Door Lock 1970 280SL

[TJMart]

My passenger side door lock is not working properly.

With the door closed: I cannot lock the door from the inside of the car using the "lock latch". (for lack of a better name)
                              I cannot lock or unlock the door with the key either.

With the door open, I can lock the inside "lock latch" and close the door and it remains locked when I close the door. With the door now closed I can unlock the door with the key but I cannot lock it again with the key. (I have not opened the door).

Thanks in advance.

Tony
                               

[TJMart]

Don't know if this is proper etiquette but I resolved my problem and wanted to share in case someone else encounters the same problem. The door latch actually has two positions. With the door open you can rotate the latch clockwise and the latch stops after one click (Position 1). If you rotate the latch once more the latch will click and stop again (Position 2). The door latch has to latch into position 2 when it closes against the striker on the inside of the door jam. My striker was adjusted (when I had it painted I assume) only far enough to close the latch into position 1. This is what caused my problem. Once I adjusted the striker so that the latch was in position 2 when the door closed everything works like it is supposed to. Hopefully I explained it and did not cause further confusion!

Tony

[Benz Dr.]

Nothing better than solving your own problems and nothing better than telling us how you did it.