Sliding door on Merc Sprinter conversion won't shut (1 Viewer)

[funman]

Here's hoping a tech wizard out there knows what to do...

My door slides freely but is difficult to make the catch work properly. The catch on the trailing edge of the door seems to work fine when I push it in with a screwdriver, doing the double click. It's well greased and I've made it align ok with the door pillar part, but when I slam the door it just bounces open again. It usually does the first click so you can lock it but with an air gap, but sometimes it won't even do that. Also, can't get at the inner side of the door because there's a cupboard in the way.

 

[M-J]

What year?

Could be a bent catch plate?

 

[M-J]

You say it’s well greased but have you tried wd40 to get right into the catch mechanism

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[funman]

What year?

Could be a bent catch plate?

It's year 2000. What's the catchplate? - I guess it's the thing screwed to the van body to which the catch is supposed to engage. If so, it looks ok, not bent.

 

[ambulancekidd]

Sounds to me like the bottom rail is full of crud.
Have a wee look on You Tube for a short tutorial as to cleaning this rail.
You'll almost certainly be surprised at the amount of junk in there?

 

[funman]

You say it’s well greased but have you tried wd40 to get right into the catch mechanism

Not as such, though I did squirt switch cleaner to wash out dirt, and used ordinary oil. I'll try the WD40....

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[M-J]

Did you sort it?

 

[funman]

Sounds to me like the bottom rail is full of crud.
Have a wee look on You Tube for a short tutorial as to cleaning this rail.
You'll almost certainly be surprised at the amount of junk in there?

Yes it was full of crud - peanuts, sand, pebbles. I got most of it out with a paintbrush but I can't get the step off because a cupboard with plumbed in gas pipes, electrical centre etc if fixed onto part of the step.
It didn't make any difference but was worth doing anyway!

 

[funman]

Did you sort it?

Not entirely. I did find some WD40 and gave it several squirts. I think it helped a bit - I can now shut it properly from outdoors by thumping it hard at the edge of the door with the heel of my hand. A bit tiresome when camping though! You have to nip out at bed time through the passenger door, close the sliding door, and climb back in through the passenger door without tripping over the seatbelt!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Landy Andy]

I don’t know the setup on this vehicle, but just incase it’s a similar setup. On Defenders people often spray the lock mechanism with spray grease of some sort, and this is too thick to allow the lock to move quick enough whilst shutting, so door bounces back to being only on catch, not fully locked. It’s worse when cold. The cure is to wash mechanism out with brake cleaner then lube with a light spray oil.

I doubt the locks you have are as basic as Defender items, but just incase it helps.

Andy.

 

[funman]

I don’t know the setup on this vehicle, but just incase it’s a similar setup. On Defenders people often spray the lock mechanism with spray grease of some sort, and this is too thick to allow the lock to move quick enough whilst shutting, so door bounces back to being only on catch, not fully locked. It’s worse when cold. The cure is to wash mechanism out with brake cleaner then lube with a light spray oil.

I doubt the locks you have are as basic as Defender items, but just incase it helps.

Andy.

Hm, certainly sounds plausible Andy. What is brake cleaner exactly? I gave it a good squirt with WD40, which I assume is a mixture of a solvent and a light oil and it helped a bit but did not cure entirely.
Nick

 

[Landy Andy]

This is the Brake cleaner that I use. It’s a very powerful solvent.

https://rover.ebay.co.uk/rover/0/0/99?loc=https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/1223193726?iid=153294314517

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}