Child Safety Locks.....

[JoeyBagodonuts]

I have a problem with my 98 Expo...my child safety seats keeps locking by themselves after I unlock them...gets real annoying when you people coming in and out of the car....any ideas????

 

[rwinch]

This is a little confusing. You talk about the "child safety seats" locking by themselves. This would not be a problem with the truck, just the child seats.
Do you actually mean the child safety defeat switch that makes it so the rear doors cannot be opened from the inside?

 

[JoeyBagodonuts]

sorry that it was a little confusing....my rear doors always default to the child safety lock even if you move the switch to unlock....if you unlock it and the doors open and close a few times, it seems to get stuck back to the child safety..and cant open the doors from the inside....does that make sense?

 

[66horse]

Originally posted by JoeyBagodonuts
sorry that it was a little confusing....my rear doors always default to the child safety lock even if you move the switch to unlock....if you unlock it and the doors open and close a few times, it seems to get stuck back to the child safety..and cant open the doors from the inside....does that make sense?

Yep it makes sense. My 97 does the same thing.

Got no solution for ya.

It used ot be jsut one of the rear doors... now it is both.

Although it is kind of funny to watch people try to open the door and not be able to.

Steve

anybody got a solution?

 

[b_salgado]

I have a solution that works for the child locks. It doesn't involve any wires or tie wraps. Open your rear doors, the trim around the child lock lever is removeable. Gently pry it off and spray the mechanisim liberally with WD-40 or PB blaster or any other type of lubricant. Work the interior door handle back and forth a few times and then respray. I did mine over a year ago and still haven't had any more problems with the locks .

Before you spray it open the doors and work the interior door handle a few times, you will see the lock switch jump into the locked position all by itself!

 

[FFMCCORD]

I have used the eraser's from pencils and haven't had any probs since then.

 

[b_salgado]

Pull your erasers out and spray them. This is the easiest repair I have ever seen and the child lock feature is still functional like it should be.

 

[smo0othride]

My 03 has this problem too... you would think they would have fixed it by then.

 

[montlyfool]

wd-40 worked

My wife came to me stating the door would not open from the inside. Noticed the child safety lock was not working properly. After fiddling with the lock for about 30 minutes, I searched this forum for a solution. A couple minutes later, wd-40, and problem solved. Door opened as it should.

Lucky me, it saved me some $$ because with 3 kids, they would have broken the door handle trying to get out.

This forum cheaper than a mechanic.
Now on to fixing more stuff.

 

[NC-Expy]

lol same problem here with my 2000, my bro has a 98. also, same problem.

i use electrical tape to keep them up

 

[walnuts4x4]

does anyone ever look at the post dates of these old posts?

 

[ELVATO]

Eh, I find it better to revive an old thread than to make a new one on an existing issue.

Unless they revive it to ask an OP from 4 years ago a questions.

 

[Tuffy]

does anyone ever look at the post dates of these old posts?

He used the search feature lol. Thats probably the biggest thing when it comes to newbies...they never use it.

 

[ghettoracer]

Man thanks for the info, if I ever get my truck back from the shop I'll do what you guys suggested. Mines been doing that for a while on the passenger side

 

[montlyfool]

I only look at the solution and it worked. I do not pay attention to dates unless it specifies to a certain issue that is date related. The search function is there for a reason.
I may be new on this forum, but not new to forums in general, so I know how they work.

Thanks for the solution. I know there will be more as I keep my Expy running.

 

[laffinguy]

FIXED this Permanently

SOLUTION!!! I put up with this for years with my 2001 Lincoln Navigator.

The hardest part to fixing it is removing the interior door panel, so make sure you find out how to do that on your model before you destroy some expensive plastic parts. Once that is off, the rest is a piece of cake.

The problem is caused by the interior door handle rod. It needs to be adjusted because it is too short, allowing the door handle to open too far. A plastic clip attaches the door handle to the rod (the rod that connects the interior door handle to the door latch). Unhook the the clip and lengthen the rod by moving it back towards the latch, then close the clip to reattach the rod. The door handle will not pull open quite as far. Test the adjustment by switching the child lock to the unlock position, and while leaving the door open, pull the interior door handle open and closed rapidly several times. If the child lock switch no longer "climbs" from the unlocked to the locked position, shut the door and make sure it will still open when you pull the interior door handle. If so, you fixed it! If not readjust the rod and try again. Good luck.

 

[Maverick1701]

He used the search feature lol. Thats probably the biggest thing when it comes to newbies...they never use it.

yup! search feature ftw!

 

[98EXeb]

Same problem here....used WD-40!!

 

[DR3W]

Happened to me way back, I just threw a little screw in there for it won't slide to the lock position. Lol

 

[camoford4x4]

the eraser idea works perfectly. all you do is move it to the unlock position and put the eraser inbetween the switch and the bottom and it wont happen anymore