Door Lock Assembly DIY Fix gone wrong. Door won't close

I was facing issues with the passenger window not dropping when it should so I took apart the door and removed the door lock assembly. I took it apart and re-soldered a couple of cracked solder joints. I reassembled and the window now functions as it should but the door lock does not latch; i.e. I can't close my door! I can manually turn it to the locked position but it does not click into place... it just springs back to open position. I walked around to drivers side and if I manually turned the latch it clicked into place in two different positions, both of which release if i turn the lever that the handle cable attached to. I decided to remove the driver door lock assembly for comparison to be sure I reassembled correctly. Once the driver door lock assembly was out it still functioned with the two click positions and successful release. I took it apart, compared, made adjustments to the passenger assembly, and reassembled both. After reassembling passenger lock assembly it still didn't latch. After reassembling the driver door lock assembly it still latched but when I installed it then it stopped latching. Now I can't close either door! Any ideas here? Is there a mechanical reset or perhaps I have a lever on the wrong side of something? The mechanical portion is riveted so I might have to drill them out so see more. I know several have attempted the door lock assembly electrical and/or microswitch repairs in the past... but did any of you have MECHANICAL issues with the assembly after reassembling? I have googled and searched extensively and did not see anyone else experience this. I wouldn't think it's a complete part failure considering both latches worked fine yesterday morning.

Few people disassemble the latches - they just replace them . I replaced my drive side latch when the window wouldn't stay down when the door was open. It felt like more of a mechanical issue than a switch problem. Did you lose a spring or reattach it incorrectly?

Thanks for the response bill. I'm fairly certain that I reattached it correctly and I did not lose any springs. I called a dealership for kicks and they quoted $550 and $600 for the door latch assemblies lol. Used ones on eBay are $60 and I ordered a couple but I don't want to wait a week to close my doors. Really frustrating to fix one problem and create another. And then create yet another trying to fix the created problem.

I replaced the assembly, so can't contribute to how to fix the assembly. Just wondering if the central lock on the dash is lit up? have you try to hit it and see if it attempts to lock the door? (i.e the motor makes noises)

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Yes I could hear the locking actuator function. Not sure about the light. both assemblies are currently out of the car

You may want to retrace how you reassemble the units. I suspect something is not aligned and its preventing the latch from locking. With the electrical portion removed, do they lock at all?

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With the electrical portion removed they do not latch. I have read a couple stories of people's boxster door not closing and them cycling the locks a few times and it starts working or randomly the next day it starts working. That seems to imply that something electrical can reset something in the enclosed mechanical section but it would be more useful to have sound logic of what/where/how. I agree that it is likely something is not properly aligned... Since I have replacements ordered I may drill into one and poke around

Wow! Okay...I have no experience with the door latch and its functions. That being said, it is an electro-mechanical mechanism. I think that you are going to have to figure out what part of the mechanism is not functioning. To have both sides exhibit the same problem leads me to think that it is something common to both, and you should step back and really study both mechanisms to figure out what is wrong. To go from a functioning drivers side door latch to removal and reinstall and not have it work right tells me something right there. Are you connecting up the wiring harness when you reinstall? Does the window drop on either side? Is the battery disconnected? Latches here http://www.autoatlanta.com/porsche-p...section=804-00

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All work done with battery disconnected. Battery reconnected once everything assembled and hooked up. Windows drop and then raise if I push/hold the door on the striker. There's just no mechanical click. Both worked fine yesterday morning. It stinks that the mechanical portion is pretty much completely enclosed and held together with rivets and rivet-like permanent junctions. I can't really see what is going on in there or could be going on in there. Really regretting taking the drivers side apart to troubleshoot passenger side issues haha. I'm having the daydream equivalent of nightmares that some transients are parting out my car like the airplane in Lord of War.

As strange as it sounds it could be a coincidence. Not likely, but not out of the question. I replaced my passenger side outer handle micro switch to fix the window drop issue. When I was all done and very proud of myself I went to get into the drivers side and found that the driver side latch had failed. Absolutely no connection to what I had been working on as it was a mechanical issue, not an electrical one. The latches are expensive - I think I paid around $300 for mine and I know they've gone up since then. Having said that, make sure that the the little metal tab from the key lock is engaged in the driver side latch mechanism. It's possible to get the lock in place without having that correctly lined up. I don't know if this would cause the symptoms that you're seeing but it's worth checking.

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Thanks for sharing your similar experience. UPDATE: I just got both latches working mechanically! I misaligned the lock lever into the hole where it meets the latch lever on the driver side and there were stuck parts in the passenger side. I made a couple videos that are way too long to watch for fun but I showed how to take the assembly apart and how the latch and lock work. I'll post links here for future adventurers assuming all goes well with final installation. Thank you everyone for weighing in. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight with my doors locked! And Gig'em Aggies.

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Looking forward to the videos as I have a passenger side lock mechanism to replace!

Good news...!

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passenger side latch is plentiful on ebay, around $50. often the identical part from a 986 can be found for even cheaper. driver is rarer and more expensive (~$100).

here are some videos from yesterday. The white door panel clips (I think 9 in total) are 0.36 each on Autohausaz I ordered like 20 some break every time. Mechanical Issue shown 3 minutes https://youtu.be/1gQWtEGsI9E How lock works mechanically 1 minute You Tube Mechanical Issue fixed and lock assembly disassembly tips ​7 minutes You Tube

2nd UPDATE: The passenger latch (the one that started the whole mess) continued to fail in a couple of ways after reinstall. The replacement arrived early so I replaced it today. I have gotten the entire process down to about 15 minutes thanks to all this practice. There are plenty of door disassembly tutorials and videos out there... my favorite is https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-detailed.html I wish I had seen it sooner White door retaining clips 99950758240 Passenger door lock assembly is 3B1837016P

Thanks for taking the time to document this. I replaced my driver side latch and now I'm sorry that I didn't save the old one,

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jonathan, this is probably the most detailed video i've seen on the topic. when my driver side latch fail a coupple years ago, the only thing i had to go by was conjectures in forum threads and vw latch repaur videos. you should seriously consider writing a pelican-style guide for the benefit of the whole community, as this is one of the most common problens with these cars and the problem will only get worse as they age.

Good work, Jonathan!

Thanks for the kind words, all. I'll try to put together a more formal post while it is still fresh.

thanks for this write up. I repaired the solder joints in my door latch about six months ago and got window working properly but I messed up something on the locking mechanism so now the door does not lock. The latch works fine so I think I must have missaligneed the lock tab when re-assembling. I've been putting it off because I didn't want to have to pull the passenger door mechanism to compare but your videos will help me immensely and save me from having to pull both! Cheers to you sir!

They used this same lock assembly on Audi's and VW's and I found it cheaper that way. Let me see if I can find the cross reference.

Porsche of Indianapolis $150. https://parts.porscheofannapolis.com...ock-8n2837016b Amazon Amazon Amazon

That is an amazing find. I've been seeing them in the $400+ range lately.