Door Latch Mechanism-Broken? See Picture

[rs6er]

The three bolts that attach the door latch to the side of the door screw into the latch. I assume that the nuts they screw into should be permanently attached to the latch mechanism. Two of mine have come loose. Do I need to replace the whole mechanism? Can I epoxy them back into place. Any other thoughts? This all began when I (1) couldn't lock the door and then (2) couldn't close the door. This began occuring when one lower bolts was missing in action.

[DavErb]

I doubt if epoxy would stand up to the torque the bolts would apply to them. since you've got the plate out take it to a welder. A couple of spot welds ought to be sufficient

[daepp]

John: How did you get that mecahnsim out of the door? Did you have to remove the track that the window rides on? If so, does the window have to come out or just the track? If you have to remove the track, did you find any instructions on the subject? My latch (the part that rides on the edge of the door and rotates upon latching, all of a sudden became wobbly and no longer holds the door closed upon the striker. I do not know why the piece that sticks through the door is so wobbly as I cannot see anything that's come loose. It's the piece that protrudes from the inside of the door, is U shaped, and is attached on the inside of the door to the coil spring shown above by rs6er. Any ideas?

[Mitch Leland]

Dittos to DaveErb...

It appears from the picture that the one remaining nut is an elastic type stop nut, however I don't think that will make much of a difference in this application. You you can get "all metal" stop nuts if that concerns you to spot weld to the plate. Once the nuts are welded to the plate I would shoot some self etching primer which is available in an aerosol can over the weld areas to prevent rust in the future.

[Mr9146]

It's junk. Throw it away and get a new one. Why bother trying to fix it? If it breaks again you'll just have to take the entire door apart again to get it out. Do yourself a favor and spend a few dollars now ... how much is your time worth?

[rs6er]

Marco— I actually had the nut welded to the mechanism. It works fine now.

David— I did remove the window track. There are several bolts covered by plastic caps. Be careful removing the front ones as they can fall into the door and you will not be able to get them out. The window does not have to come out. After you raise it all the way up, you will be able to access the mechanism. You can probably find a diagram on Pelican.

Mitch— The remaining nut you refer too is plastic lined to prevent the bolt from loosening, but it is attached permanently to the latch plate.

[daepp]

Originally Posted by rs6er

Be careful removing the front ones as they can fall into the door and you will not be able to get them out. The window does not have to come out. After you raise it all the way up, you will be able to access the mechanism.

When you say "fall into the door" - I have opened up the door - is there some other cavity I've not yet seen where these can fall? The reason I ask is because I have good access to the inside bottom of the door.

Thanks again for your help!

[rs6er]

There is a double wall in the leading edge of the door. If you drop a bolt in there, it won't fall to the bottom of the door; it will wedge in a cavity between the double walls. I've tried to get it out with a magnet. No dice. The problem bolts are near the mirror.

[daepp]

Finally got the latch out and ordered a used replacement from Easy. I had to remove the track for the window, that was covering up the latch on the inside of the door. To get the track out I had to lower the window about half way, pull the track up through the top of the door, then raised the window again. A bit of the lift mechanism was still in the way but I was able to work around it. I will post a how to once I get the thing back together. It is amazing how far apart you must get the door to repair the latch. And even more amazing to me that it was the passenger side that failed.

[Kroggers]

I have this problem now with my driver side door, and will have to get in there to fix it. David, did you ever take some pictures etc from the job to guide me a bit?

[daepp]

Yes - I detailed the fix here: Door Latch w/Pics

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions: eppersondavid at yahoo dot com.

[Kroggers]

Cool, thank you