driver's door does not lock when open

Question

I have a 2005 Honda Civic LX. When the driver's door is open, it will not lock if you press the lock button on the remote or use the lock button on the door.

Here is what I have noticed about the problem:

• When you press the lock button on the remote or on the door while the door is open, the actual lock on the door goes down half way but not all the way.
• If you close the door with the lock in this half down position, you can open it again; it is not locked.
• If you press the lock button on the remote while the door is closed, it does lock and the lock goes all of the way down properly.

any ideas on what i should look at or replace?

Answer 1

My wife had a 2000 Civic that had exactly the same "feature". First time I borrowed her car, I thought I broke her door. This is how it comes from the factory and by design. The idea is either you lock the door with your keys while you are outside (keys not locked in) or you lock the door from the inside (keys not locked in).

btw, I think you can force it to lock if you pull on the door opening lever while at the same time moving the lock tab

Answer 2

All Honda's have this feature starting in 1988. Its a device that makes it difficult to lock your keys in the car. To lock the door from inside, you have to hold the door opener latch while locking the door and the lock will go all the way down.

Read your owners manual. It will be in there.

Answer 3

I assume that this is with the key removed from the ignition? Pretty much anything from 1990 on up will refuse to lock in a manner like that if a key is in the ignition. So, it's probably either the ignition switch, or wiring to the ignition switch.