TheSamba.com :: View topic - Official lazy person's stupid question thread

Mon Dec 15, 2025 5:30 pm

bobbyblack wrote: How do wing window latches get into the wrong position, so they can't latch? Do I need to beg, borrow or steal a new latch? Would taking the entire wing window out and trade to with another from one of my other buses be the easiest thing to do?

I see posts about knocking the roll pin out, but the one I am looking at seems pretty corroded...

Thanks,

-bobby
Bobby, you mean you cannot close the wing securely at all?

Our passenger-side latch doesn’t go all the way but still latches… think you’re saying yours won’t even go that far?

On parking brake clicks, ours take a little effort to get three and I would never want less than that. It’s been consistent at three the entire seven years we’ve had the van.

More clicks means less braking if used for its other term — Emergency Brake. If really needed, I want all of that!

Not sure where the four or five clicks idea comes from, but I want none of that. :shock:

Mon Dec 15, 2025 7:28 pm

I trun the drivers set so it's easier to put stuff there when parked.

Tue Dec 16, 2025 5:33 am

E1, yes, on my '86 Westy, the passenger wing latch does not secure the window at all.

Tue Dec 16, 2025 7:52 am

Oh Buddy, sounds like your repair idea may be the only way out then — but I hesitate saying that in never messing with it.

In our passenger-side case, it’s as if it’s “too tight” to rotate all the way forward. It goes maybe 20% from that and no more — but still secures it.

Tue Dec 16, 2025 8:09 am

Well huh, I see that JBugs sells the glass, and all the holes appear to be round. I guess that I had thought it was a square hole keeping the latch from moving, but it is secured some other way.

While waiting for replies, I did a bunch of reading, one thread says to just turn it with steady pressure... I'm afraid of breaking it tho :-(

-bobby

Tue Dec 16, 2025 8:46 am

Maybe you’re tried this, but what if you turn the latch while keeping steady pressure on the outside glass?

In my case and maybe yours, it’s as if the inside of the latch is too tight against the glass. Or the rubber’s too thick, or…?

I’ll look at mine more intently and see if I can wise up a little more.

Fat chance in general, of course. :lol:

Tue Dec 16, 2025 12:47 pm

I'm going to put some penetrating oil on the parts that contact the glass, and let that soak a few times over the next few days.. We have temps going from the low single's F to almost 40 F for the next few days, so that should shrink/grow the area slightly, maybe the oil will get in where it needs to go, and I can rotate the assembly without breaking anything. Fingers crossed.

-bobby

Tue Dec 16, 2025 1:36 pm

Best of luck, Bud.

Tue Dec 16, 2025 1:47 pm

bobbyblack wrote: Well huh, I see that JBugs sells the glass, and all the holes appear to be round. I guess that I had thought it was a square hole keeping the latch from moving, but it is secured some other way.

While waiting for replies, I did a bunch of reading, one thread says to just turn it with steady pressure... I'm afraid of breaking it tho :-(

-bobby

Perhaps a diagram will help?

It's a "bolt-through" latch, which can be disassembled.

Both of my van's latches work, but they have never, in my ownership, locked into place, which they are supposed to do. One of these days, I'll have to take the time to troubleshoot.

Tue Dec 16, 2025 3:17 pm

Cool, thanks Kamz,
and E1.

-bobby

Tue Dec 16, 2025 8:30 pm

You’re welcome, hope you nail it (so to speak).

Mon Dec 22, 2025 9:08 pm

Recently did a valve adjustment to help valve chatter, and when I was turning the engine over from cylinder to cylinder by hand using the alternator belt/pulley, about half the time, the engine turned easily, and about half the time it took some hard effort to turn the engine.

Is this 'hard turning' normal for a 1.9 WBX on certain rotation points of the engine? Or is this abnormal?

Mon Dec 22, 2025 10:04 pm

whatwrenchwhere wrote: Recently did a valve adjustment to help valve chatter, and when I was turning the engine over from cylinder to cylinder by hand using the alternator belt/pulley, about half the time, the engine turned easily, and about half the time it took some hard effort to turn the engine.

Is this 'hard turning' normal for a 1.9 WBX on certain rotation points of the engine? Or is this abnormal?

Did you remove the spark plugs? If not, it's difficult to rotate the engine through compression strokes.

Mon Dec 22, 2025 10:06 pm

@jimf909@ Not so much, just one to find TDC early on. I will have to try that. Thanks.

Tue Dec 23, 2025 7:08 am

In fact, difficulty rotating the motor is a sign of good compression and a healthy motor. If you could spin the motor easily, there would be a host of problems.

Tue Dec 23, 2025 7:26 am

^ You took the words write out of my, Um, fingers.

Tue Dec 23, 2025 1:55 pm

Update on passenger wing latch. two drops of oil, let sit, rotated CCW. worked a charm. might be a bit less tension than original spec, I'll keep an eye on it so as to not have it loosen enough to fall out.

-bobby

Tue Dec 23, 2025 2:47 pm

SWEEEET!!!

Dang, I’m gonna try oil next time we have ANY issues; engine, gearbox, brakes, heater, stove, poptop, whatevs. :wink:

Happy Holidays, Bobby.

Tue Dec 23, 2025 2:49 pm

Andy - refer them to https://centerforplainlanguage.org/ ;) Except I'm not sure how beneficial that would be, considering the ambiguity of nearly every official document...

Tue Dec 30, 2025 10:21 pm

I've seen that other engines have clamps on there air intake manifold around the sleeve. I have a 1.9, and thinking about adding these like the picture below. Supply sites have the crimp style clamps , is it possible to get these on from top of engine? Or should I just go with the plumbing supply hose clamps style you can wrap around?