sliding door lock mechanism weirdness

[rainman]

My sliding door wouldn't open from the outside so I took the front mechanism off to have a look and a broken bit fell out. I put it back together and realised that it would still open from the inside so i left it like that for about a year. (if you've seen my van you'll know I'm not a perfectionist!) Last weekend it stopped working from the inside too but I managed to open it by yanking on the cable which runs from the front mechanism to the back and then pulling the handle. I couldn't figure out how it was supposed to work or why it wasn't working so I gave up. However, as I was fiddling around I decided to grease up all the runners as it was getting hard to slide the door along. After I did that, the door now opens from both sides - is this just a coincidence or have I accidentally fixed it?
I've sourced a replacement mechanism anyway just in case.

[rainman]

Mystery solved - it was just the cable needed adjusting. I tried opening it and closing it a few times before being satisfied that it worked, put the door card back on only to find it wouldn't open. Door card off again, much head scratching until I finally concluded that when I yanked the cable I must have dislodged it from where it's housed in the rear mechanism, thus inadvertantly tightening it so i've now tightened it up properly and am very pleased with the result. My only slight concern is whether it's possible to over-adjust this cable and I risk the door flying open on my way down to Devon, leaving behind me a trail of teabags and reggae-reggae sauce.

[Mickyfin]

[Cruz]

It's usually the later sliding door catch that wears and opens up when it feels like it