R33 GTR door lock cylinder only unlocks?

[joshuaho96]

I finally mustered the willpower to take apart the door on the driver side to figure out why it was rattling in there and also why my door locks can only be unlocked with the key but not locked from the outside. Now with the door card removed and the actuator arm unhooked from the door lock barrel I see that if I turn the lever it acts on the lock and unlock function works in both directions.

 Any advice for figuring out why my door locks are unhappy to lock but are seemingly fine with unlocking?

[GTSBoy]

The rattle suggests you need to follow all the links. It's a complicated mess between the inner handle, the solenoid and the key barrel. There are little plastic clips that hold various of these together at numerous points. Loss of one can make it impossible for one rod to properly move the other.

[joshuaho96]

22 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

The rattle suggests you need to follow all the links. It's a complicated mess between the inner handle, the solenoid and the key barrel. There are little plastic clips that hold various of these together at numerous points. Loss of one can make it impossible for one rod to properly move the other.

I figured it out. It was actually comical. After pulling out the cylinder I realized it turns both ways. When I put it back in suddenly it was fouling on something. Looked carefully and realized the lock cylinder arm was facing the wrong direction. Checked the cylinder on the driver side and realized it has an L on the arm. Pulled off the passenger side door card and removed the lock cylinder and put the “driver side” lock cylinder into the passenger side door. Now it works in both directions. 
 

So anyone with a similar issue where the key can only unlock the door but you have to lock it from the inside should check first that their lock cylinders weren’t mistakenly swapped at some point. If the lock cylinder arm is facing the front of the car instead of towards the trunk this is the warning sign. 

[GTSBoy]

Hehe. Thread left turn as usual.

What was rattling?

[joshuaho96]

5 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

Hehe. Thread left turn as usual.

What was rattling?

Loose bolt that adjusts the unlock/lock rods. After futzing with the adjustments to try and get it to the “right position” it shouldn’t rattle anymore. Like any project with this car that I expect to only take a day though this has immediately turned into a week or longer because the factory vapor barrier is ripped up and some clips are missing so I want to fix all of that and get it absolutely perfect before putting it back together. Of course between mail ordering parts and the right sealant for the vapor barrier only being sold by mail it’s going to be a solid 5 days before any of that appears.