jmkr123

Background:
2008 HHR, Been dealing with this for several years now. FOBs quit working so my wife would lock the doors by the driver's side electrical switch (locks all doors at once). After locking the doors one time she was unable to get the door to unlock. The key would not turn at all. I was in the military at the time and out of the country but told her to use force with the key to see if it would give after reading a couple posts claiming this had worked successfully. No luck she broke the key. Locksmith had to open the door for her. Reported to GM and the reply was bring it in and if it's not working we will see whats going on. Problem was that it was now working.
Fast forward about 5 years and I have been the primary driver of the car and the same issue of the key not rotating in the lock to unlock the door has been a steady recurring issue. I never lock all the doors, I leave one unlocked by manually pulling up the silver lock "tab" that sticks out of the door panel.

What I have found is that after locking the doors using the inside switch sometimes I can not pull the lock tab up. It is stuck down. Often I can use the electrical lock switch to unlock then relock the door and the then I can pull the lock tab up but not always. When I can not manually pull the lock tab up the key will not rotate. I have had this problem with 3 of the 4 doors, both front doors and driver's side rear door.
I have removed the door panel and did not see any mechanical misalignment issues. Additionally, I enlarged the lock tab opening as suggested in some posts but that had no effect.
I read where some people have replaced the electric motor in the door actuator and this eliminated the key wont rotate issue. This will be my next adventure.
Prior to my FOBs failing there were times when pressing unlock on the FOBs would have no effect on the door locks and I would have to press lock then unlock to get the doors to unlock. I believe that pressing lock again forced the lock mechanism to engage as I could see the silver lock tab move slightly downwards then back to the resting lock position. It's my belief that this removed the "binding" situation within the lock actuator and thus would allow the next unlock press on the FOB to unlock the doors.
On going pain in the rear along with the often reported front end noise issues but I've been able to get 176,000 miles out of her with not to much more than routine maintenance.

firemangeorge

Why not just get new fobs and avoid all that hassle. Dorman has fobs with a programmer module so you can do it yourself.

donbrew

I moved these posts to a new thread.

Sounds to me like the wires inside the door are binding or bent, maybe the latch mechanism. There is also a known problem with the hole in the door panel needing to be reamed.

If the door panels have ever been removed, there is a good chance that the wires did not get back into the designed channels.

The wires tend to get bent out of shape when people routinely use the manual lock instead of the remote. They are not designed for manual locking, that is supposed to be "emergency".

J W Davis

Sounds familiar, all my doors lock and unlock as they are suppose to EXCEPT the driver door. I always have to push the key FOB 3 or 4 time to get the door unlocked, every time and always been that way. I use the lock switch on the door panel every time to lock it when I exit, if I have to push the FOB more than once the horn honks each time.
Do not know why and door panel has never been removed.
It is just one of the little 'quirks" of the car.

Oldblue

A squirt of WD 40 has reportedly cured that issue for some members.

J W Davis

Thanks, I will try it out. Never used WD40 as a lube before, just a solvent. And it works great on engines as a fuel to start on instead of either.

Susan Lake

Works great until the FOB is worn out, or the car outlives it. My FOB died a long time ago, but it didn't solve the problem then and now I can't get into my car. Only one keyhole, the drivers side door. I can't take the assembly apart, and I need this car since my other car has to go to the shop.

I've been dealing with this problem for years (got the car in 2011) and just use the locking mechanism to lock/unlock until the silver knob goes down smoothly (you can see it struggle to lock/unlock when it's having trouble). I'm hoping a shop can help. What kind of shop to go to though? It's past warranty and has more than 100k miles. I want this fixed for good. Advice?

^c^

Oldblue

Welcome to the site, Susan
As mentioned the plunger can get stuck in the hole in the door panel, a simple rat tail file can open that up a touch to free up the plunger knob.
I suggest replacing the key fob as that's how the security system (locks and alarm) were designed to be activated.
A locksmith or body shop can do this for you, or you can do it yourself, there are programable fobs available at your local parts palaces, AutoZone , Advanced, Pepboys, O'Reilly's .

donbrew

I'll bet somebody has removed the door panel and didn't get it back on exactly right. There is an almost imperceptible channel that the plunger has to fit into in the foam lining.

Anybody that owns a screwdriver can take the door off and fix the plunger.

Susan Lake

The locksmith recommended this as well, however it did not resolve. The key goes in nicely though. Just doesn't turn the lock.