Door lock button sticking

[nhaynes]

My drivers door lock button has been sticking for a while so I bought 2 x orange clips from Steve at S J Sportscars for £0.72 + VAT each and was ready to repair. Both orange clips on my 91 Elan were cracked. I followed the instructions on the really useful Door Trim section of WikiLEC. It's not absolutely clear how to remove these so; armed wth a very small screwdriver just prize them out towards you so they pop out horizonatlly. As WikiLEC suggests, they do break, so make sure you have replacements. I removed the door lock button and surround from the drivers door. Be careful not to loose the retaining screw and washer inside the door! Now my button was very stiff in the surround. This was very different from the passengre door which moved freely. I remebered that my problem with the door lock button sticking ocurred after I'd parked the car outside in the sun on a hot summer day. Then I noticed that the door lock button surround appeared to have a ripple on the plastic where the passenger side did not. Clearly these bits of trim which are now >20 years old are not resistant to summer sun heat and UV and mine was showing signs of distress. I went to my tool box and pulled out a very small file. The plastic is easy to work and I carefully filed away the ripple on the back of the door lock surround; the surface which the lock button slides along. For good measure, I also filed the sliding rib on the surround that runs in a groove on the button. I carefully cleaned all surfaces post filing to esnure they ran smoothly. To my amazement, the button slid beautifully again in the surround. Furthermore, because the inside of the surround is completely masked by the button my filed surface could not be seen when reassembled. To reassemble the orange clip, simply hold the locking button at the correct hight on the metal actuator lever then push the clip into position horizontally between the button and the surrond - Job done!

[RayD]

Well done Neil,

There's an anti breaking tip on here

Ray

[DeeAitch]

Do these buttons serve a purpose on our cars? Never had occasion to use them myself

[hodge]

Well done Neil,

There's an anti breaking tip on here

Ray

Nice one, that's worth putting on the wiki Ray.