70 Dodge Charger Door can open even when locked

[matchek]

Hi all, the passenger side door of my Dodge Charger functions fine, but after I lock it, I can open the door without the key.  Any ideas what is wrong please?

Matt

[matchek]

Now it is doing it on the drivers door too.   I was able to lock the drivers door three times but now it wont lock.  It looks like when I turn the key , to get it to lock it has to go down a little extra more to lock and it won't.  

The passenger side key rotation seems to work in the opposite direction like counter clockwise to lock.  It moves the inner knob up and down but not enough to lock it.  The car was painted a couple of years ago and wonder if it was not adjusted correctly  or if this a typical Charger problem.  Possibly the car was sitting for a long time too - just got it.

[matchek]

In the meantime, would you please let me know how your passenger door on your 2nd generation locks?  Do you need a key to turn in counterclockwise?    Are you able to lock the door if you press in the door knob and shut it like GM cars?

[XH29N0G]

If I recall correctly on mine (which is a 1970) I turn the key until the little nob on the inside moves up and down.  If it is down, it is locked.  I may have run into an issue when I screwed the knob too far down on the threaded rod where it sits (then it could not go all the way down), but I do not recall. 

I will check tomorrow, but I am assuming you will have another response before then.  It could be something else with the mechanism, and for that you will probably want to consult  the factory service manual.  I can do that if you want as well.

I apologize for not running to do it right away.

[matchek]

Thank you. When you get a chance , please let me know how you exactly lock and unlock you passenger door (key rotation direction, pressing in door button, etc) and if is the same exact process for the drivers side.  And please observe of the door locking rod on top of door moves up and down the same height.  This is important as I want to mimic a stock car and not break it.

[Kern Dog]

On the left side, turning clockwise locks, CCW unlocks.
On the right side, turning CCW locks, clockwise unlocks.
You should feel some resistance when turning the key but it should not be enough to bend the key.
There are plastic or vinyl retainers that connect the rods to the mechanisms in both the latch and the locks. They get old and brittle, sometimes people rig up some stupid stuff to make it work when they can't find those retainers.

[matchek]

Thank you Kern!  The drivers side is now working fine.  The first 30 degrees of tuning is easy - the last 10 is harder but now fully turning those 40 degrees or so.   

The passenger side turns the first 30 degrees and the door know rod goes down but not fully so it looks like it locks but not locking.    I don't know if this means anything but when I jiggle the door knob rod up and down the passenger side seems more flimsy than the drivers side.    So you think it could be more a retainer problem than the latch/lock being greased?

[70 sublime]

Roll down the window and put the key in the door lock and just turn the key and help it by pushing down and lifting on the door lock button a bunch of times to help free it up
If that does not help see if the button looks like it is hitting the interior door pad part
If it is this could be why it will not lock all the way
The door lock knob just screws onto the rod so un twist it some to make it taller to see if that helps any

[matchek]

Thank you Sublime, would you please clarify this statement

"If that does not help see if the button looks like it is hitting the interior door pad part"     What button are you talking about? The door handle button?  The Door knob rod?   Trying to fully understand this statement.     

For clarification too, my interior door knob rods are the type that do not have a mushroom head so I don't think the door know rod.  I took those off and it did not make a difference. 

[matchek]

Update:    This may help diagnose what the problem is.      When I lock the passenger door by hand or with the key, the door is locked from the inside (meaning when I sit INSIDE the car, and pull the door handle back, I cannot open the door and the rod stays down.  However, when I reach over to the OUTSIDE of the car, and press the door handle button inward the door rod shoots up and the door unlocks and opens without a key.  

So to clarify the passenger side door locks from the inside only.   I can open the passenger car door by just depressing the outside button.    On the drivers side when it locks, the button is hard and does not depress and need the key to open it.    Does this still sound like a retaining clip please?

I don't know if this makes a difference but it appears that the rod goes down a little deeper on the drivers side than the passenger side.

[70 sublime]

Think you are going to have to take the interior door panel off and have a look inside the door

[matchek]

I get the repair manual on Thursday - not sure if that will help.   Yeah I figured but afraid to touch it without perusing that first.   Somehow when you lock the door, it is supposed to prevent the outside door handle button from depressing and the passenger side is not doing that.  Wish I had a diagram of the door lock assembly.   

[matchek]

I talked to another Mopar guy and he thinks it be the lock cylinder - of course no way to know without taking apart.

[XH29N0G]

This probably doesn't help, but if it you can read it and it gives a head start, then good.  I think these are the pages you need.  They are from the FSM.

There should be a place to get this on line as well, but I do not know the link.  THat may be for another year, but that might be enough.

[green69rt]

Was the door taken apart at any time and the lock mechanism removed?  There is a little trick with the linkage that if not gotten correct prevents the door from locking correctly.

This thread has  a lot of pic.  Check reply #2.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,130202.0.html

[matchek]

Sorry for the late replies -  for some for some reason I don't get email notifications any longer.    Thank you XH for the manual pics - appreciate it.   I have since purchased the repair manual and have those pics now.   There are a little hard to read, but it is a whole lot better than nothing.  

GreenRT:  Thank you for your reply and your other detailed posts and pictures.  Your other thread is as good as it gets.  To answer your question, it could have been.  The car was painted a couple of years ago by the previous owner and would not doubt that they removed the lock cylinders and door handles and re-installed.   One thing to note, is the drivers sides works fine, a little hard to turn, but works fine.  Not sure if this is how your door locks work, but  what happens when I turn the key on the drivers side key, when I turn key , the first 25 degrees turns clockwise easily, the door lock rod on the inside goes down 1/2 way, but the door is not locked yet.  When I turn the key another 10 degrees (not so easy to turn) the rod "clicks" downward and the door lock rod goes down another 1/8" inch and the door is locked properly.   When I try to open the door from the outside I cannot do so.

The difference with the drivers side and the passenger side is that the passenger door rod does not go down but not that extra 1/8" and I don't get that extra click downward (not sure if this is important, just mentioning).  The passenger door does lock stay locked if I sit in the car and try to exit the car from the inside.  However it I roll down the window, I depress the passenger outside door handle button, the door opens without the key.  Not good.

Do you think it could have been some sort of not re-installing the handle and cylinder properly or adjustment?  That would make sense because odds are if there was a cylinder problem it would be on the drivers side because that side gets more wear and tear. Perhaps you are talking about Item #10?   This linkage goes right to the wheel cylinder.  This looks like there is only one way to install but there are ways to screw this up?       There are so many pictures and linkages from your other post not sure where I should focused on this ailment.