My 2000 Durango SLT 4x4 driver door wont lock as of yesterday. When you put the key in the door you can turn it slightly left although it seems to meet resistance too soon. It turns enough to actuate the rest of the doors to unlock them. If you turn it to the right it will unlock all of the doors.

From the inside the door switch locks and unlocks all the doors except the drivers door.

I cannot even push down the slider to lock the driver door. It is like there is something jamming the mechanical lock mechanism. The door opens and shuts normally, just won't lock. I assume I need to pull the door panel but was hoping to have some idea of what I should look at once I do.

Any ideas?

 

you probably have a bend/kink obstruction in the connecting rod that runs from the key to the lock system, that is where i would start looking

 

I know this is a late post but just throwing this out there if the locking actuator go bad then you wont be able to lock the door from either inside or out. THe reason it still locks with the key is an electric sensor

 

Thanks for the responses. I took the door panel off and messed with the plunger and the switch harness connector a little and it seemed to "fix" it for now. It will lock and unlock manually, with the key, or with the switch. Now it just makes a horrible noise when you lock/unlock it so I assume the actuator is on the way out. I guess I should get around to fixing it before it fails in the locked position.