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Crooked Designer
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2018
Posts: 323
Location: Chicago, IL
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 Posted: Mon May 17, 2021 5:34 pm Post subject: Slider door half unlocked? |
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Anyone have this problem? It has happened before and fixed itself but doesn’t seem to be going back to normal now. Pushing down on the outside handle in the “half” unlocked position unlatches it and it opens but the handle doesn’t go all the way down. Key and knob only able to unlock it half way.
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'85 Westy full camper, Subaru 2.5L, 5 speed SubiGears + 5speedbus shifter kit |
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SyncroHead 
Samba Member
Joined: May 23, 2005
Posts: 1141
Location: Northern Nevada
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| Posted: Mon May 17, 2021 6:17 pm Post subject: Re: Slider door half unlocked? |
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They can get like this when they are dry and the original grease is contaminated with dirt.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it...
You'll need to remove the interior panel, then disconnect the rod that goes to the latch at the rear. Don't lose the clip! Remove the screws from the front locking mechanism and then remove it from the door. It will seem like this can't possibly come out of the door and I can't exactly tell you how to do it - each time seems like a new experience and I'm surprised when I have it in the right position for it to come out. It's sort of an up/twist/right path.
Once removed, clean it thoroughly, moving all the mechanisms into every position to make sure it's clean everywhere you can get to.
It's a messy job, so put on some disposable gloves.
Then GREASE it with wheel bearing grease, CV joint grease or whatever grease will stay put and not melt away easily. DO NOT USE OIL. Oil will drip out with heat and time and leave you in the same position you're at now in a few months or maybe a year.
While greasing it, make sure to move it into every possible position and get grease into all the crevices , rotating spots and sliding rails.
Installation is the reverse of removal, but chances are you won't know how you got it out. However, be persistent and jiggle and twist (the mechanism) and eventually it will go back. Put all the screws in partway before you start tightening them. Don't lose the clip! while reconnecting the rod.
Now it will be good as new...
Good luck!
Jim Davis
_________________
"A Vanagon? It's not a car or a van. It's a hobby!"
Check out:
www.VANAVATION.com
www.SyncroSafari.org and
www.Vanagons.org
| sphet wrote: |
| I have *no* idea what the previous owner carried in his Westy... angry donkeys? |
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Crooked Designer
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2018
Posts: 323
Location: Chicago, IL
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| Posted: Tue May 18, 2021 5:53 am Post subject: Re: Slider door half unlocked? |
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| SyncroHead wrote: |
They can get like this when they are dry and the original grease is contaminated with dirt.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it...
You'll need to remove the interior panel, then disconnect the rod that goes to the latch at the rear. Don't lose the clip! Remove the screws from the front locking mechanism and then remove it from the door. It will seem like this can't possibly come out of the door and I can't exactly tell you how to do it - each time seems like a new experience and I'm surprised when I have it in the right position for it to come out. It's sort of an up/twist/right path.
Once removed, clean it thoroughly, moving all the mechanisms into every position to make sure it's clean everywhere you can get to.
It's a messy job, so put on some disposable gloves.
Then GREASE it with wheel bearing grease, CV joint grease or whatever grease will stay put and not melt away easily. DO NOT USE OIL. Oil will drip out with heat and time and leave you in the same position you're at now in a few months or maybe a year.
While greasing it, make sure to move it into every possible position and get grease into all the crevices , rotating spots and sliding rails.
Installation is the reverse of removal, but chances are you won't know how you got it out. However, be persistent and jiggle and twist (the mechanism) and eventually it will go back. Put all the screws in partway before you start tightening them. Don't lose the clip! while reconnecting the rod.
Now it will be good as new...
Good luck!
Jim Davis |
Thanks Jim, good to know the process and will probably give this a shot later this summer, but I’m on the road now and looking to see if there is a quicker fix that may not be so thorough.
Seems like lubrication is what I’m missing. I have some penetrating grease on hand and am trying to figure out how to make that happen. Any access points for the straw on the spray can from outside the door? Maybe above / below the knob on the inside?
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'85 Westy full camper, Subaru 2.5L, 5 speed SubiGears + 5speedbus shifter kit |
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SCM
Samba Member
Joined: January 26, 2011
Posts: 3116
Location: Bozeman MT
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| Posted: Tue May 18, 2021 12:38 pm Post subject: Re: Slider door half unlocked? |
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My van does this once or twice a year so I appreciate Jim’s how-to.
That said, I recently applied WD40 through any opening in the lock/latch mechanism in the French doors in the kitchen of my house. I should’ve done it 15 years ago when we first moved in (the house was new). They’ve never worked better.
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'91 Westfalia GL Automatic (GTA "Turbo" Rebuild w/Peloquin) and 2.3L GoWesty Engine |
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SyncroHead
Samba Member
Joined: May 23, 2005
Posts: 1141
Location: Northern Nevada
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| Posted: Tue May 18, 2021 7:40 pm Post subject: Re: Slider door half unlocked? |
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| Crooked Designer wrote: |
| Seems like lubrication is what I’m missing. I have some penetrating grease on hand and am trying to figure out how to make that happen. Any access points for the straw on the spray can from outside the door? Maybe above / below the knob on the inside? |
I don't think you can access anything to spray at without removing the interior door panel. Removing and installing that panel is not a big deal, so you can try that to expose some places for temporary oil.
Jim
_________________
"A Vanagon? It's not a car or a van. It's a hobby!"
Check out:
www.VANAVATION.com
www.SyncroSafari.org and
www.Vanagons.org
| sphet wrote: |
| I have *no* idea what the previous owner carried in his Westy... angry donkeys? |
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Crooked Designer
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2018
Posts: 323
Location: Chicago, IL
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| Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2021 11:33 am Post subject: Re: Slider door half unlocked? |
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Following up on this. I was leaving for a trip, so did not have time to take apart the lock mechanism (although I appreciate the how-to on that and will definitely tackle that some winter.) I did spray penetrating grease into the lock mechanism and worked it up and down as much as it would go, given the "half unlocked" position. Did not seem to do anything, but two days later it unlocked fully when I went to unlock the slider with the key. My assumption is that it needed time to work its way into the lock mechanism. The lock button slides noticeably easier up and down now and has not gone back to the "half unlocked" position. Thanks for all the tips.
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'85 Westy full camper, Subaru 2.5L, 5 speed SubiGears + 5speedbus shifter kit |
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