[DeTomaso] Pushbutton Lock failure Question

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 1/27/08 5:26:16 AM, claywillmott at hotmail.com writes:


> Failure to be able to lock pushbutton door on passenger side:
>  
> The push button mechanism works Perfectly as long as you dont need to lock 
> it.  Basically to open or shut the door from both the inside or outside is 
> perfect.  The problem is the door cannot be locked.  Also, you cannot simply 
> push the lock down on the inside of the door-It will not push down.
> 
>>>Unlike the later Panteras, the function of the inside door lock and the 
external door lock (pushbutton) are completely and totally unrelated.   If the 
door is locked from the inside, you can NOT unlock it from the outside, because 
the two systems don't interact at all.

The button on the inside of the car mechanically locks the LATCH, the thing 
that engages the pin on the back of the door opening.   That prevents the door 
from being opened.   Lifting up on the button allows the latch to move if 
something acts upon it; lifting up on the interior door handle then allows the 
door to open.

The lock in the pushbutton just raises a small protrusion which engages a 
very, very small opening in the potmetal pushbutton housing.   It works identical 
to the decklid lock.   The inside lock button and associated mechanism have 
nothing to do with this.   With the pushbutton locked, the pushbutton can not 
move in or out.   This only indirectly impacts the action of the latch, as it 
is the back side of the pushbutton that presses a paddle which opens the latch. 
  But the latch itself is not locked in any way with the key.

In fact, if you walk up to a pushbutton Pantera whose pushbutton is locked, 
all you have to do is give the pushbutton a really hard whack.   This will 
break the back of the (extremely flimsy) pushbutton housing, and then the 
pushbutton will be free to move in and out, opening up the latch.

If you can insert the key into your pushbutton and turn it 180 degrees, there 
is nothing wrong with your pushbutton lock.   The lock is working fine; when 
you rotate the key it is raising and lowering a metal protrusion from the back 
of the pushbutton.   But if the housing is broken, then there is nothing for 
this protrusion to act upon and you will always be able to open the door (as 
long as it isn't locked from inside).

If you can't lock the door with the interior button, then there is an 
unrelated problem (although I suppose it's possible that remnants of the broken 
pushbutton housing have jammed the rather complex lock/latch mechanism).

Been there, done that, spent a whole day fixing Stephane Bergeron's 
pushbutton arrangement, which involved many, many iterations of removing the guts, 
bending and tweaking them, then reinstalling them, only to find they wouldn't work 
in the car but WOULD work on the bench.   This is because the clearances 
inside the door were so tight that elements of the mechanism were hitting pieces 
on the inside of the door, which prevented it from working.   The door in 
question was a replacement door, made out of a square doorhandle skin, with a 
pushbutton stamping welded in.   The repair shop (unknown) put the pushbutton 
housing in the wrong place!   It is about 1/2 inch to the rear of where it should 
be, which quickly consumed any available free space.   It took a good long 
while to figure that whole thing out....

Here is a photo of Stephane's pushbutton (showing the protrusion in the 
retracted position) and the mangled remains of the housing:

http://members.aol.com/mikeldrew/brokedoorlatch.jpg

Mike


>  
> Thus I think it is more than a key issue otherwise I would lock the door 
> from the inside when I park it and enter through my working lock and key on the 
> drivers side.
>  
> If the door lock cannot be pushed down form the inside it is jammed or 
> broken?  And maybe the key is the right key.  The key will enter the lock but NOT 
> turn.
>  
> That is why I thought I should remove and inspect it.  If I cant figure it 
> out the locksmith said he would look at it.
>  
> Any thoughts?  I think the potmetal housing degradation would not explain 
> the above???
> 




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