won't lock

[robert curley]

hi.

have an 01 sport trac today and the door was having intermittent problems unlocking with key, key pad, and keyless entry. if i unlocked the rear door and reached in the inside lever would work. today i did the same and once unlocked i cannot get the door to lock again. the lock nub doesn't go down the whole way and even hitting the keyless entry doesn't work. i hear the mechanism clicking and the lock moves a tiny bit but will not engage fully. i took the door panel off and looked inside and found a small bar hanging which looks bent but i am not sure where it goes and if this is the problem. any help would be appreciated.

 

[Ray McIntireJr]

You will have to take the inside panel off the door because the little plastic peice that the different rods go into is old and worn out and one of the rods is jammed up and not letting the door lock. I know because I have an 01 and am having the same trouble.

 

[Matthew Pickwell]

 

[robert curley]

i took the whole door apart and their was a linkage in there that wasn't hooked up to anything and the top of it was bent it's U shaped on the bottom and comes up on an angle with what appears to be a small section that is supposed to stick out but is bent on an angle. i can only assume it is supposed to go into the actual locking mechanism but no longer fits. i removed it to rebend it and for now i can lock and unlock my doors electrically. the the lock button still does not go up and down fully like the other 3 doors so i am sure something else i there is bent or out of place as well. wish me luck

 

[Doug Watts]

Try spraying lube into the latching mechanism. That worked for me.