My front door lock has stopped working (cant even get the key to go in). The cheapest solution I could find was to buy a new remote from Mitsubishi so I can now lock/unlock doors. As a new lock barrel is about $260 that is money I could put towards other repairs so it's not really a priority.

It's got me thinking though why do you even need locks on the doors. So my question is on a TH can I get an exta set of rear door handles and put them on the front so that I have no door locks? Do the rear handle's screws match up with the front? Will I be able to remove the two front lock barrels without interfering with any of the electrics?

I know this would be a very minor mod but I think it would look good if it can be done. Modern cars don't have locks on the doors.

1) You definitely can't fit rear door handles to the front. I've seen enough of them to confirm this.

2) You'd be mad not to have a key barrel. Don't rely on electronics. What happens if it fails (battery drains?) and you're beloved child or pet is inside the car?!

3) A better option would be to find a wreck and rip out the two door key barrels, rear trunk barrel and glovebox lock.
To my knowledge the ignition barrel is unique to the immob code loaded on the ECU to which the BEM is locked too. If you find an exact TH wreck like yours then you could also swap over the ECU, Ignition barrel and BEM. Otherwise I think you can use a evoscan cable to load a new immob code. Speak to member WytWyn about that.

I was planning to replace the lock barrels. It wouldn't be to hard to find a car at the wreckers with a key in it and to remove the locks from the doors, boot and glove box. However I would really like to be able to avoide messing with the ignition as I now have the remote and can lock my door again. I don't really understand how the immobiliser/ ECU work so I'm not sure what would be required to change all of the locks to a new key. As I have learnt from experience you probably should follow the advice 'if its not broken don't fix it'. As its only one lock that is broken I'm a little hesitant to start messing with the ignition.

I did receive the advice to get a new barrel and key for the driver door but I would really like to keep it to just one key. Plus I now have a remote which I have never had before so don't wont to spend money/ risk breaking things over one lock. However it does bother me to have something on my car which is broken.

After speaking to Mitsubishi and a locksmith I have decided it is too expensive to fix this ($400 for new key and lock).

I am not sure what to do about the broken lock but I sure am happy to finally have a remote. I would really love to go outside now and unlock / lock my car about 1000 times. Its so much fun.

Edit:
Magna P.I am just rereading your post (thank you) is the ECU the litte black box somewhere down near the fuse box. Sorry I'm dumb but what is a BEM?

The ignition is actually incredibly simple to get out and replace as long as you have the key. Pm me for that advice.

As for the ignition barrel having a code, it doesn't. It has a seperate key reader that does the code from the key.

Mike

Thanks Mike, I may well contact you about this. in the mean time I have played around with some door handles on cars at the local wreckers and they are surprisingly hard to get off. I can confirm that yes the 3 bolts are different on the front and rear handles. However I am enjoying having the remote so much I may have to just put an 'out of order' sign on my drivers door lock for the time being and concentrate on some of the less expensive repairs / upgrades that I have planned.
Having looked at your posts Mike I can see that you would not be afraid to perform any ridiculously difficult conversions but for myself I am afraid that I should be restricted to things which only require a screwdriver and socket wrench. I am thinking of saving up all of my planned electrical mods (eg all the extra lights) and enlisting an auto electrician. When I do get around to replacing all of the locks they would be able to help me gfet it all working.

Thanks Mike, I may well contact you about this. in the mean time I have played around with some door handles on cars at the local wreckers and they are surprisingly hard to get off. I can confirm that yes the 3 bolts are different on the front and rear handles. However I am enjoying having the remote so much I may have to just put an 'out of order' sign on my drivers door lock for the time being and concentrate on some of the less expensive repairs / upgrades that I have planned.
Having looked at your posts Mike I can see that you would not be afraid to perform any ridiculously difficult conversions but for myself I am afraid that I should be restricted to things which only require a screwdriver and socket wrench. I am thinking of saving up all of my planned electrical mods (eg all the extra lights) and enlisting an auto electrician. When I do get around to replacing all of the locks they would be able to help me gfet it all working.

You would be surprised how easy if tedious it can be. Everything that bolts or clips into the car can be unbolted-unclipped. Remeber that. If you were to enlist an auto sparky, you will be paying labour costs. I would be broke if I did that for my various mods over the years.

Send me a PM with any question you have. I changed door handles and locks just last weekendhelping another member.

Mike

Now that you got a remote why do you even need the barrel for the key? I can't remember ever using the key to unlock doors, but if you do need to use the key you still have the passenger side lock.

just get another rh barrel from the wreckers and take to a locksmith they can change the tumblers inside to match you existing key problem solved.