Question about door lock

[Hexydes]

Hi everyone, first time posting here. Looks like a nice forum. :)

So I was driving to work today, and I noticed that my driver's-side door was not locked, which you all know is weird because it should lock when you begin driving. No big deal, I pressed the "lock" button, and heard the light "click" associated with all of the locks being locked already.....except the driver's side door was still unlocked. I pressed the door lock button a few more times, and sure enough, the driver's side lock was not engaging.

When I stopped the car, I fiddled around with it for a bit, and caused myself a second problem. On the side of the door (that meets the frame of the car), there is a little latch that I assume flips down when engaged to keep the door from opening. I flipped this down (not sure what exactly it did, be nice, my realm is computers, hehe!), and now I can't get it to disengage. This also means that the door will not shut. :(

So here are some questions, I would GREATLY appreciate any answer to:

1. How do I disengage this mechanism that holds the door closed, so that I can actually close my door?

2. How do I remove the door panel on the car (2002 Saturn Vue) without breaking it?

3. Any thoughts as to what the problem might be?

Thanks for anything you can help with!

[kmowine]

as long as the door is unlocked you should be able to lift the outside handle to release that clasp and allow you to close the door.

as far as the power lock not activating, I would say one of 2 things

1. the system might be setup to leave the drivers door on maual lock for some reason. a trip to the dealership and they can reprogram they system.

2. it could be that power lock system in the door is dead. I killed my parents drivers side lock in the ford minivan 12 years ago by constantly locking the door when my brother was outside with the keys trying to get in to kick my butt.

[OhioVueBoy]

If you're handy, you can replace the lock mechanism yourself. It's about $50, requires some patience and a couple of torx bits. I've done a couple of them on my 2002 now, which has a taste for them.

Anyway... I didn't see what year your VUE is, but here is a general idea of how to remove the door panel. Around the bottom edge, there are a couple of screws in the panel that hold it to the door. Remove those. There is a screw inside the "cup" where the door release handle is... on 2002s and many 2003s the screw is exposed, other years there is a small trim piece to be pried up. (I forget if it was '03 or '04 that the cover was instituted) Remove that screw, pull the handle out, unplug the power connections, and take a look at the clips holding the acutator rods on. They are pretty self explanitory how they work, just go slowly and don't break the retainer tab off of them when you release them. Next, there are 2 screws hidden behind the door pull off of the armrest. There is a slot in the bottom of the angled pull piece - push gently on that with a screwdriver and seperate the handle. Remove those 2 screws. Finally, grab ahold of the tweeter pod (near the mirror, but inside the door) and use a screwdriver to carefully pry it out if needed (it is clipped in), unplug the tweeter, and then undo the final screw holding the door panel on. Slide the door panel straight up, and off of the hooks that hold it to the door frame.

(If you have a 2005, there are push pins around the outside edge of the door frame. They need to be pulled out of the panel, too)

One word of caution... DO NOT destroy the plastic barrier between the door innards and door panel. That piece of plastic is damn near $65 because of the vulcanizing seal on it.

The rest of the latch removal is kind of simple... you have to undo the 3 torx bolts around the latch on the edge of the door, and then contort the thing out of the door assembly, remembering how the lock rods and wiring are ran.

~D.J.~

[Hexydes]

Well I'll tell you what, I'm not really sure what he did, but I left my car at my in-laws house and took the beater car that we leave there to work (I drive their son, my brother-in-law), and my father-in-law fixed it while we were at work! So as far as I know, Saturn Vue's get fixed by a combination of luck and magic. :)

Thanks for the good advice; I'm sure there will be another day when I will need to get the stupid panel off the door. :)