90 Legacy door lock

[Mike Copeland]

the Driver's door look is not working properly. The key will not unlock
it and it seems to want to stay in the "locked" position. Sometimes I
can push the rocker into the unlocked position and it will stay there
ok. Is this an easy fix? Where do I start?

thx
Mike

 

[S]

Hi Mike!

the Driver's door look is not working properly. The key will not unlock
it and it seems to want to stay in the "locked" position. Sometimes I
can push the rocker into the unlocked position and it will stay there
ok. Is this an easy fix? Where do I start?

Not an "easy" fix, mostly because it's a b____ working inside of the
door on these cars. It helps to have small hands, and the patience of
Job. Find a short stool or plastic bucket to sit on while you
struggle, and a cold beer definitely comes in handy when you're ready
to throw things ;-)

You start by pulling the door panel and plastic liner. The door panel
is held by screws at the inside grip/arm rest (may be behind a foam
plug and/or a plastic snap-in cover), and around speaker grille. The
door handle surround is released by sliding a thin bladed scraper
(whatever) above and below the lever pivot, while prying the surround
outwards. You'll probably break the tabs anyway; no worries, it'll
still work. Then grab the panel at the bottom rear and pull outwards
to release several snap-in fasteners. I think that's all on the older
Legacys, but if it doesn't come away from the door easily, look around
some more for hidden fasteners. Undo the electricals from the power
window switch, and curb light if so equipped. The liner is held in
place with black-sticky; just pull it away carefully, and let it
dangle.

Disconnect the linkage to the key cylinder, and see if your key turns
it easily (a worn door lock is a common failure on Soobies with a
lotta use). If not, get another key/cylinder from a salvage yard.
FWIW, you will find it easiest to remove the entire outside door
handle (2 X 10mm nuts, but difficult to _see_, much less touch . . .)
to replace it. You might want to replace the ignition lock cylinder
with one that matches the new door key. To remove the ignition
cylinder, remove the plastic cover beneath the steering column (buncha
screws), turn key to "ACC" position, and insert a dental pick or
whatever works into the hole behind the cylinder. (And below? You'll
just have to look, or ask the scrapyard guy to show you where it is.
Much easier to see if the steering column is out of the car.) Press
the catch, and pull the cylinder out with the key. Turn the
replacement lock to "ACC", and insert.

If the door lock is working OK, see if you can determine if the
electric lock solenoid is what is pulling the latch into the locked
position (disconnect wires? disconnect linkage rod?). If it _is_ the
solenoid, can you live w/o the electric lock? If so, just disconnect
the wiring and/or linkage. Otherwise you will have to replace (IIRC)
the entire latch mechanism; again, try your friendly salvage yard for
the assembly.

Hope this helps.

ByeBye! S.


Steve Jernigan KG0MB
Laboratory Manager
Microelectronics Research
University of Colorado
(719) 262-3101

 

[Vanguard]

the Driver's door look is not working properly. The key will not
unlock it and it seems to want to stay in the "locked" position.
Sometimes I can push the rocker into the unlocked position and it
will stay there ok. Is this an easy fix? Where do I start?

thx
Mike

I had to replace mine. I think I got the cylinder from Napa Auto
Parts. The lock cylinder worked, the latch mechanism worked, but the
metal tang on the back had broke off so it just spun around. Turning
the key would not turn the tang which then moved the rod that worked
the latch.

I had to remove the inside door panel (pretty easy since it just pops
off - after removing the screws for the door handle cover and another
couple for the door arm). Then you remove the plastic liner (be
careful where you put it down in the meantime since there is a bead of
sticky butyl rubber that is used to seal it on the door). Now you get
to see if your hands can manage to get through the access opening in
the door and if your fingers are long enough to reach to the door
lock. There are a couple of nuts to remove, one of which is near the
edge of the door and hard to get to. Often you get to use just 2
fingers to work the parts from inside the door: a finger from one hand
to unscrew/screw the nuts or move the parts and a finger from the
other hand (if you can manage it) to keep parts from falling down to
the bottom of the door where they could disappear. On the backside of
the cylinder is a C-clip that you'll need a tiny screwdriver to remove
so watch out for it falling or flipping away unless your new cylinder
includes one. With the tight space to get your hands inside, it will
be even tighter trying to get a needlenose inside with you gripping it
to get the C-clip back on for the new cylinder. I happened to have
self-locking surgical pliers (for use when soldering) with slightly
curved jaws that helped a lot. But I did drop the C-clip and had to
use a flexible magnetic rod to retrieve it out from the bottom door
recess (I couldn't see it).

Now I had a driver door with its own key separate of the key used for
the other doors. Doing the driver lock was so hard that there was no
way that I'd bother replacing all the door locks (the rear gate door
might be a lot easier) just so they were all keyed alike. So now I
carry 2 keys: one for the driver door and another for all other doors.
The lock cylinder cost me around $25 (US). I never called to find out
what the shop would charge but after doing mine I'll probably have
them do it the next time. Replacing the brake pads was a joy compared
to replacing the lock cylinder.

 

[Brett Williams]

Hi Mike!



Not an "easy" fix, mostly because it's a b____ working inside of the
door on these cars. It helps to have small hands, and the patience of
Job. Find a short stool or plastic bucket to sit on while you
struggle, and a cold beer definitely comes in handy when you're ready
to throw things ;-)

You start by pulling the door panel and plastic liner. The door panel
is held by screws at the inside grip/arm rest (may be behind a foam
plug and/or a plastic snap-in cover), and around speaker grille. The
door handle surround is released by sliding a thin bladed scraper
(whatever) above and below the lever pivot, while prying the surround
outwards. You'll probably break the tabs anyway; no worries, it'll
still work. Then grab the panel at the bottom rear and pull outwards
to release several snap-in fasteners. I think that's all on the older
Legacys, but if it doesn't come away from the door easily, look around
some more for hidden fasteners. Undo the electricals from the power
window switch, and curb light if so equipped. The liner is held in
place with black-sticky; just pull it away carefully, and let it
dangle.

Disconnect the linkage to the key cylinder, and see if your key turns
it easily (a worn door lock is a common failure on Soobies with a
lotta use). If not, get another key/cylinder from a salvage yard.
FWIW, you will find it easiest to remove the entire outside door
handle (2 X 10mm nuts, but difficult to _see_, much less touch . . .)
to replace it. You might want to replace the ignition lock cylinder
with one that matches the new door key. To remove the ignition
cylinder, remove the plastic cover beneath the steering column (buncha
screws), turn key to "ACC" position, and insert a dental pick or
whatever works into the hole behind the cylinder. (And below? You'll
just have to look, or ask the scrapyard guy to show you where it is.
Much easier to see if the steering column is out of the car.) Press
the catch, and pull the cylinder out with the key. Turn the
replacement lock to "ACC", and insert.

If the door lock is working OK, see if you can determine if the
electric lock solenoid is what is pulling the latch into the locked
position (disconnect wires? disconnect linkage rod?). If it _is_ the
solenoid, can you live w/o the electric lock? If so, just disconnect
the wiring and/or linkage. Otherwise you will have to replace (IIRC)
the entire latch mechanism; again, try your friendly salvage yard for
the assembly.

Hope this helps.

ByeBye! S.


Steve Jernigan KG0MB
Laboratory Manager
Microelectronics Research
University of Colorado
(719) 262-3101

Very sound advice but I would have to add that any locksmith can re-key the
replacment lock to match the original and it should not cost more than
about $15 US