94 Montero drivers door wont open from outside after being locked

[wgyouree]

Hey guys, just picked up a '94 Montero SR. It's awesome Only problem I have is with the drivers door locks.

First, it had the problem with the actuator bumper. This caused the doors to immediately lock after unlocking. That would happen if you used the drivers door lock mechanism at all, whether the door was open or closed or you used the electric control or the lever. I took that apart and fixed the bumper and now that problem is solved.

However, I still seem to have an issue. I can lock and unlock the drivers door fine, but if the door is closed and I unlock it, either with the key, the lever or the electric controls, I cannot open the door from the outside. The inside door latch is the only way to open the door if it was locked while the door is closed.

I'm having some trouble figuring out this mechanism and was hoping someone here has seen this before and has a solution. I think the problem at this point may be the outside door latch isn't triggering something it's supposed to when the door is locked and closed.

 

[wgyouree]

If anyone has a copy of the maintenance manual and could see if there is a schematic for the the driver's door latch mechanism that would be really helpful too. I think there is either a problem with the latch or one of the rods is out of place (maybe I jostled one loose while replacing the actuator). It seems like the outside door handle does not trigger something that the inside door handle does. They both have rods that connect to the door latch, and they turn different "gears" or "cams" on the latch mechanism. I can see that when the door is closed the outside handle doesn't quite trigger something that the inside handle does, but not sure how to describe it.

 

[plh]

Like you mention, its probably a rod that got bumped. Manuals are here: http://www.mitsubishilinks.com be sure to take advantage of the paypal link to help cover hosting costs.

 

[Jay Ayala]

It has to be one of the rods.

 

[wgyouree]

Fixed

Turns out there was also a problem with the latch.

There is a small metal switch that needs to make contact with a lever controlled by the outside door handle rod which would not pop into position on my existing door latch.

Bad latch:


On the latch I got from Pick'n'pull out of a '95 LS Montero, the lever makes contact and the door opens normally.

Good latch: