May 5, 200421 yr Coming back from lunch today the door lock seems to have broken on my subie. I can put the key in but it just spins around and around. Where do I get to this door lock to fix it? Do I have to take the skins of the inside of the door to do this? Thanks
May 5, 200421 yr If your key spins 360 w/o unlocking or locking the door, the retaining nut, for the linkage, on the back side of the lock has come off. You wouldn't be able to spin the lock if it were connected to the linkage inside the door. Seems as though you need to pull off the interior panel and look a disconnected linkage rod or a missing nut from the lock. Roll your window up before you start! Good luck! Glenn 82 SubaruHummer 01 Forester
May 5, 200421 yr Author Thanks! Good note about rolling window up also!! Been there done that with another vehicle! Any special tools needed to get the door pannel off? Thanks
May 5, 200421 yr No, a stiff 1.5" blade putty knife will assist you in getting the pop in fastners. The door handle trim is the hardest, about the center of the trim top and bottom there is a tab that clipd over a pin. You need to gently push them up to release the trim. If you have problems and don't mind driving to the north side of the Springs, I can get you back up in no time. Larry
May 5, 200421 yr Author Thanks for the volunteering of help!!! I have taken them off of my older Subaru's, and other vehicles but wanted to make sure there were no gotyas before I broke something! But now that I know I have a resource in the springs..... My parents and my wife's parents live down there. Btw any good bone yards in the springs for Legacy parts? All the pull yourself ones in Denver metro have no Legacys at all, good thing I guess but...
May 6, 200421 yr Keep us posted on what the problem was:confused: Good Luck! Glenn 82 SubaruHummer 01 Forester
May 6, 200421 yr This is very common on the first gen legacies. The key lock cylinder has an arm with a tab that connects to the lock mechanism. The arm breaks off, and then you can just spin the lock. You will need a new lock cylinder. It can be had from the dealer. Unless you want to carry two keys, you'll need to take the cylinder to a lock smith to rekey it. Then you just put it back in, and you're good to go. PS: Make sure you don't put down the window when you have the lock cylinder out. My mom did this and bent the rod going down to the door lock mechanism. It was a complete and utter nightmare to put back in.
May 6, 200421 yr Author Thanks for the info!! Can I just pull one from a bone yard since I am going to have to re-key it anyway??
May 6, 200421 yr If you pull one from a bone yard you may as well re-key it yourself? Pull the new lock totally out of the cylinder and insert your old key, remove or re-arrange the pins/wafers to fit your old key. You can even remove some of the pins/wafers and no one would ever know. After all......No one picks car doors open. If your mechanically inclined you may save your self a few bucks? Just a thought? Glenn 82 SubaruHummer no doors or locks 01 Forester, doors and locks
May 6, 200421 yr Author Yea I will try re-keying it myself if is that easy. What about JB welding the arm back on there?
May 6, 200421 yr I have never been inside the door your talking about so I don't know how the rod attaches but........What have you got to loose? It's already broken? JB weld it and see what happens. If it works you don't have to buy or re-key anything? I'd JB weld first! Glenn 82 SubaruHummer 01 Forester
May 7, 200421 yr On the subject of door locks, is it a feature that can be turned off that everytime you close a door on a 91 legacy that the door automatically locks? Even with the engine running?
May 7, 200421 yr On My Forester there WAS a box under the dash on the drivers side that was a door lock timer. ..........Now this box has a better home........ I replaced it with a keyless remote box which does not lock after a certain time. You may have this option available to you too? I found mine on Ebay. Good Luck. Glenn 82 SubaruHummer, no doors or locks 01 Forester, Ebay keyless box/remotes
May 7, 200421 yr The doors should not automatically lock. More then likely the spring behind the button has broke off of the tab and it's pressing against the lock button. So every time you open the door handle it puts more force on the spring which locks the door here's a good writeup on how to fix it. I used paper clips....been working great ever since http://www.geocities.com/hobiegary/locks.html
May 12, 200421 yr Awesome fix-it journal! Thanks!! I'm going to give it a go this week, will let you know how it goes.
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