I took the door panel off my car and put it back on yesterday. Then I noticed that the door lock resists being changed from locked to unlocked and vice versa on the driver side while the door is open. Is this normal? It doesn't happen on the passenger side. When the door is closed, I can toggle the lock with no problems. I wasn't really paying attention so I don't know if this was the case before I took the door panel off and put it back on.

 

It is a safety feature? Either you have to hold up the outside door lock to lock the door when its open, or you have to hold it up when you close it. Try holding the outside door handle up, then manually lock it from the inside.

 

it's normal. Saki GT is right. it's safty feature. shut the door then you will be able to flip the button

 

You can also hold up the inside door handle and then flip the lock.