REDMR2RED
Did you ever find out what the problem was??

When the auto elec removed the lock a piece broke off in his hand. It was something that he was able to fix/replace. So he did that and put it back on in because the one I got was slightly different and wouldn't work.

Hi Shaz,


 
I have just had the same problem and the fix took around three minutes to fix, however from what I read in your posts it sound like the same issue I was having. 
 
Here is what I found. 
The door locking mechanism seems to be moved side to side when the door is locked and unlocked. There is a little spring that holds the whole mechanism up and in place. What happens is that spring is made of a rubbish matterial (my opinion) and tends to rust and break dropping the whole mechanism bellow the actual door latch so it will not when unlocked push down on the latch release. 
 
I used a piece of wire with a hook on the end to go between the glass and the outside door frame and lifted the mechanism just enough to move it over the release latch. Opened the door removed the card and found the broken spring. For the short term I just bent another part of the sprint and stretched it over the latch mechanism and guess what the door was as good as new. 
 
Please note I say that this might not fix your issue but this is what I have found on both of my Mr2's :)
 
Hope this helps.

Hi Warlock,
 
Several people tried the wire in the door trick but couldn't get to the problem due to the anti-theft cover thingy.  So unfortunately I ended up taking her to Toyota.  Apparently it took a couple of them over an hour to get the door open & they were able to "temporarily" fix it.  I took her to my auto elec with a newer mechanism, that I got from one of the guys here, to have a look yes it sounds like that was the problem.   All works good now, altho there is sometimes a slight delay to the passenger door locking when I lock the drivers door. 
 
When the auto elec removed the lock a piece broke off in his hand. It was something that he was able to fix/replace. So he did that and put it back on in because the one I got was slightly different and wouldn't work.
 
There is a slight difference between the earliest model & the next one which could have been what made it difficult to lift the mechanism.