Honda Accord Door Lock Hell - long

[ehegwer]

I've got an idea to make you problem *go away*

Remove all items from glove-box, trunk, and storage compartments. Find the seediest shopping mall in your county. Park your car overnight with the keys on the seat.

Report as stolen, and move on.

 

[cgutz]

I've driven many Honda Accords since 1980. Whatever happened to Honda's motto "we make it simple"? What moron designed this lock that it should fail in such a way?

 

[Sharpstik]

I have the 2000 also. And the '06.

Just a matter of time now...

 

[benb]

I usually don't get into these threads in "off topic" forums, but owning a 2003 Accord, this thread title got my attention. I haven't had any problem, but worst case I've got a sunroof/moonroof that I haven't activated since I got the car three years ago. I should check that it still opens and closes.

The passenger window didn't work for a while, until I realized there was an on/off pushbutton to disable it on the driver's side door... thank goodness I didn't ask my mechanic about it.

 

[Wornears]

Our family has had a series of Hondas (Prelude, Accord V6 coupe, a couple of Civics) and in general they have been very stable and reliable cars. Their paint is uniformly thin though.

Reliable at least compared to the Alfa Romeo Alfetta sedans I've had. <G>

Which included a rare "Alfamatic" with ZF automatic transaxle -- 1/2 of the U.S. ones were shipped back to Italy because of non-existent sales -- they sold great there.

 

[mikethebike]

Have a car conundrum for you car mechanics; any suggestions / tactics appreciated. I've been doing my own car repair since the '70s and not experienced this.

Our 2000 Honda Accord's 2-door driver's side door was closed and locked. It has an electronic locking mechanism -- turn the key counter-clockwise on the driver's side and both doors lock. Turn it clockwise and they both unlock -- but now only the passenger-side unlocks and you can open it with inside or outside levers. Uh oh.

Thanks for your ideas.

Wornears

My 2000 accord 2-door only opens the drivers door when you use the key from the drivers side. It opens BOTH when you go from the passenger side. I'd say you have a VERY interesting conundrum.

 

[Stephen J]

All you need..

..is a BFH !...

 

[Shadowdog]

Maybe just replace the mechanism (only $100 or so now and possible to diy) as it is a known problem before it fails (they do it on aircraft) , saving $ in the long run!

 

[zunde]

This story reflects what I said in another post about Hondas- I used to be an avid Honda guy but too many times having a simple electrical failure that leads to a complicated and expensive repair. Never had any trouble with their engines (put 210,000 miles on an 01 Accord) but that's not all a car is comprised of. When I sold that 01 3 of the power door locks no longer worked and both passenger side windows had quit. Weird since the driver's power window was used FAR more times.

 

[zunde]

My 2000 accord 2-door only opens the drivers door when you use the key from the drivers side. It opens BOTH when you go from the passenger side. I'd say you have a VERY interesting conundrum.

If you turn the key in the driver's lock it immediately unlocks the driver's door, but you have to hold it turned in the lock a couple more seconds to unlock the passenger side door as well.(It's a "safety feature.")
if doing it on the passenger side door it just unlocks everything immediately.

 

[zunde]

I sure miss the good ole days when most car repairs could be done with some baling wire and pliers. Nowadays cars are too complicated and parts so crammed in that it's almost impossible for shade tree mechanics to do a lot of their own repairs.

I used a twist-tie to hold my broken throttle cable to the carb on my 69 bug

 

[hjames]

This story reflects what I said in another post about Hondas- I used to be an avid Honda guy but too many times having a simple electrical failure that leads to a complicated and expensive repair. Never had any trouble with their engines (put 210,000 miles on an 01 Accord) but that's not all a car is comprised of. When I sold that 01 3 of the power door locks no longer worked and both passenger side windows had quit. Weird since the driver's power window was used FAR more times.

Your mileage may vary -
- I had more probs with power windows and locks in my 04 CRV than we ever did in our 2000 Civic SI ...
(getting new Kumho radials last month ...)

We're on our 4th Honda now
1990 Civic SI
2000 Civic SI
2004 CR-V 5sp
2014 - Fit Sport

I'd still have the CR-V if i hadn't thrashed it like a race car most of its life ...

 

[noogies]

Guys, if you're hoping to help OP, keep in mind that this thread is 7 1/2 years old and he hasn't been on AK in over two years.

 

[hjames]

The thread popped up a few days ago when some spammer posted a link to a Locksmiths search engine, shadowDog replied to the thread,
(and I killed the spam a few hours later ..) and Zende dropped in today.
And how could I resist an excuse to post the image of the flying car?

 

[zunde]

oops.

 

[savatage1973]

It might be prudent to take the inner door panel off while you still can easily and get a look/digital pics at the locking mechanism location, etc. Knowing exactly where to apply your tools of destruction if/when they are needed could be an advantage.

If you are going through all of the hassle to pull the inner door panel (which can be a PITA, in itself), why just take pictures? Pull it apart, go get the little plastic gizmo that is know to fail, and replace it NOW--then you are good to go for another 20 years or so--and if the other door fails, you will know what you are doing, already.

in about a year we will have to replace the Saturn (it currently have 217,000) and with two grand daughters we are quickly outgrowning it as it gets close to the end of it's run. And I'm dreading the next car what ever it is already.

I hear ya--I used to be one of the "drive it til it drops" kind of guys--partly out of necessity (I couldn't afford a new used car, much less a brand new car), and partly because I could fix most things myself for next to nothing. Now I "drive it until the warranty is running out". So many things are "dealer only" serviceable, and expensive as hell if you have to pay out-of-pocket. Depending on you vehicle usage, a 3-year lease/return/get a new one program might be in order (I can't--too many miles to be cost-effective).