my daughter's 240, the front passenger door wont lock, either electric or via the button or via the key. the button simply won't go down at all, and the key won't turn at all in the lock direction, only in the unlock direction. I haven't taken the door panel off to investigate, and she just left to go back to school (her University is like 7-8 hours drive north of here), but I'm curious what its likely to be.

also the trunk locks electrically but won't unlock electrically, you have to use a key. 2 of the 3 keys she has are cut on the Valet key blank so don't work in the trunk, which is fairly annoying.

 

I would have to think that something is binding, and since its such a simple setup I'm sure you will see it right away.

If I remember correctly, if the locking cylinder is frozen then you won't be able to lock the door either, however you can unlock it fine so that can't be the case...

 

Usually it is the result of water getting into the central locking actuator.













And on the trunk unit, this is fairly common, in that I've needed to lube every one we own. Doubly annoying, trying to work outside on a sunny day, looking up into the trunk lid.

 

sadly, this car has migrated to my daughter's place, 7 hours drive north of me, so I won't be seeing it again for months. I've forwarded this info to her in case she wants to try and fix it herself (since she can't lock the passenger door at all, even manually, its really rather a priority to get fixed!)

 

I read your concern. The safety aspect of locking the doors might make it worth getting professional help.

If your daughter were to tackle this inside the door panel, she could disconnect the actuator motor's linkage. Getting in there to do that might seem routine for you and I, but can be daunting the first time, and result in a collection of broken clips. Some pix: Volvo 240 Door Handle Repairs or 240 Volvo Keyless Entry

Something I haven't tried, but tempting in this case is forcing it. It helps to be aware the path to the stuck actuator, if that's what it is, is directly in line with the lock button, so if I were to try this, I'd try to work it free from the lock button and not the key. I can envision a broken key or worse trying to do this from outside.

 

yeah, I did a bunch of wiggling and down-pressing of the button... I pressed it hard enough that it felt like the pushrods wanted to buckle, it didn't budge. and yeah, I'd never try to force a key.