The Galant Center - Powered by vBulletin

Thread: Door won't shut (it's not that simple)

Showing results 1 to 3 of 3
  1. #1

    Door won't shut (it's not that simple)

    So when it's below 60 degrees F, my right rear door won't shut. It can stay shut if i never open it, but if I open it when it's below 60 or so, it won't shut back. Any warmer and it works as normal, but when cooler, this happens. Has anyone ever experienced this situation?

  2. #2
    Got the same problem with driver's side rear door and just today the passenger front door started acting up (won't latch). I am in the process of pulling the panel to sere what is what. Of course its -25 F but at least it sunny out. Having a heck of a time getting the door panel off which is why I am reviewing posts here. I can live with not using the back ddor but got to have both front door operational. All the small phillips screws on perimeter of the panel are out and the one phillips screw in the door handle as well as door handle trip are out but something is still holding it up around the door handle. Nothing on youtube to clue me in and I don't dare just yank on it for fear as cold as it is I will break something. Once I get into it I'll post and let you know what I find. At this pint, the latch just ain't latching.
    jjj
    98 ES (5 spd), 94 GS (5 spd), 94 ES (rebuilt auto), 92 Toyota 4X4, 81 KZ550 A2, 67 Mercedes 250S, 58 Mercedes 190SL

  3. #3
    Pulled the door panel by removing 6 philips head screws; 5 on the perimeter of the door and 1 in the upper front part of the door handle. Once the screw is out of the door handle area push the door handle trim piece towards the front of car until you can remove it. Use a thin pry bar or screw driver to release the door panel clips along the bottom edge of the door panel. Slide along the panel edge until you feel something and then pry up to pop the clip. Move on until you have the entire bottom of the panel freed. Now you have to pull up hard on the door panel to free the large hook in the center of the panel from the door itself. The weather strip by the top of the panel remains attached to the door when the panel came free. Removing the door latch/lock mechanism involves releasing 4 rods form the latch mechanism; 2 that active the lock and 2 that activate the latch release. I had to remove the outside door handle to enable me to free up the rod from the handle to the latch/lock mechanism. There are two reason I could see why the latch would not work. The first is the rod from the outside door handle can get wedged in a position that the spring catch that actually latches the door gets jammed. The other reason the latch would not work is the small circular plastic piece gets jammed or gummed up. I pulled my latch/lock mechanism and worked it repeatedly to free up the latch mechanism. I had small bits of what appeared to be dried out while lithium grease fall out while doing this. My best guess is the grease has hardened over the years (the cold weather certainly didn't help either). I tried using carb cleaner to clean it out but in the end I just had to keep cycling the latch/lock mechanism. There are NO owner repairable pieces in the latch/lock; all you can do is clean it out and cycle it to free up things r replace it. I tried spraying carb cleaner in the latch mechanism before removing it because I really didn't want to have to pull it. t didn't help but I suspect had I worked the outside door handle up and down repeatedly along with spraying the mechanism it might have freed things up and save me a lot of headaches. Another possibility is to remove the three screws from the side of the door to free up the latch/mechanism so you can see the small round black plastic piece. Now work that back and forth hoping that eventually the latch starts working. That small round black plastic piece is attached tot he piece that actually latches the door so if it is hanging up, your latch won't work. Lets be honest, its a crap shoot as to what is going to work and replacement parts are becoming scarce. I considered spraying my latch/lock mechanism with more lithium grease but decided that would only lead to more problems down the road. I am going to try silicon spray and cross my fingers.

    BTW, if your door latches but you can't open it with either the inside or outside handle, I suggest you fix it sooner rather than later because once both the inside and outside handles are not working you wont be able to open the door and as such you are screwed as far as removing the door panel to gain access to fix it. The primary reason one of the handles wont work is because it has become disconnected form the either the handle or more likely, from the latch/lock mechanism. There are these little plastic clips that secure the rod to the latch/lock mechanism. They can and do break in which case the rod can work itself free.

    SO in closing, yes I know this post is 2 years old but some of us are still driving these cars so I figured to share what I learned about this today. Never know when the next person will need to know how to remove the door panel or figure out why the door wont latch. I was going to add pictures but no longer remember how to do that.
    jjj
    98 ES (5 spd), 94 GS (5 spd), 94 ES (rebuilt auto), 92 Toyota 4X4, 81 KZ550 A2, 67 Mercedes 250S, 58 Mercedes 190SL

Posting Rules

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •