How to lock the doors on a 94 XLE?

[Randy Wildebrandt]

Here is the situation:

We bought our used 94 XLE in 95. The XLE comes with electric door locks.

When we first got the car we always used the switch in the door to lock the doors.

And we used the key to unlock the doors.

Shortly after we bought the car I had remote locks and a remote starter installed on the car.

From then on (almost 10 years) we've used the remote to lock and unlock the doors.

A little while ago I noticed that my key sometimes needed a little jiggling in the ignition before it would turn.

I went to our dealer and they cut me a new key (not a duplicate of the key I had, but a new key).

That worked fine in the ignition. I then thought it might be a good idea to check the keys in the other locks.

What I found is that my old key. my new key, and my wife's key will unlock the door locks from both the driver and passenger side.

But I can't get any key to lock the doors.

I've tried lubricating the locks. No help.

What's even stranger is that the keys don't feel like they are 'close' to working.

Instead when I turn the key to the lock position it feels like the lock is completely blocked.

Now it occurs to me that it is possible that we never used the keys to lock the doors.

And it also occurs to me that perhaps there is some sort of interlock switch that I need to

reset in order to allow the key to work.

But any suggestions are welcome!

[Leighcm]

There's three possibilities:

1.) Your locks were changed before you bought the car and you never tested them.

2.) The locks are frozen up from age.

3.) The keys that were cut were incorrectly cut.

There's no interlock switch, not for the doors.