Door guts

[Internet Junky]

My driver side door doesn't latch closed all the time, as far a i can tell i don't have any body sag or stuff like that. How do i get to the guts in the door and what would most likly be causing this?

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Step 1--buy a Haynes manual. Best $15 you'll spend on the car.

It describes how to get into the door. It won't tell you what's wrong with your car, but it will at least let you dig into the door so you can try figuring that out for yourself.

Make sure that the latch on the door and on the jamb is not loose.

--DD

[3D914]

Internet Junky,

Its my guess, but when I repaired one of my door latch mechanisms it also needed cleaning. It was so caked up that the latch would not move freely. Once cleaned and lubricated it worked great.

The only caution is when removing those plastic panel stays - the circluar ones that fit into holes in the panel and spring-clip into the metal door frame. Its a trick to remove these all without breaking at least a couple - so be prepared. You're local VW shop should have similar replacements, or perhaps even PP has them.

Enjoy!

[RustyWa]

Ditto with the gunked up mechanisim. I would go to close the door and it would just "clunk" partly latched. I took the door panel off and cleaned/lubed up the latch. It shuts so nice and sounds so sweet now.