Hey guys! Another day, another 308 problem. Yesterday my 308 developed a new problem where the driver's door will no longer close (latch). My doors do not sag. I believe the problem is with the latch itself. When I look at the edge of the door, there is a notched metal disk that is supposed to rotate and latch to the part that is mounted on the door jamb. I can pivot the latch disk with my finger but it is no longer sticking in the position where the notch is rotate back toward the outside of the car (which I believe is the latched position). I no longer feel any resistance and it just rotates around and the spring makes it return to the open position. So, when I try to close my door, it just bangs open right away. With my passenger door, i can rotate the notched latch disc and it feels like it makes two clicks and stays in position until i free it by pulling on the door release. Any ideas what's wrong? Do I have to take off the entire door panel to fix this problem? Thanks! Paul
Paul, I would try lubricating it, but you may be forced to get in behind it. It has some levers and springs on the back side and if they are gummy or sticky could be your troubles. You might get lucky with some spray lubricant that come with one of those small plastic tubes to get inside things.
Thanks! I'm afraid however that it isn't a lubrication issue since it moves quite smoothly. Something mechanical that is supposed to grab that catch into position is no longer working. I've got the arm rest off and would have the door panel itself off except I discovered the phillips head screw at the bottom middle of the door panel itself has been totally stripped out. Either someone over tightened it with a power screw driver and shredded it in the process or someone has already tried unsuccessfully to drill it out. I believe I'm going to need to drill out that screw in order to finish pulling the door panel. Wish you lived a little closer to help with this endeavor! It was very nice meeting you yesterday and you impressed me with your ability to work on your 308's. It sure beats paying a shop $85- $125 per hour to crank a wrench! Paul
Paul, I had the same problem with my 328. Felt like something had broken inside. Before you take it a part, spray a lot of WD40 into the area. A lot of times is just the old grease that just cake up inside. It worked for mine, its been 1 year now.
Same happened with my 308 like msouza said sparay a lot of WD40 it worked on mine as well. I haven't had anymore problems with mine since.
I have a passenger door latch that occasionally will not latch, just springs back open. The catch seems to work fine, but it will not latch in the closed position, I'l give it a try as well - at the worst, we will have the door interior well coated with WD - maybe it will slow down the rust, Not to hijack the thread, but does anyone have thoughts on rustproofing the doors, mine has a ghastly hole in the front bottom sill area. Perplexed, as usual, chris
...guys don't use WD40 - use a spray white-lithium grease.....WD will gum and is not good for any plastic that may be around the door/lock mechanism.... Anthony
Do most auto stores carry the white lithium grease? Also, what parts do you grease? Once again, the notched metal disk on the door rotates smoothly on mine but if I manually rotate it into the locked position, it does not stick. I think that piece is supposed to catch on something so that the door is held closed. That metal piece should only be freed and thus allow the notch to rotate back in toward the driver when the door release has been triggered. On the passenger side door (which shuts nicely) , that piece will click into position when I manually rotate it back and it doesn't release until I pull the door handle. In regard to disassembling the door, there is a metal plate set into the door that the door catch mechanism sits in. What happens if you disassemble from there instead of removing the entire door panel? Also, if I do remove the door panel, will my life be made easier if I do this with the driver's side window up or down? Thanks! Paul
Paul, the wheel we see that catches the door shut, protrudes through the latch mechanism to the other side, inside the door where you cannot presently see. The wheel has other notches in it that "catch" on a lever that is hinged against it and also has a spring to pull it in. If that hinge is dry or sticky enough not to move freely, it will not "catch" the wheel when it rotates to the closed position, and will therefore not hold. You may be able to loosen the latch assembly enough to gain access to loosen it up. There is a small plate with two phillips screws that covers two larger allen head screws. You may be able to loosen them with the door panel on, though I havnt looked or tried. Then remove the other two allen head screws from the back of the latch and you may get lucky. Just use a good allen wrench, the screws may be very very tight! I second not using WD40. If you can get it out far enough to see the back side, I would try to spray it with some kind of solvent (something paint safe) to clean away any gunk, and then spray it with lithium.
I'm beginning to think you guys are right and that nothing is broken, just sticking because the door latch magically began working last night. I'm going to try to finish taking the door panel off. I just need to drill out one screw that was stripped beyond use (and possibly drilled on before). Taking a drill to my baby is not something I really want to have to do but I feel that getting a good look at that lock mechanism and lubricating it effectively is going to be critical to correct this problem. Paul
Grease tends to collect dirt and grit. I got some graphite lubricant in alcohol suspension at Ace Hardware that I use to clean and lube the 328's latches every year or two. It's a bit messy, but with a supply of paper towels on hand, I don't even need to take the door panel off. It also works wonders on those corroded brass outdoor locksets. (My last condo had an outside storage bin just right for storing spare wheels/tires. But the lock had been neglected for a long, long time.)
Speaking of doors.... any comments on how to fix my problem will be appreciated... here it goes... My driver side door on my 83-308 QV wont shut/closed ( on first swing..)unless i bang it shut 2 or 3 times.... Unless I fix the problem ( the excesive banging ..) will loose the inside door componnets... as it is the window is not going all the way up.. unless helped by hand... that is another thread, I have to look into. The passenger side is fine like any other car just swing it and closed it goes. The door in question (DS) seems to have the latch OK... coul it be the door seal...?? I will try the WD-40 ... do I have to end up taking the door apart..??? again.... any comments will be appreciated. Regards, DJDM
Just be a little careful when working with the white lithium grease. It is pretty messy and can be a pain to clean up. I have found that using WD40 or a penetrating oil like Kroil is good to loosen things up. But I put a lot of paper towels around and try to keep the stuff from splashing all over. Then clean up as much as you can and finish the job with white lithium for long term lube.
With the door closed (but not latched), examine the gap around the door. Does it line up with the frame? If the latch has been relocated to match an out of line door, you might have such problems. Or if your driver's window was replaced with non-factory glass that doesn't quite match the shape, you might be getting excess pressure against the weather seals. (And it might account for window troubles -- although there are plenty of other possible reasons for that.) If you have some spare styrofoam and some time to play, you might want to try comparing DS and PS windows (shaping the foam to one side to compare curvature on the other). (Styrofoam may not be the best way to compare -- just the one that comes to mind offhand.)
I had the same problem on one of my doors. The problem in my case was on the car body itself and not the door. There are 4 screws holding the pin and rubber/teflon part that actually pushes in the rachet on the door when you close it. Over time, the teflon has worn out, thus not pushing the rachet in far enough to engage the lock. I has to loosen the four screws to adjust te plate and all is ok now. A word of warning: do not do this on your own if you have no patience as it can take just a momet or hours depending on your luck.
Just to close the loop on my door problem. It really was just a matter of lubricating the door latch. I took the door skin off, peeled back the plastic lining a bit and lubricated the mechanism. It now works perfectly. Paul
