'99 door lock problems

[DaveFL1976]

Hey folks,

My '99 996 cabriolet likes to keep things interesting via little parts failing from time to time.

The latest is the drivers side door lock. When I turn the key in the door --

'Why use the door key at all', you ask?

'Because the remote lock/unlock mechanism doesn't work. The car just honks its horn at me when I try to lock it via the key fob.' Now stop interrupting me, please.

Anyways, when I turn the key in the door, nothing happens. And I mean nothing. It used to work fine, locking and unlocking both doors as if it had a purpose in life. But this last time, nothing. It felt all floppy-like. No resistance at all. I might have well be turning the key inside a bowl of pudding, there's so little resistance. And not even tapioca pudding, we're talking smooth vanilla here.

So I guess my question is, 'is it worth me taking the door panel off? Is there a chance it's just a hook to reattach to a lever, like I have to do to my toilet from time to time? Or is it more of a job for someone who's done this before?'

thanks!

Edited August 23, 2010 by DaveFL1976

[smak]

My P car has the same year and model as yours. Same problem appeared as few months back just like what you have described

Remote fob died and no resistance on door lock. Search thru. internet, no solution found.

So I took the door panel off, removed the handle , disassembled the lock mechanism, and found a broken part . Spend $35 on ebay with a used lock and replaced that single part.

Here is what it looks like.

[DaveFL1976]

My P car has the same year and model as yours. Same problem appeared as few months back just like what you have described

Remote fob died and no resistance on door lock. Search thru. internet, no solution found.

So I took the door panel off, removed the handle , disassembled the lock mechanism, and found a broken part . Spend $35 on ebay with a used lock and replaced that single part.

Here is what it looks like.

Thanks for the info! Did you just do a search for '996 door lock' I suppose?

I'm fairly mechanically inclined, so I may give it a shot. Is there any danger of ruining the keying of the lock? If so, I just might have a pro do it.

[smak]

This is harder than replacing the Hydraulic cylinder.

I would suggest to remove the door panel first before doing any purchase.

Here is a link at ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-911-Carrera-996-Boxster-986-Door-Lock-Cylinder-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQfitsZMakeQ3aPorscheQQitemZ250687244727QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

You have to remove the inner door panel first. Steps includes removing several screws that hold the handle, pile out the a few plastic one that goes around the door.

Then, disconnect the door cable and side airbag connector. Once you take the panel off, you can get reach to 2 nuts that hold the door handles. You will then be able to judge why the door mechism is working or not. In my case, I turn the key, but the lever was not moving. Removed the 2 nuts and take the door lock assembly out. The picture was after disassembling the door lock. It took me about 5-6 hours to do that, on and off. If I do that again, my guess would be about 2hours max.