I will admit that I am not a mechanic & apologize if I sound ignorant. But, I'm a female trying to take care of her toy.

I'm restoring the doors of my '86 Capri. The driver side actuator was not consistently reliable prior to the replacement. But, now with the new one in place, the door will lock but it won't unlock unless I pull the post up manually. I can see that the rods that make up the mechanism are fairly loose, but no looser than those in the passenger door.

The lever which the actuator moves will go up the rod when I lock via the power lock button. But, it won't slide back down when I use the same switch to unlock the door. However, it will move appropriately when I pull up on the lock post in the top of the door. Compared to the passenger side, it seems like the mechanism is "sticking". I have applied a spray lube into the mechanism from inside and outside the door. The lube is what finally got the lever to move up the rod initially.

Do these mechanisms routinely stick or freeze with time? Is there a hack to get it to respond appropriately to the new actuator? Can the mechanism be rebuilt, refurbished, replaced? I appreciate any insight you can offer. Thanks.