Driver's door latch malfunction

[jaustinmd]

My '82 911SC's passenger door reliably and easily latches. The driver's door latches "normally" sometimes, and sometimes it makes a sickening "clunk" and bounces back and doesn't latch. The ?nylon? material inside both door striker plates was deteriorated and falling out, so I replaced both of them. However, this made no difference in the driver's door failure to latch sometimes. It may latch 3-4 times in a row normally, and then the "clunk and bounce back" routine may start up. Usually, if you shut the door really hard, it will latch.
On the passenger's door, I noticed that if you manually rotate the latch downwards, there are two distinct clicks or positions. Then, if you pull the trigger on the door handle, the latch pops/rotates back up to the open position.
On the driver's door, the latch will rotate to the two positions and feels like there is about the same amount of tension required to rotate it, but when you pull the trigger, it doesn't rotate back on it's own - you have to turn it a little to get it to pop back up.
Obviously, the driver's latch should act the same as the passenger's latch! I also suspect this is somehow related to the erratic latching. Does the latch simply need cleaning and lubrication internally, or is this likely a broken or bent part?
Thanks,
John

[RSTarga]

You need to clean and lube the latching mechanism inside the door

[jaustinmd]

What's the best lubricant that won't gum up the mechanism again?
John

[cabmandone]

There is a spring on the latch that was hanging on the latch I installed. I sprayed with Boeshield, moved the mechanism a few times and all worked smoothly.

I'll try to post a pic of the spring later if you need it. To access, you'll have to take the door panel off.

[jaustinmd]

Got a can of Boeshield in the garage! My car has had RS door panels installed - looks like it will be easier to get it off than the originals.
Thanks,
John

[jaustinmd]

I opened-up the door today, cleaned the latch mechanism as best I could and re-lubed. None of this seemed to help. What I DID find was that when the trigger on the door handle is pulled, the rod doesn't extend far enough to move the lever fully so that the latch springs back up! Either the rod has worn too short or the lever is slightly bent or worn where the rod contacts it.
At first I tried to make a little "cap" for the rod to extend it, but there is another piece of mechanism too close to let a cap slide onto the rod end when it retracts. So I made a clip (shaped like a money clip and about 3/4" wide) of some .036 stainless I had laying around, and clipped that onto the lever. In effect, this made the lever "thicker" where the rod contacts it. It now reliably triggers the latch to rotate back to "open" and the door seems to reliably latch when closed!
Here's a pic - you can see the stainless clip at the top of the picture: