Driver door key lock jamming

[Moseley20147]

Recently, my driver's side door will not lock/unlock with the
electric lock system on my 95 Chevy Blazer. All other doors lock
and unlock when any of the buttons are pushed (even on
the driver's door) but this has no effect on the driver's door.

Meanwhile, the key often jams inside the driver's side door
keyhole while trying to open it. The key will turn to the
left (locking the door) but will jam trying to turn it right
(to unlock the door).

Any ideas on how to fix this without paying a fortune?

(I recently went in for a $29 oil change on my other car and
got an estimate for $2700 in repairs they wanted to do on
that one. Must have been a slow month for those mechanics.)

[BlazerLT]

Remove the interior door panel and take a look.

I would suggest buying a haynes and chilton's repair manual to aid in your truck maintanence.

[Cadillakin'98]

Before you start taking stuff apart, why not figure out the problem first?? I have an idea of what it might be and you wouldn't have to tke off the door panel. As far as the electronic door locks, have you had an alarm installed on this vehicle? If so, I bet its a loose coonection where they spliced. If no alarm has been installed on it, I would say possibly your acctuator. Answer my ? and then I'll explain where to go and how to check from there. As far as the key lock from outside the vehicle, DO NOT- I repeat-DO NOT use WD-40 or anything similar. This is a temporary fix on locks but ends up destroying them. Go to local hardware store and get some graphite. It only takes a little, but this is the proper way to lubricate lock cylinders. Just a little though, too much can hurt the locks too.Let me know about the alarm thing and I'll help you from there.

[blazee]

The proper procedure is to remove the door panel first and check voltage at the solenoid. One wire should be hot when unlock is pressed and the other should be hot when lock is pressed.

If voltage is present, the solenoid is bad and needs to be replaced.

If voltage is not present, check the wires and connections between the solenoid and the relay (probably a problem in the door jam).

I have seen similar symptoms to yours from a solenoid that had fallen off and was obstructing the key operation.

Yes use graphite in your locks, never oil of any kind.

[BlazerLT]

How the heck are you going to KNOW the problem without inspecting the mechanism for failure.

[blazee]

Originally Posted by BlazerLT

How the heck are you going to KNOW the problem without inspecting the mechanism for failure.

That's what I was telling him to do.

[blazee]

Nevermind we posted the same time, you weren't talking to me.

[BlazerLT]

Originally Posted by blazee

Nevermind we posted the same time, you weren't talking to me.

Hehe, nope.

All is good.

My 1995 has a lazy lock solenoid too that doesn't like to work when it gets really cold out.

[Moseley20147]

Thanks for the interest and help. I haven't opened it up yet, but my
concern is that in addition to the electric lock not working, there
also seems to be something jamming in the actual key lock itself.
I will try the graphite. But I am also wondering of something has
fallen loose that is both failing to engage the electric lock and
also jamming the normal key hole lock physically.

By the way, how do I open the door panel anyway? Most of these things
have secret tabs or something that pop out only if you know the secret.