Sliding door slammed shut and now won't open at all.

Broham · Samba Member Joined: July 13, 2014 Posts: 16

Hi everyone! Picked up my Westy from this site in January of this year and I've been lurking ever since as I've done tons of modifications and repairs on it with your advice. I appreciate all the help! Typically, I can find something on my issue, but this time I was a bit lost.

The other day, I slammed my sliding door, and it bounced back off the hinge instead of locking. I thought it was weird and I slammed it shut again, this time no problem...it shut. Now I have a new problem. It won't open! When I pull the outside handle, I can see the lever looking thing right above/beside the lock knob lift up. The inside door handle won't allow this. I also can not engage the lock with the lock knob, but it isn't locked and certainly won't open.

I've seen plenty of people talk about the sliding opening while moving, but this doesn't seem to be related. Does anyone know what might be holding my door shut?

the joker · Samba Member Joined: October 12, 2006 Posts: 1287

Get a Bentley
Cool

take the panel on the inside off

You'll find the problem

fraggle00 · Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 3:39 pm Post subject:

+1 pull the panel on the inside and start hunting around.
_________________
'91 Vanagon Carat
'87 Porsche 928S4 DOWN
'12 Fiat 500 Abarth

Broham · Samba Member Joined: July 13, 2014 Posts: 16

I do have the bentley, but unfortunately it hasn't been much help. A majority of it involves the door being open, which I can't seem to achieve.

I've pulled the panel off and dug around for an hour or two to no avail. I removed all the screws and everything around the door. Tried everything shy of crowbaring it open, haha.

sandoz · Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 4:35 pm Post subject:

I had the same situation a couple of years ago and it turned out to be that the circlip at the rear of the bowden cable had popped off and kept my door from opening....

Really sucks to not have the slider operational!
_________________
1983 Air Cooled Westy (Shaniqua)

Broham · Samba Member Joined: July 13, 2014 Posts: 16

levi · Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 5:43 pm Post subject:

Behind this flap at the rear of the door

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Screwdriver in between, pop it open

_________________
One of these days I'm gonna settle down,
but till I do I won't be hangin round.
Going down that long lonesome highway,
gonna see life my way

https://youtu.be/cSrL0BXsO40

daroota · Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 5:48 pm Post subject:

you can also try to open it from the inside, and give a little bump on the rear of the sliding door to pop it open. (I've had to do that once)
_________________
1982 Westy-Air Cooled, Fuel Injected, 4 Speed Manual
Air Cooled Vanagon's FaceBook Group:
www.facebook.com/groups/AirCooledVanagon/

sandoz · Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 5:49 pm Post subject:

Is your bowden cable secured to the door or is it just flopping around? It needs to be straight and tight....

Look at everything really closely, that is what I had to do. I do not have that flap...

Trial by fire, you'll figure it out! It makes owning your vehicle that much more satisfying.... Smile

_________________
1983 Air Cooled Westy (Shaniqua)

levi · Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 5:49 pm Post subject:

There's springs inside the lock mechanism that go to crap.

that causes the bounce back the first time you tried to close it.

Go westy or vancafe, I don't remember who, sells replacement springs, or you can salvage off another vanagon if you happen to have one in a local junkyard.
_________________
One of these days I'm gonna settle down,
but till I do I won't be hangin round.
Going down that long lonesome highway,
gonna see life my way

https://youtu.be/cSrL0BXsO40

?Waldo? · Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 6:25 pm Post subject:

I've described in detail on this forum how to easily fix the 'bounce back' issue without needing to purchase any parts.

Broham · Samba Member Joined: July 13, 2014 Posts: 16

Alright, I finally figured it out.

I wasn't having the famous 'bounce back' problem. What happened is that when I slammed the door, I hadn't fully released the handle, so the bowden cable popped out of the front mechanism and the nut, slider, washer, and the other threaded piece were out of wack ON the cable.

I reassembled (more so rejoined them on the cable) the nuts and all that making sure it was on the right side OUTSIDE the box near the front circlip. It was just this tiny little bit of distance from not having the pull on the cable that was causing it not to pull the rear latch all the way forward to pop the door open.

I wrapped some tape around the box mechanism to keep the cable from popping out and the keeping the nut and it's fixing in place as well.

Tested it several times and had success. Thanks for the points and tips. It finally nodded me in the right direction! It's been broken for a couple weeks, so needless to say, I am relieved!

sandoz · Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 7:03 pm Post subject:

Booyah, way to follow through! Cool

_________________
1983 Air Cooled Westy (Shaniqua)


Hello! Log in or Register \| Help \| Donate \| Premium Membership \| Buy Shirts	See all banner ads \| Advertise on TheSamba.com

	Forum Index -> Vanagon	All times are Mountain Standard Time/Pacific Daylight Savings Time
Page 1 of 1