Hi everyone, I hope this isn't a much asked question, I have done a bit of searching on this forum looking for an answer but couldn't find what I was looking for , so here goes , I have a 2001 jag x type 3.0 sport which I have owned trouble free for 2.5 years, a couple of weeks ago sometimes the drivers door wouldn't unlock off the inside lever , now it does it all the time , but only if I allow the auto-lock procedure , if I manually lock the door it unlocks fine so I am thinking when it auto locks it must be dead locking the drivers door, so does anyone know how to cure this fault. thanks in advance for any help/ reply s.

 

Paul, welcome to the forums. I think once you get into this, you will find tons of very useful information here.

As for your issue, I would venture to guess that you are having an issue with the cable that runs between the door lock and the handle. Others have had a problem like this. As I recall, you can cure this problem by simply running a little bit of light weight oil (3-n-1 oil) down the cable to help it free up a little bit. But, worst case, you will need to get a new cable that runs from the door lock.

If you need help getting the door panel off, let us know. It isn't all that hard to do, but some of the screws are cleverly placed.

 

Thanks for the reply, I am thinking that if it was a fault with the cable then the door would not open properley at all but because it open & closes just fine everytime when I lock or unlock from the lever on the door then it suggests to me that for some reason when it is allowed to auto lock it goes beyond just locking the drivers door & goes to a full dead lock on that door which then won't allow you to open the door with any manual lever until the remote is pressed to unlock , but I will certainly try what you suggested as there is nothing so strange as car faults.

 

Paul, what you are experiencing is probably a mix of a lock solenoid starting to go and additional drag on the cable. By having a weaker lock solenoid, the amount of extra force that it has to pull the lock button is decreased and it may have fallen such that it doesn't have enough force to overcome the resistance in the lock mechanism. If you add in the extra resistance in a sticking cable or just have a cable with too much resistance and it can be too much for the lock solenoid.

 

ok thankyou for your help, I will remove the door card at the weekend & have a look at what is going on inside there. thanks.