I live in New Hampshire and the outside door latches on my 1993 Grand
Prix usually stop working every winter during a deep freeze. I mean
they not only stop working because of the cold, but they NEVER work
afterwards, even months later when summer comes. The doors still open
from the inside, but they cannot be opened using the latches on the
outside. I have already shelled out over $600 to mechanics for both
the passenger door latch and the driver side door latch. You know
- they charge by the hour.
A few weeks ago the driver side door went AGAIN (a mechanic supposedly
replaced the entire door latch with a factory part ... supposedly...
and did so almost exactly 1 year ago.)
I am definitely not going to pay some "professional" mechanic another
$300 for this simple issue. Here are the reasons:
1. The problem is not related to something sticking with the outside
key mechanism.
2. When I pull on the outside latch I see the metal finger/tumbler
move on the door. This finger moves a little, but not enough to
allow the door to open. This exact "finger" piece moves a lot more
when I pull on the inside latch. This means the door latch is still
connected all the way down to the locking mechanism on the inside of
the door.
I want to get a blueprint of the door, take it apart myself and fix
this little minor problem with this metal finger not moving down far
enough to allow the door to open. I am not a mechanic myself, and
friends and family are all warning me not to try it, fearing something
will go hideously wrong.
I would appreciate any suggestions on how to proceed with this. I
would also appreciate any pointers about where I can find blueprints
for the door online (ie. download them without paying - I have already
checked at local libraries) Thank you for your help!
