I am locked in my car this very moment

[stevedmc]

Today I decided to change my door handles with metal ones. The worked was pretty straight forward and didn't take long. I do however suspect that I may have bent one o the rods in the door.

It is a long story but there were noises coming from inside my door and I decided to remove the lower portion an get everything out that I could. I removed as many screws from the lower portion, pried it from the door and to my surprise I found several washers. I remove them, put things back together and decided info for a little ride.

Now j can't get out of the dang thing. I do not have a lock module as I pulled it a year ago. I have unlocked it from the lever and with the key through the window. Two rods going upwards the rear are moving.

When I pull the handle either inside or out I notice one rod toasted the front and another towards the rear that only slightly move.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to check? I can drive home and crawl out the passenger door but I'd like to fit it and go about my way.

Thanks.

[opethmike]

Today I decided to change my door handles with metal ones. The worked was pretty straight forward and didn't take long. I do however suspect that I may have bent one o the rods in the door.

It is a long story but there were noises coming from inside my door and I decided to remove the lower portion an get everything out that I could. I removed as many screws from the lower portion, pried it from the door and to my surprise I found several washers. I remove them, put things back together and decided info for a little ride.

Now j can't get out of the dang thing. I do not have a lock module as I pulled it a year ago. I have unlocked it from the lever and with the key through the window. Two rods going upwards the rear are moving.

When I pull the handle either inside or out I notice one rod toasted the front and another towards the rear that only slightly move.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to check? I can drive home and crawl out the passenger door but I'd like to fit it and go about my way.

Thanks.

Been in your EXACT situation. Not fun. Here's what I've done to get out:

Remove upper door panel
Unhook both rods going into the bellcrank
Pull the two hooks together while leaning against the door. It should pop open. If not, rotate the bell crank and try again.

[stevedmc]

I don't like to cuss but that damn door is finally open. Thanks for the advice. Now I need to change my signature when I get home.

[opethmike]

You're going to need to perform a lock & latch adjustment so it doesn't happen again to you. It's in the technical bulletins that you can find on dmcnews.com.

[sean]

You're going to need to perform a lock & latch adjustment so it doesn't happen again to you. It's in the technical bulletins that you can find on dmcnews.com.

ST-10-8.81 (http://www.dmcnews.com/bulletins/ST-10-8.81.html)

[stevedmc]

I don't understand this crap. I disconnected the rods, pulled them, and the door opened fine.

I reconnected them, didn't change a thing, and so far I have successfully open and closed the door at least 5 times.

[Jonathan]

Steve, your car just got added to the "named DeLoreans" thread as "the Murphy's Law" DeLorean! Either that or there are some little 80's leprechauns in your doors playing games with you.

[stevedmc]

The damn thing did it again. Thanks to Mike I easily opened the door by removing the rods and manually pilling them. I'm leaving the access panel off and the rods disconnected until I have time to adjust them.

16510 is lucky that I truly love her. Any other woman and I would have filed for divorce by now.

[QuadcityDMC]

Samething happend to me. but I worked on my car all winter, doors were the first thing I did, I put all the pannel back in, then came spring when I was ready to take it home, I opened the door, backed it up, stopped because my mom wanted to take it around the block. I closed my door, opened the passanger side for her, went back to open my door and NOTHING :angry0:

That door worked all winter, turned out my locking nut came off and the rod fell down! Its all fixed now, but I wanted to burn the car to the gound

[dn010]

I been there too in 5003. Bad adjustment, I drove around for weeks without any panels on the doors so I didn't get locked in the damn thing...

[opethmike]

Yup, annoyingly enough it is a bad adjustment. It happened seemingly randomly to me on three different occasions. Hasn't happened again in over two years after proper adjustment.

[TheDutchTexan]

When I first read this thread I went "HA HA" like the kid in the Simpsons...

After that I realised I just learned another thing about DeLoreans... 8)

[stevedmc]

When I first read this thread I went "HA HA" like the kid in the Simpsons...

After that I realised I just learned another thing about DeLoreans... 8)

I felt more like Johnny Carson at first. On another note, stuff like this is why I will always disable power locks in older vehicles. My Geo Metro used to have power locks. I disabled them a few years back because they were more of a nuisance than practical.

[TTait]

Its easy to do once you get your head wrapped around it - if you have the doors panels off you already have done the most time consuming part...

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?1211-How-To-Door-Lock-amp-Latch-Adjustment-Tutorial

Which includes a link to a good video...

Glad you got out. I'm not sure whats worse - being locked out or locked in... Locked in is probably a better situation, albeit more embarrassing.

Somewhere out there in the ether is a write up telling the story of how I got into my wifes locked car the day we brought it home - maybe Welmoed has a copy iirc?

[WelmoedJ]

Somewhere out there in the ether is a write up telling the story of how I got into my wifes locked car the day we brought it home - maybe Welmoed has a copy iirc?

