Driver side door sometimes wont open.

Can anyone help, this is not happening all the time, however it's happened about 3 times, when I unlock the car with the key remote and pull the external handle, the window drops slightly but the door will not open, let go of the handle and the window goes back up. The last time it happened I tried the passenger door and it opened ok, any ideas? Thanks in advance Gary

Hi, It could be the door lock freezing, we have had a few complaints recently for this. Or it could just be the door lock is faulty. Mike

Mine is doing this at the moment, the passenger door occasionally will not do anything beyond dropping the window - assumed it was the cold. I was tempted to open it up for a look but 'touch wood' the drivers side is OK or it'll be Dukes of Hazzard time in the company car park Phil

For what its worth, when it freezes hard I find that the window freezes up and so won't drop. This means the door can be opened gently, and has to be shut with extreme care and/or with numb hands after I have used my fingertips to thaw round the edges of the windows! But I have never had a problem with the door catch or lock freezing. So my point is if the windows are dropping it seems unlikely that the lock would be frozen (unless the car is sitting in early morning sun and the windows are thawing first?) H

Thanks for the replies, the car has been in the garage with a heater on so I could dry the soft top out before fitting the hard top, so should rule out the freezing idea.

Hello - what a coincidence - I just started a thread about this. I find that if the door doesn't open (either passenger or driver side) then you have to get into the car via the door that does open, put the key in the ignition and lock the car internally...then double open the internal handle on the door that is not opening to get the door open. I *THINK* the issue is when someone tries to open the door when the alarm is ON - then whenever you come around to unlock the car with the key fob the issue occurs. I've been having this issue and its DEFINATELY NOT to do with cold conditions as my car was in a heated garage and has done it several times. Any ideas on what the resolution is would be warmly welcomed !!!

I don't think that is your problem - mine doesn't do that. I quite often check to see if I remembered to lock the car by lifting the handle. More likely as Mike (S&C) suggested, that there might be a problem with the door lock mechanism or handle linkage.

Hello (again!) Richard - I just tried it again and I can make either door have the problem "at will" by lifting the handle with the alarm on. Without doing it the doors are fine?

To be honest when this has happened to me, I'm pretty sure I have tried to open the car when it's been locked.

I'm with Richard on this one, I've often pulled the handle without first unlocking the car, and it hasn't made a difference.

Sounds like a door lock issue then - any idea on much a new one is and can a relatively inexperienced DIYer put one in?

Door not opening I have 1998 996 today I run the battery down a little, using an inspection lamp to change the spark plugs, and disconected the battery without having the ignition key in . The drivers doors was open at the time. The alarm went off. I closed the door and now it will not open from inside or out... the window drops and you can here the central locking motor if you use the keyfob. It seems like the door dealocks or goes out of sync with the other doors I am hoping it will correct itself once i get the car running again... The link rod and control arm were all replaced recently and i have had a sneek inside the door and all appears ok .. everything connected up and i can see physically the internal pull cable moving the lock.. but still wont open.. any ideas or will it just reprogramme.. Phil :?

Door not opening the answers... I have discovered that a number of reasons can cause your door not to open and depends on your specific circumstances. In general Door opens from inside but not the outside: Faulty or loose connector rod from the door handle to the control rod on the lock. Porsche have designed it as a snap fit with a slide over hood that keeps it tight. If the hood is not in position or the rod has rusted the rod may become loose. Door does not open from the inside or outside: Assuming you are using the keyfob to unlock the door and you can hear the lock motor moving in the door in question: This can be three things. No 1 The lock mechanism spade has gone out of sync with the receiver on the door lock. So when the locks in nuetral the spade is not going far enough to the right to open the door. Try turning the lock to the right and pulling on the handle. You should be able to open the windows with the key in the right position and close them in the left .. if you cannot do any one of these two things the lock spade in out of sync or the mechanisms broke. No 2 The mechanism that the lock spade goes into is faulty... Apparently a common problem on older 996s No 3 The alarm has deadlocked the door.. overcome by placing the key in the ignition and locking the car with the internal button and pulling on the internal door handle twice. [ to make sure that your key is OK place it in the ignition turn to position no 2 and press the buttons on the key to update the code on the key. Dont panic Easy fixes takes about an hour: Link rod: remove door panel. remove door handle.. remove old link rod and control arm.. fit new control arm and link rod a reassemble and snap the link rod into the control arm and pull sleeve over. Out of sync lock. Remove door panel, remove door handle. disengage control rod, Centralise spade receiver on lock mechanism using a screw driver and pull on control rod to open the door. Centralise the lock and place the spade back in the receiver taking care not to twist the casing/spade. Reassemble and refit the control rod. Try using the key to deadlock the door and unlock with the keyfob to check all is ok before putting the door panel back. If this doesnt fix it replace the mechanism. Hope that helps... Make sure that you silicone the internal door liner back into position otherwise you will have a wet carpet on your door!!!! Keep smiling :bye: :floor: * if your going to make a noise make it quietly!

Pipton, thanks for this advice. My recent problem which followed a replacement turned out to an out of sync part. I would advise anyone replacing the frequently broken/rusted through door latch connector and plastic latch connector to remember to pull the sleeve up on the plastic connector covering the thread of the metal piece. Then leave the door card off for 24 hours after successful completion in case of problems. It is much more difficult to remove the doorcard with the door locked shut and if the replacement goes out of sync you will have both inner and outer door mechanisms not working.

Hi, This will be an incredible necro, but I think that's what I did today. My door wouldn't open from the outside; indeed I found it to be the metal part that hooks into the handle that was rusted and snapped. I replaced the part and re-assembled everything, then locked the car with the fob... only to find it not opening at all. Not from the inside or outside. It worked perfectly (i tested it a few times before i locked the car), dropped window etc all good. I'm so pissed, spent the whole day at this incredibly fiddly job and now I have a door that doesn't open at all. Nothing seems to be mechanically broken - what can it be? I read it's the lock out of sync? Sorry for messy writing and thread necro.