The driver's door cannot be locked when the door is open. It's a mechanical interlock in the latch, intended to help prevent you from locking your keys in the car. With the door closed, the lock knob should function normally.

The driver's door does not have an electric lock motor. The other doors do. The passenger front door is powered by one set of blue and yellow wires, right off the lock relays in the center dash. The rest of the car, the two rears and the trunk/hatch lock, are powered through a second wiring harness that comes down the left side of the center console. There's a plug at about the top of the carpet, under the kick panel on the left side of the center console.

Find a 2-wire blue plug with one blue and one yellow in it. The other side probably has 2 blue and 2 yellows. It may have come unplugged or somehow gotten damaged. It's fairly easy to yank apart if you're in there working on a heater fan or a stereo or an ignition switch.

Note one thing: It's possible a previous owner (or mechanic) disconnected it on purpose because of blowing fuses. If you have a wagon with bad wiring harnesses to the hatch, there could be problems with the lock wiring grounding out either during lock or unlock (could be one, and not the other, as the wires reverse polarity to drive the lock motors open or closed.)

The power lock function still works with the door open, because the switch for it is an integral part of the lock rod. The passenger door has no such switch, but does have the lock motor. The driver's door lock is actually moved by pressure on the knob or by you turning the key from outside.

Good luck with it!
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::: Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 92 244 ::: 90 745GL ::: 90 745T ::: 84 242DL ::: 90 745T Parts ::: Used to have : 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 91 244, 88 244GL, 88 744GLE, 82 245T, 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 88 245DL, 89 244DL!