The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

While I don’t take the time to post much here, I had door lock & latch problems on my 1974 that I thought would bring me to tears. However I took the time to read the various posts here & I was able to fix my problem. First I noticed that many people who tried to “unstick” their latches had luck with penetrating oil, here’s why. Notice the spring & latch below are connected, the latch is moved by your door lock & the spring returns it into original position, when new GM applies some lithium grease to this but as years go by it hardens & becomes sticky. These 2 components must travel freely for your door lock & latch to work as this tells the rest of the assembly if the door is locked. Using penetrating oil serves to free this up or you can use a long flathead screwdriver to help slide this back into position.
If the spring is broken, damaged or permanently stuck, you may need to replace all or part of the latch assembly. Just want to take a moment to thank all those who posted ahead of me & hope this serves to help others. To those who learned about this the hard way, I feel your pain.