Autocruise habitation door lock not working

[Gail-force]

Hi all, I have a 2009 Autocruise Starburst and lately the bottom lock (bolt?) has stopped engaging, so I only have the top bit of the door locking. I installed the Milenco external lock for "piece of mind" but would like the door lock repaired. I've looked around the internet and a few people have mentioned that there's a plastic bit that breaks inside the door, but beyond that I can't find any more information. I don't want to pull my door apart and find I can't repair it (or put it back together again) so any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Landy Andy]

Does it operate via a small black block with three electrical contacts. That’s how mine operates and every now and then requires the contacts cleaning.

 

[Gail-force]

Does it operate via a small black block with three electrical contacts. That’s how mine operates and every now and then requires the contacts cleaning.

Hi, nope, nothing electrical in the door

 

[Ferrencebeeb]

Hi,

Weirdly we have exactly the same problem - we also own a 2009 Autocruise (Sportstar) and the bottom lock/catch no longer works.

Comparing it to the top one, the top one springs back when pushed, and the bottom one doesn't.

This leads me to think that on the bottom on there is a spring that has either become detached, or more likely broken. Either that or there's some kind of spring-like mechanism that has failed in some way.

I came across a post https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.u...tters/Habitation-Door-mechanism-repair/35714/
with a mechanism that looks the same and they just replaced the broken spring with a spring that matched.

The problem is getting to it. I had a quick go when we were away - pulling out the plastic stoppers around the edge of the bottom section, and tugged a bit, but when I did I could see inside and saw that the front and back seem to be attached at a couple of points inside with bolts that can't be accessed without removing the front (actually a bit of the plastic casing cracked when doing this annoyingly). And I haven't found out how to get the front off yet.

I think the door is made by Seitz, who are a part of Dometic (https://web.archive.org/web/20100212104127/http://www.autocruise.co.uk/star-range/sportstar) but that hasn't helped much.

 

[Ferrencebeeb]

Made progress on this just now by taking off the lower panel on the inside of the door.
Got a panel removal kit as advised, and set to taking it off. It didn't survive completely (we've got a couple of cracks to try and super-glue) this mostly because whoever put it together used double-sided sticky foam on the four mounting posts that the panel lay against - bit unnecessary I think.
Anyway, you can see from the pics that indeed the culprit is a broken spring, so I'll be going along to Screwfix or equivalent to get a box of springs that'll hopefully contain one like this one.

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[Ferrencebeeb]

Forgot to really say how I got it off.

There are small plastic plugs that need to be pulled out - though not completely - just until they pop out from the inner bit. Just lever them slowly with constant force and they'll slowly but surely come out and finish coming out with a pop.

Once all these are out, you can start trying to pull the panel off. I started at the bottom. If you get one hand each side, get your fingers behind it a bit, then slowly start pulling, but keep your ear close to the panel. You should start to hear the sort of fizzy bubbling sound you get when you pulling something sticky off like a label. Don't try and pull too fast or the panel will crack. Just keep a constant pressure, and make sure the hissing noise is happening, and eventually it'll come off one of the connection points. There are 4 connection points. Once you've pull the panel off of those 4 points, it's basically off. Just disentangle the locking bolt bits from the hole in the panel and it's off completely .

 

[Gail-force]

Thanks so much Ferrencebeeb! I needed to subscribe before I could reply...I've bought a box of misc springs from Amazon and hope to try the door this weekend...it's scary but needs to be done, and I'm so grateful for you taking the plunge and showing me how to (hopefully) fix it. Do let me know when you've sorted yours

 

[Ferrencebeeb]

Hi,

I ordered some springs from eBay, but they were way too big - should've checked the measurements with the seller - oh well.

Let me know if you get a spring small enough as we still need to get some as spares.

I ended up just bending the end of the broken spring so it made a new loop at the end and it works ok.

The plugs also didn't survive so well - two of them lost one of the four sort of legs that keep them tight, so they're a bit loose now.

The fittings in these motorhomes are pretty cheap and delicate unfortunately!

Good luck anyway!