My wife has a vexing problem, evidence of which I have finally seen myself. I'd appreciate someone explaining to me the mechanism inside the driver's side door, whereby from the inside the lock button is pulled up just so far so as to unlock that door, and whereby pulling against a spring-loaded point all doors are unlocked.

The button/linkage rod slip down about half a centimeter, just enough to prevent the door from being opened from the inside pull or the outside handle. Lifting the button to its normal unlocked position allows opening the door...but there is no resistance normally experienced by a button/rod connected to an electric actuator. Lift the button, and more often than not it drops right back into its slack position.

I'm pulling the panel tomorrow morning to fix this if possible. It doesn't seem as if it should be very involved a repair. What needs to be done to bring this mechanism back to proper adjustment?

Thanks in advance for any insight/advice provided.

 

Addendum: I took the car for a drive, just in case the situation was different with the ignition on. The lock button has no resistance at all when lifting from the locked to the unlocked position....but it still slips a few millimeters when I let go of it. It feels like a telescoping mechanism, one hollow rod sliding up/down over a hard-mounted smaller rod attached to the door latch. Logic tells me there should be something there to hold the upper rod/button in position.

 

The problem is a tiny coiled spring which in your case is broken, thus no tension. It is part of the locking plate mechanism inside the door and you'll have to replace the whole thing as I doubt they will sell you the spring alone--a junk yard is your best bet.

 

I'm an automotive locksmith, and your explanation makes eminent sense even without having seen the culprit yet. I have quite the spring selection; in your experience is this something doable by someone with a proper selection of tools and equipment? Any diagram or schematic showing where the offending spring is located?

I appreciate the quick reply, thanks so much.

 

here's the parts diagram.


the parts breakdown is here,
Door parts front door. Fits: Volvo | VolvoPartsWebstore.com

I think thats pretty much everything from mid 80s and newer, not quite sure (that site's search engine doesn't work for anything before 940)

part #65 is the 'motor' (solenoid) that works the locks. its below the door latch mechanism down in the lower corner of the door. part 1 is the actual door latch/lock mechanism. part 73 is a theft barrier.

when you take off the door panel and weather liner, its all pretty self evident how it should work. you probably need a new part #1

I've only taken apart and repaired 740/940 doors, they are pretty similar

 

Oh, the replacement should not be difficult, may be a little fiddly... You have to take the whole mechanism out. It is bolted inside the door on the other side of the latch. Once you get it out you will see the little spring--it is about half a dime size and keeps the rod up. It is #3 in the above diagram.

 

I found the broken remnants of the spring down in the door seam. I also have two stripped-out T30 machine screws holding the two halves of the latch on the door skin. As stupid as it sounds, I have a torqued T30 driver and a broken (snapped!) Allen wrench from trying to remove those blasted screws. I'm about to drill the screw heads out just to get the latch halves off of the door skin. Any insight from anyone on this situation?

 

some of those door screws are grade 8 (class 12.9 or whatever), might be kinda hard to drill

i've never had any trouble removing them with a proper torx bit on a 3/8" ratchet. if they are stripped, ugh. I dunno, I might just take a cut-off wheel on a small angle grinder to them, and plan on replacing the outer latch plate stuff with pik-n-pull parts.

 

If they "stripped", I don't know... Once at that point, it's hard! I have encountered super tight screws there and the only solution is to use good quality bits that are stronger than the screws--torxes should not strip easily if the correct size is used... At this point, I am afraid there are no elegant solutions I know of...

 

I figured as much. The Torx bit is just fine, it's the business end of the machine screws that are rounded out. It appears as if some mouth-breather used a pneumatic driver with no clutch to drive the screws home...and there is ample evidence of the panel having been off at some previous time.

If my local Volvo dealer has the latch halves available (they are resourceful, so far, for the parts I've needed) I see no reason not to drill/Dremel out the screw heads and replace the entire assembly. Supposedly, the parts are available for about US $45.00 complete.

Many thanks for the replies and the help, gentlemen!

 

I noted that the screws #5 in that drawing were no longer available from the dealer (that volvopartswebstore.com site *IS* a dealer, in greater Chicago somewhere). Also the outside lock piece #4 is only availablef or the RIGHT door, not the LEFT.

sadly, when Volvo went through Ford ownership, they whacked off production of older parts, so once the current inventory is gone, there will be no more. Their new owners, Geely of China, wants big flashy status cars for the Nouveau Rich of Beijing, to compete with Mercedes and BWM.

 

Update - the local dealer says the latch/lock assembly (not the lock cylinder in the outside door skin, just the door-jamb hardware) is obsolete but the spring is still available, as are the Torx screws. I should be getting a diagram and photo showing me exactly where the spring is mounted. I guess I'll just Dremel oversized slots into the screw heads and back them out with a sturdy screwdriver bit and my 12" ratchet.

Thanks for the follow-up on this, Pierce. Greatly appreciated.

 

I ordered the spring and replacement Torx screws today from the local dealer. I'm informed the latch assemblies are obsolete NLA parts. That's OK. I will have to figure out exactly how the replacement spring fits into to the latch. Anyone have any photos, or something more informative than the schematic? Spring #3 doesn't really SHOW anything.

 

take your other side apart to compare?

 

I'm stumped. Liberal doses of PB Blaster have been applied, and so far I've broken two ice picks trying to back these screws out. I slotted them with a Dremel, and no amount of force I can apply (including using my impact wrench, impact drivers, or screwdriver-and-ViseGrip will break them loose.

Has anyone here had this much difficulty loosening these miserable screws? Any advice or tips?

 

are we talking about the screws that hold the latch mechanism to the door visible from the outside of the door jam? or something else?

 

Yes, those visible screws. I was thinking of using my propane torch on them, but I would probably melt that plastic cover on the edges of the outside (latch) half, where it meets the door skin. I don't know how critical that plastic part is.

 

I'd sacrifice that whole outside latch mechanism (looks like you have to), then get a second hand one to replace it. The cost should be minimal... While you are at it, get the locking mechanism holding the spring too.

In the future use really good quality torx bits--for some reason torxes strip more easily than one would expect, and they have to fit perfectly.

 

sigh. most of the small specialist toolmakers have been bought, merged, and outsourced so they are just brands now. its hard to find decent stuff any more.

 

OK, update.

Pierce put me onto the solution. Cheers, brother - and thanks. Popping the RF door panel clarified things.

For starters, the spring belonged in a location I hadn't expected...but, once I found where it lurked, I was able to install the replacement inside the LF door with some illuminatory help from the wife. (That's fancy talk for her holding a flashlight.)

Briefly....there is an extension of the inside-half latch housing which turns 90° toward the front of the door, following the doorskin. Attached to that is a bell crank, in turn attached to which is the inside vertical lock-linkage rod. That stupid little 84¢ spring I bought fits between the stationary extension and the bell crank. Once I figured out where it went, it was a somewhat simple matter of spreading the bell crank and bracket apart a bit; then I used a Dremel tool to put a small slot into the blade of a jeweler's screwdriver, to push the loose spring end into the bell-crank hole after I had it anchored into the extension. After that, I just bent the bell crank back into place close to the bracket/housing extension and replaced the linkage-rod clip.

No more slop in the LF lock-linkage rod. It's tight as a virgin now, excuse the expression.

BTW, this fix does NOT require removing the latch halves from the door skin!