My passenger side door lock doesn't work when I press the unlock button on the key or the toggle switch. It only works by manually pulling the interior door handle. I've lived with this long enough, it's time to fix it. Unfortunately the Bentley manual never covers this topic. Anyone tackled this yet? Any suggestions? Oh, and no, the car isn't under warrenty.

 

first nit picky thing first:
wrong forum, though I could see your point that the lack of a functioning door lock regulator could potentially take up less power from the alternator, therefore giving it more powa!

Is you mini out of warranty? i've had mine replaced at least once, though not because it was acting up. Weird, huh?

I'd try this in the beneath the bonnet forum and maybe mini talk for wider coverage. But they'll probably end up telling you to go to the dealer. If you dont want to go to the dealer, just have classic (or whoever) mini ship you the part, and I can't imagine it being terribly difficult to do. Or a mechanic could help you in this situation. Just not when you need them to fix something important.

 

Sorry bout' the wrong forum. My fault completely.

 

I'll move this from Performance Mods to Beneath the Bonnet.

 

Forgive my ignorance, but what year is your Mini?

 

It was built in late 2002.

 

I believe you may have a bad locking actuator. If you are a do it yourselfer, remove the door panel and find the wiring harness that leads to the actuator. Using a multimeter, put the neg lead on chassis ground and the positive lead on one of the 2 wires that lead to the actuator. One is lock and one is unlock. If there is voltage there when you lock/unlock the car, you need to replace it. However, I think the actuator is actually built into the latching mechanism, not sure, so you might want to get your hands on a Haynes manual...Do they make one for the Mini yet?


Otherwise, submit to your dealership. They will spank your wallet, and fix it.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't think Haynes makes a MINI manual yet, and Bentley doesn't cover this issue. Regardless it's about time I started poking around the door innards to see what the deal is. Wish me luck.