I just was about to ask Steve if he had a young youngster like you at the time of your ordeal :)
Well, he's been locked in, you were locked out.

That article still is around here somewhere. You want me to put it on here with the pics?

[DCUK Martin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92JJQG57t1s

[David T]

The doors must reliably always reach "second locking position" on BOTH latches. I always check for that before doing ANY adjustments. Close the door slowly and listen for 2 clicks from both front and rear latches. They should be simultaneous (or at least very close). Once you have the anchor pins properly adjusted you should clean and lubricate the latches and then go through the whole adjustment procedure. If you are using the Central Locking System you should do both doors. Problems start on the Delorean doors when both locks are not in 2nd locking position and you force the lock to lock the doors. When everything is properly adjusted you should not be able to lock the door unless both latches are in 2nd locking position but by forcing it locked you bend things and knock everything out of adjustment. Never force the doors and if they are not working right and you are slamming and forcing them eventually you will jam them.
David Teitelbaum

[TTait]

That article still is around here somewhere. You want me to put it on here with the pics?

If you can find it, I can't...

[stevedmc]

Has anyone removed the front lock rod? I've been thinking about doing this and was wondering what everyone might have to say.

The idea came from DMCJoe before he disappeared.

http://dmcnews.com/Techsection/doorlockprob.html

[content22207]

The front lock rod does not have a turnbuckle for adjustment (every other rod in the door does).

The front lock rod is held in place by a flimsy plastic retainer. If it breaks, the rod can flex outwards rather than moving the mechanism.

The front lock rod is the only rod that can not be accessed by removing the upper door panel alone.

Quality engineering from Hethel....

Bill Robertson
#5939

[stevedmc]

The front lock rod does not have a turnbuckle for adjustment (every other rod in the door does).

The front lock rod is held in place by a flimsy plastic retainer. If it breaks, the rod can flex outwards rather than moving the mechanism.

The front lock rod is the only rod that can not be accessed by removing the upper door panel alone.

Quality engineering from Hethel....

Bill Robertson
#5939

Bill just helped me make my decision without telling me what to do.

I'm probably going to get smack from people for removing the rod but I ain't gonna get locked in there anymore.

[opethmike]

I did that on my passenger door.

[David T]

There are two reasons for locking both latches. One is of course, the obvious one, to lock the door. The other is more subtle but still important. By locking the latch it prevents the door from opening in the event of a crash by having the release mechanism disengaged from the opening handles. If you leave the rear latch fully functional the door should still stay closed. Just be aware of what you are doing and the implications of your mod. It is possible to have fully functioning latches and operate the doors reliably, it just takes a lot of work (and patience)to do it right. They are called "short cuts" for a reason.
David Teitelbaum

[stevedmc]

There are two reasons for locking both latches. One is of course, the obvious one, to lock the door. The other is more subtle but still important. By locking the latch it prevents the door from opening in the event of a crash by having the release mechanism disengaged from the opening handles. If you leave the rear latch fully functional the door should still stay closed. Just be aware of what you are doing and the implications of your mod. It is possible to have fully functioning latches and operate the doors reliably, it just takes a lot of work (and patience)to do it right. They are called "short cuts" for a reason.
David Teitelbaum

This is one of those damned if you do damned if you don't deals.

1. Leave both lock rods in the car and reduce the possibility of the door popping open during a collision. The reverse could also happen and the door locks could get stuck, resulting in me being trapped in a car after a collision.

2. Modify the lock system by removing the front rod and increase my odds of getting out of the car if I end up in a collision.

[content22207]

My biggest problems were:
- one of the front lock rods was the wrong length (too short IIRC)
- the plastic retainers were broken

I rebent the rod (just like bending a carb rod) and made replacements for the retainers from metal eye hooks by running 6-32 machine threads over the screw threads. Installing my rods is a bit unusual because you have to slide the eye onto the rod before attaching it to the bellcrank, then insert the eye thread into the door bracket and install a nut from the backside, but it works (my rods don't flex outwards anymore).

Bill Robertson
#5939

[TTait]

Steve, they are not that hard to adjust - it just seams that way. if you pull off the lower door panels to remove the rods, you could just go ahead and adjust them instead. Its not that bad. I put off touching them on one car, and paid DMC CA to do the other - now I feel silly. It's a lot easier than may other D jobs - its just really daunting before you wrap your head around it.

[content22207]

Remember that the front lock rods have to be physically rebent to adjust them. All other rods have turnbuckles.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[TTait]

If they are actually bent a lot, yes.

My problem had been the retaining clip on one door. It broke somewhere around year 28, so I fashioned a new one out of two small cable ties. Once I clipped that out and put in a new clip from Houston, it worked fine.

I think the intention is that one rod must be a fixed length so you have a known starting point.

Similarly its helpful to adjust the door release cable to the middle of its adjustment range before setting everything else, so you have somewhere to go in the future if you have to adjust it a bit.