lever to try unlocking it as I released the key from the fully locked position to the unlock position. It actually popped unlocked. Yay! I squirted some WD-40 on the door latch and where the rod from the lock cylinder goes, some WD-40 in the lock cylinder, and even some WD-40 in the ignition lock cylinder so it would move freely too. Ok, I was getting a little carried away with the WD-40.
I have no idea what went wrong, but you can probably bet this will happen again. At least I'll have an idea of how to get in there if we need to replace the latch assembly in the future. And maybe if your Camry locks you in, you can try what I did. Maybe it will work for you too. I also found a really helpful video on how to take the door panel off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o05U4Qn5pQ
No comments:
Post a Comment