Door lock - gross stupidity.

[neilrr]

Door won't open - Gross Stupidity Alert.

Today I excelled myself in an act of absentminded muttonheadedness.

The outer O/S rear door handle on my 190E 2.6 stopped working some time ago. Not a huge inconvenience as it still opened from the inside, so I figured next time it's in the shop they can look into it.

Fine. Only problem is, today I forgot the outer handle doesn't work & put on the child locks. Now I can't open the door from the inside or the outside.

Any suggestions?

 

[Will]

Today I excelled myself in an act of absentminded muttonheadedness.

The outer O/S rear door handle on my 190E 2.6 stopped working some time ago. Not a huge inconvenience as it still opened from the inside, so I figured next time it's in the shop they can look into it.

Fine. Only problem is, today I forgot the outer handle doesn't work & put on the child locks. Now I can't open the door from the inside or the outside.

Any suggestions?

Hi Neil,

A friend of mine did this once with his 190E! He also had a problem like yours (this is very common on the older W201s) - where as the handle for the rear doors only works from the inside.

Anyway, one of his 'mates' decided to try flicking the child lock as he was sure this was to with the the problem!

Needless to say that the door was unable to be opened from the inside or outside. Guess who was kindly allocated the task of sorting out the mess

Anyway, if you take out the back seat base/squab you can just about get enough access to remove the door card on the aforementioned door. From memory it is held in place by three fixings plus some plastic hooks.

Firstly, if you have electric windows, remove the electric window switch and disconnect it (it should just pull out). If you have manual windows you'll need to remove the winding handle - I've not removed one from a W201 before but it should be fairly obvious how it comes off (normally a clip on the back).

Remove the small piece of plastic shaped like an angular 'c' surrounding the door release handle, this will reveal a 10mm bolt - remove this too. Somewhere near the release handle there is also a large phillips screw (I'm pretty sure it is behind the handle - move it forward and look), remove this. You should now be able to manipulate the door release handle and the plastic trim out of the door card - it slides sideways and outwards. Disconnect the handle, it is just hooked over a metal bar.

On the closing edge of the door there is another small piece of plastic which is held in place by a smaller phillips screw, remove this as well.

With these items removed you should be able to lift the door card upwards and off. Once you have got the door card off you should be able to see the lock mechanism (you may have to partially remove the plastic sheeting that stops moisture ingress). I cant honestly remember exactly what part I had to move, but from memory it was near the top? I managed to play around with it for a few minutes and pop open the door! I can't remember if it was the child lock lever that I moved and then opened the door or what, but it is definately possible.

Once door is open, swear that you'll never mess around with the child locks again (at least until you get the handle fixed!) and then sit down with a chilled beverage of some description (a nice cold Stella or something would go down especially well in this hot weather! )

Replace door card etc and refit seat (much easier with the door open ).

Job done :bannana:

Good luck

Will

 

[neilrr]

Will,
Thanks for your help.
Today I managed to get the door card off, without being able to get the seat out. Quite a job that was.
I fiddled around with the rods and everything else to do with the lock mechanism but so far haven't managed to get the door to open. Had to give up this afternoon due to the heat.

I'll have another crack early tomorrow when it's cooler.

I couldn't see anything obviously wrong with the outside door handle. When you took your mate's door apart were you able to fix his broken handle or did you just get the door open?
Neil

 

[Will]

Didn't get it fixed in the end as he hasn't got the car anymore, he now has a 1993 190E! It was something that seemed to particularly affect the early W201s, my cosworth did it once or twice, but when I replaced one of the window motors I lubricated the mechanism and it didn't do it afterwards!

From memory now I think the part that I moved was the internal part that would operate the child lock (if that makes sense). Have a second look and I am sure you will find it

Good luck,

Will