Door Locking - Cold - and Head First Tumbling

[sgnden]

Hello:

This is a 1992 RRC -

This morning (19 degrees F) I went out, unlocked and drove about 10 minutes. When I returned to the car after making a stop, the front doors (both sides) were non-responsive...that is, I couldn't open the doors from the outside. However, the rear doors (both sides) DO operate.

The locks engage, disengage, all sounds normal and I see the lock levers going up and down...but still the front 2 doors will not open.

For your entertainment - I ended-up crawling into the back seat and then scrambled up to the front sort-of sideways head/shoulders first - where I promptly wedged myself between the console, roof, dash, and steering wheel - yup - all while the patrons of the nearby coffee shop stared in amazement at the 6'2" 240LB guy in a Nantucket sweatshirt, baseball cap, and size 13 work boots comes FALLING out head-first onto the parking lot from inside the RR - yup - as I managed to open the door from the INSIDE it allowed me to end-o right out...yup. Too darn funny for sure...oh - my coffee got cold. This was about a 10 minute dance, by the way...sheesh.

Aaaanyway, drove home...tried again...but both front doors will not open from the outside though the locking mech sounds and "looks" fine...rear doors OK.

IDEAS? (aside from "don't fall out of your vehicle in parking lots.")

Thanks!

SG

[Elemental]

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=330-013

Take the solenoids from this kit, and bolt them in place of the shit Rover ones.

[sgnden]

Elemental...

Thanks for the link, man. I trust it is the low temperature that snookers the POS OEM Solenoids, eh?

SG

[Elemental]

Well, they were shit to start with, and they just get shittier with time. These solenoids are cheap and unlock with AUTHORITY! I mean it sounds like a bank vault locking.

[sgnden]

I ordered 'em...should have them by Weds next week. Are they easy to install?

S

[Elemental]

Depends how handy you are, and how comfortable you are with electricity.
The solenoids with 2 wires are push one way-reverse polarity pull tpye. So, if they work backwards, just reverse the wires. No biggie. Each door but the drivers uses these BUT the drivers door.
The drivers dorr has 5 wires. 2 are for the solenoid, like the others, but the 3 wires are for the common,unlock and lock.. I dotn recall the colors off the top of my heads, but a wiring diagram of your classic will be smart... I can help you as much as I can here.

Bolting is a snap. They are damn near the same mounting holes, and if I remember the hole for the linkage needed to be drilled slightly larger.

I'm pretty handy, and strong in Electricity.. It took me about 2 hours to do the whole thing. If you arent strong in electrical, I can, if you tell me which wires colors mean what on the lock kit, tell you what wires to hook up to what color..... Even if you experiment, your changes of complete failure is very low.

You are going to be so happy with these things, you will not beleive it.

Also, this kit works for Series one disco too.

[sgnden]

I am a decent amateur wrench...have never done much with electrical though.

When I get the part, I'll bug you for some guidance...hopefully it will be fairly obvious how they wire-up though.

Thanks!

SG