Trouble locking up 328

I had the reverse problem. I locked my door, went in for a haircut, and when I came back, I couldn't unlock the door. I got the passenger side open. The central locking seemed to fail, but I had the similar feel in reverse -- the key felt like it was jammed.

 

I've had problems with locking the drivers side door and the passenger side did not lock for some strange reason. Somehow it managed to fix itself and now I can lock the drivers side and the passenger side seems to lock as well. I'd like to point out that I now do not lock my car whenever I leave the vehicle unattended. I've discovered that it's best to let anyone wishing to break into the car to let them in and discover nothing of value. The alternative, is to find your glass broken and you have to spend money to repair your car. It's not such a problem to have your door locks unoperable. It may save you a couple of dollars and a few headaches.

 

I have to watch when I lock my 328. Sometimes the central locking will immediately unlock. If I open and close both doors firmly, then it will lock.

That's my cue to clean the latches again.

 

I can't use the key to lock my '89. If I manually lock the passenger door ( while closed , from the inside ) the central locking system will work. If I try to lock it with the key it locks then immediately un-locks. So far it un-locks with the key just fine.

 

try backing your "button" off a turn or two (counterclockwise). They may be bottoming out. Mine also "fixed" itself. I do like the idea of not locking it as well. Only a thief would try to open the door, and i never keep anything in the car. The radio is worthless.

 

That's my logic too. Nobody would dare touch or lean on it (usually) much less open the door. Although the slick thieves know this and grow a set. Anyway, my passenger lock won't play w.the key either. Eh unfortunately all these responses are of empathy and no solutions :/ If I play w.it this wkend and resolve it I'll follow up.

 

I have the same problem on my '89 as well. I found a thread here one time, can't find it now, the suspected culprit was, as I recall, cold weather making the grease around the internal mechanics inside the door panel clog up. Which was what I thought my issue was, as it seemed to get better when it warmed up. But now its started again. So, now its either take the door panel off and regrease everything (which is really not an option given my mechanical ineptitude) or do something else.

So, what's the best way to clean latches? Just spray liberally with some WD-40 and wipe them off, or what?

 

Sometimes the door is not seated properly when closed. This happened on mine and I adjusted the striker plate and all was well again.

 

My locks would lock then immediately unlock.

I sprayed some WD40 into the latch mechanism on the end of the door and wiped up the little bit that leaked out. Locks work perfectly now.

 

These problems may likely all be related to the door not closing/aligning properly. Often this can be cured by aligning the door striker plate. If that doesn't work it's possible the door may have sagged over the years (especially on a convertible -GTS). In this case you may need to replace the door hinge pins to tighten up the system.
Someone mentioned temperature - temperature effects metal, and can make the door alignment change.
Ferrari's electronic locking system will only allow both doors to lock if both doors are properly closed and properly aligned. The lock mech is on the same electrical circuit. If you close both doors, you can check to see if your doors are fully and properly closed by trying to lock either door. If one is not closed properly, the locks will go down, but immediatly will lift back up. Try it -leave one door open and try locking the closed door's button to test this.

I learned this through many frustrating dealings with my GTS doors. Thought I'd get the striker plate just right and the doors would shut and lock, then cold would screw the whole thing again. I put in new hinge pins (not really as simple as it might look) and the problem seems a whole lot better.

Good luck!

 

I have had similar problems - unable to lock the passenger door, key turns but no lock.

The problem was that the lock cylinder in the door was loose. The nut on the cylinder had backed off allowint the cylinder to turn, so when i tried to lock the door, the key couldn't turn the cylinder enough to make it lock.

The fix is to take the door panel off, clean and lube the lock mechanism and reinstal it. now both door locks work fine.

hth,
chris

ps, try a search, there are many threads offering experience with this same problem.

 

i have the same problem. i don't trust the central locking system.
since i never put the roof panel on, i guess it's largely superfluous.
so, i don't lock the car. if they want my radio, we can talk verall into making up
blank radio panels.
the only other items are jumpers, and a ditty bag full of fuses, spare bulbs, and such.
oh.... oscar, my diamond-backed rattler, loves the rear window ledge.

 

And if you have to adjust or tinker with anything photos are always very helpful for those afflicted as you are

 

I use a graphite lube I picked up at Ace Hardware. It's graphite powder in suspension in alcohol. The alcohol cleans out the old gunk, and the graphite lubricates. And, unlike greases, it doesn't attract dirt.

Graphite used to be the lube of choice for locks. I think locksmiths have mostly gone over to teflon based lubes lately, but I still like the olde school methods.

I did realign the latches a while back. It was a lot easier than I expected.

 

Just try spraying a little WD40 into the latch and see if that solves the problem before you go to the trouble of disassembling the door. It worked for me and took less than a minute.

 

I had this problem too...tightened the "interior" black button (sorry don't know the name) on the door, it was hanging up on the door skin!
guess it's called the door lock/button?

 

I don't have a 328 but a 308qv and the drivers door would not lock with the key and the passenger's would lock only by pushing the knob from inside, so I took off the panel and inside up by the locking area I took a drimel tool and made a nouch where when I puched down on the door lock you'll see a latch sliding in to a grove but that grove needs to alittle bit bigger,not much,now I can push the knob down and close the door locked,open it up with the key,now on the drivers doors it dosen't have to fight as hard to lock with the electric unit,with you want pictures I can post them next week end

 

I had a similar, yet totally unrelated experience. I got in my car this morning, and for the life of me i couldnt get out of it .

 

same here but when I heard the water pump making noise that got me out in a harry.........lol.......

 

I can appreciate anyone who wants to make sure their car is running and working properly. In this case, I would not worry about being able to lock your car. Best advice is to always leave the car unlocked and have a shifter gate lock or a steering wheel security bar to prevent your car from being stolen. Otherwise, I don't think the broken glass is worth the hassle.

I've always left my car unlocked and found no problems thus far.

 

how would the local gendarmes and insurance company view this if damage was incurred?

 

You're welcome! Happy I could help