help reinstalling door lock mechanism -
 

So I had the microswitch in the door lock mechanism get jammed up a bit by the plastic coating on the lever and the rubber seal of the microswitch all tear apart. I got it all back together cleaned up and working, but when reinstalling the door lock mechanism the handles don't seem to work and closing the door isn't possible because it won't close the latch thing somehow. I don't really know, but what's the secret to reinstalling those mechanisms?

I read in a repair manual about moving the spring lever into it's slot and I tried that but it didn't do anything. Just gets released upon lifting the door handle.

any thoughts?

I am watching this thread too, the microswitch on my passenger door thinks that the door is closed all the time and so I have to manually roll the window down a little bit so it will clear the door seals. I will be taking the door panel off soon to take a look, and so I might run into the same issue.

So I figured out my problem, there is a pawl that springs down onto the lever and it was stuck in the mechanism. A small screw driver push onto the gold metal pawl next to the inner door handle lever and it pushed back down.

The micro switch on the mechanism is what tells the car the door is open so if it doesn't switch then you need a $200 mechanism because you can't replace that switch. Mine was gunked up with the rubber switch seal and the plastic covering on the lever tearing apart. I was able to clean it all up and bend the switch cover plate to hold the switch closer making up for the plastic covering I had to cut off. It all works now but that's about a 3 hour job really. The driver's door seemed to have the exact same problem and I was able to fix that. It's now been a few days and I've had to continually fix the passenger one to the point where I give up and will be buying a new one for that. argh.... now I know why people just replace stuff rather than fix it when the time to fix it exceeds the value of the new part!

I'm now an expert on the lock mechanism and the window regulators (slides and mechanism). 8 hours of hands on experience on top of the other 8 hours the first time the plastic bushing broke on the window mechanism.

When you pull on the handle a slight amount, but not enough to unlock the door, does the window drop? If not then you might have a microswitch on the handle gone bad which can be replaced. Those switches cause the window to drop, and the one in the door lock mechanism holds the window down when you release the handle because it senses the door is open.

hope that helps