72 240Z Door Locks

[Zrush]

This is weird or is it? I can only lock the doors on the 72 from the outside with the key. Sitting inside the car with the doors closed I can push the lock down, I'm locked in, no problem. Open the door, get out, push the lock down, shut the door, it will not lock. Is this something Nissan did on these Factory cars to prevent num skulls from locking their keys in the car? My 78 was not like that as I've locked the keys in that Z many times. The 77 I haven't tried yet because I don't have an extra set of keys (and I don't what to go through the hatch) to try this experiment. Anyone else have a 240Z that does this?

Vicky

[mperdue]

after you open the door and lock it from the inside, try lifting the handle as you shut the door and release it after the door is shut. it should remain locked. at least it does on other old cars i've seen such as my '79 210. i'm not sure what it's supposed to do though but i don't think that's uncommon.

[MikeW]

That's how mine works as well. I believe it's as-designed - as you say, to keep you from locking your keys in the car.

[Zrush]

Correction.........The lock will not go down at all when the door is open with or without the key. The door has to be shut and can only lock with a key from the outside or by pushing the lock down from the inside with the door closed. As I said before the 78 was not that way, but then again you could pull the key out of the ignition and the car would stay running. Good for when the battery was low and I still needed to get back in the house for something and I didn't want to shut the car off.

Vicky

[26th-Z]

My car is your way, Vicky. The only way to lock the car from the outside is with the key. It's the way the lock mechanism works - I think. I always thought it was one of those "no frills" Datsun locks. Works fine - nothing elaborate. :bandit:

[Bambikiller240]

Your door locks are working the way they were designed to work, Vicky. Quite a few (though not all) old car locks are like this. My Dad, who worked in car dealerships as a Parts Deptment manager from the late 40's thru the mid-80's always told me that some manufacturers designed the locks to operate this way so that people couldn't leave the keys in the ignition and lock themselves out of the car.

FWIW,

[Zrush]

Thanks for the confirmation guys. What about the 78 280Z or my 77, anybody know if they are suppose to work as the 240Z? Stephen (sblake01) where are you?

Vicky

[SER240Z]

Just to chime in, my '72 has power locks added with my alarm and it also still retains this function. Only problem is that I think the doors are closed and hit the alarm button, but the doors don't lock. Also, my '69 2000 is the same way, only locks when the doors are closed, but with a roadster, if the hard top isn't on, why would you lock the doors anways?

Scott

[EScanlon]

Don't forget that the mechanism was also designed to NOT let the doors open from the inside when the doors are locked. Although it sounds foolish, remember back in those days, they were more concerned with people accidentally opening the door when the car was moving.

Any of you recall the old style handles used to open the door? Some of those were as massive and protruded AS MUCH or MORE than a window crank. I remember one car, either the '65 Galaxie 500 or the '61 Impala, that had a FLAT handle in front of the armrest. If you pulled up on the flat handle the door would open. Great, except that it was real easy to hit it with your knee. Does anyone recall what year seat belts became mandatory in vehicles in the USA? I'm not positive, but 68 is what I recall.

So, although there were changes in the MANNER in which the door lock mechanism was OPERATED, the basic FUNCTION was not. That would explain why some of us were still stuck with the old mechanisms which would not allow the door to be latched before closing.

2¢

Enrique

[26th-Z]

Just curious. And I'll go looking in the archives...how well do power lock kits work and what's the favorite?

[sblake01]

Thanks for the confirmation guys. What about the 78 280Z or my 77, anybody know if they are suppose to work as the 240Z? Stephen (sblake01) where are you?

Vicky

On my 78 you can press down the lock button with the door open or closed but it will only lock if you lift the outside handle while closing the door. The inside handle won't unlock the door unless the lock button is pulled up. About the ignition: If you can pull the key out in any position other than lock, the tumbler is worn. This is such a common thing on many Zs that people think it's normal. In both my Z and my 810 the key can only be removed when the ignition is in the lock position.