Club 80-90 Forums

After giving the van a service today I took her for a run to check all was ok, For the first time ever the sliding door popped open when I went over a bump. I couldnt risk this happening when I had my young son in the van ( although he sits up front in his car seat ) so I decided to take the bull by the horns and try again to fix this problem.

I have written this to help others who may have this apparently common problem.


I started by removing the door card, this is to allow access to the connecting wire from the handle to the catch.

Then after opening the door I undid and removed the large philips head screws that hold the catch mechanism in place and removed the catch.

It was crudded up with 25 years of dirt so i cleaned all the cr*p out, then I noticed that the whole assembly was deformed....


you can see from the pic that it is no longer square, what must of happened is that either by time/wear and tear or more probable an incorrectly positioned striker bolt, it had become bent, not having a vice to hand I re shaped with a hammer.




The next thing I noticed was that the latch mechanism itself was bent....



again I reformed this with a pair of pipe grips



then I tapped this bit down ( on the tip of the screw driver ) this bit holds the latch and stops it moving from side to side. don't hit it too hard so that I doesn't move at all !


Finally I put it all back together, adjusted the striker bolt position and Voila the door shuts with a gentle push, perfect shut lines and NO popping open.


P.S I have read in other posts that It is necessary to remove the rear hinge to allow enough room for the catch to be removed, I didn't need to do this. Mine Is a later type door, if that makes a difference ?

Excellent post Pionte and definately worthy of a permanent WIKI placement. Hats off to you for taking the time to photograph what you did too.

Not sure bedroom carpet is best place to do the job though

Most helpfull, thanks

might be useful to put in WIKI, when I was searching for an answer I came across lots or people with the same problem but no answers.

In the end an easy fix, took less than 1 hour.



Mart.

OK, will deal with this Wiki entry now back from Devon laning week

Cheers Pinte et al

Brillant post...I think this is the answer to my problem I've been looking for!!!...My door popping open, or not closing at all!

Thanx.

Brilliant, thanks! pics speak a thousand words!
Mine won't close properly either (have to lean up against the rear bit so the catch connects with the striker bolt properly) and it's a late door type, I didn't even realise that the striker bolt can be moved somewhere else, have only tried adjusting the brackets on the door itself.
mind you, my striker plate that the bolt sits on has been re-welded by previous owner so i'm not even sure it's in the right place relative to the door in it's closing position - the swage lines kind of line up on the outside.
will give some of this advice a go when my fingers defrost - damn weather!
Cheers, Brent

wait til you have this problem asnd when you remove the latch or any other part and its in perfect condition , without wear or damage!

this is why sometimes there is no answer, as there is no faulty parts!

Mine used to be a bugger to close as soon as the temperature dipped. Worth cleaning out the grease and replacing with a light oil in the winter. The lock pin may also need moving a smidgen as frozen seals can mean the lock and pin don't meet like they did in the summer. Its not unique to T25s though - used to get same problem on my old MIDI van.

With reference to billy739's comment, and with apologies for hijacking the photo. If you can't spot any wear or damage take a careful look at the hooks shown arrowed. You only need a small amount of wear on those for the door to pop open. They can be reshaped with a file and will work fine again.

Yep, good tip. You could also build up any worn areas with fresh weld and grind back to shape. There's definately a tendency for greased lock mechanisms to 'slow up' when its really cold, preventing them from springing back quickly enough to catch. Sometimes, trying to slam the slider has exactly the opposite effect from that expected and the trick is to close it slower and give the lock a second to spring into place. They can sure ice up too - another issue.

Added to wiki....
https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Bo ... _and_Parts