iMacThere4iAm
Tom Long
- Messages
- 750
- Location
- Morecambe
Hi folks I've just learned a couple of tips for looking after our door handle and lock mechanisms. I forgot to take photos so here's yer thousand words instead.
The door mechanism is in three main parts - the catch, which is pushed open by either the inner handle & shaft, or the outer lock/button.
The whole is an absolute pain in the arse to work on and shouldn't be attempted unless you have a magnet on a flexible stick handy. Aldi had some good ones a while back.
If the handle never seems to push the catch open quite enough, then perhaps the socket at the end of the shaft is loose. It is a flat piece of metal rolled into a tube shape and can come partly unrolled through use. The spare one kindly provided by eoynteenie was welded closed, but mine was not and had become too loose. It can be fixed by squeezing the gap shut with mole grips.
If the lock/button feels loose in the outer handle, or the key sometimes gets stuck in the lock, then there is a loose connection between the catch and the lock barrel. The connection is a split pin through two holes in the back of the lock and one hole in the catch. With wear, the two holes in the back of the lock can bend apart causing the aforementioned problems and undue stress on the split pin (mine failed just as the MOT tester was getting into the car, and the lock pushed right through the door with his thumb :/ ). Take out the lock, tap the two holes back together so the catch part fits snugly between them, and replace the split pin with a new one. The lock shouldn't rattle at all in the handle.
After sorting out these issues and readjusting the striker plate position, the door now correctly opens from the inside, locks from the outside and closes smoothly without having to be slammed. I swear it even sounds better
The door mechanism is in three main parts - the catch, which is pushed open by either the inner handle & shaft, or the outer lock/button.
The whole is an absolute pain in the arse to work on and shouldn't be attempted unless you have a magnet on a flexible stick handy. Aldi had some good ones a while back.
If the handle never seems to push the catch open quite enough, then perhaps the socket at the end of the shaft is loose. It is a flat piece of metal rolled into a tube shape and can come partly unrolled through use. The spare one kindly provided by eoynteenie was welded closed, but mine was not and had become too loose. It can be fixed by squeezing the gap shut with mole grips.
If the lock/button feels loose in the outer handle, or the key sometimes gets stuck in the lock, then there is a loose connection between the catch and the lock barrel. The connection is a split pin through two holes in the back of the lock and one hole in the catch. With wear, the two holes in the back of the lock can bend apart causing the aforementioned problems and undue stress on the split pin (mine failed just as the MOT tester was getting into the car, and the lock pushed right through the door with his thumb :/ ). Take out the lock, tap the two holes back together so the catch part fits snugly between them, and replace the split pin with a new one. The lock shouldn't rattle at all in the handle.
After sorting out these issues and readjusting the striker plate position, the door now correctly opens from the inside, locks from the outside and closes smoothly without having to be slammed. I swear it even sounds better
