[Jimmy Magnum]

Thanks for the welcome.

I have the lock cylinder installed correctly, where that arm goes in between the prongs on the pivoting arm on the locking mechanism itself. That pivoting arm is what's loose, though (it looks like it's a part of the latch itself). I am able to engage the lock cylinder to lock the door, but as soon as I put it into the neutral position to take the key out, with there being no resistance on the locking mechanism itself, the arm just pivots back to the unlock position like there's a tension spring missing or something (there wasn't anything at the bottom of the door, so I am now assuming there isn't one and my latch is going out).

Basically, if I push down on the rod, there's no resistance and it just slides back up like nothing. I might just have to drive around with the passenger side locked down with tape until I can afford a latch replacement :-/

Also, funny side note, after I hit reply, with my talk about not getting calls for interviews, not even a minute later, I finally got one!

EDIT:
I see you had posted a shot of the latch. Do you happen to have any facing the locking mechanism itself from a direct angle? A comparison would be great. Don't worry if you don't have one. I'll figure something out.