25 Feb 2025
Hi Folks!
I had a failure of my drivers side door latch. It broke inside and prevented it from locking. No big deal, remove and replace right?
The new one came and I installed it with 2 little issues; the outer handle rubbed on the door skin. I bent it away with a couple of crescent wrenches, the lock wouldn't, I had to use the key and the lock lever about a hundred times to get it to work.
Then I began to notice that it became harder and harder to open it after driving somewheres. I mean I had to really bang on it to get it to open!
Surmising something was jamming I readjusted the door and the striker, a couple of times. No help. I "painted" everything with blue marking pen looking for wear marks. Other than slight marks, nothing. This has gone on for over 2 months.
Today, I think I finally solved it though I have not driven anywhere.
It would appear that the latch has been jamming on itself where the hook hits the lower plate. See pictures. I used my dremel tool to cut off a bit of the offending metal and it is easier to open when I slam the door closed.
Time will tell.
