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Date:         Wed, 8 Dec 2004 20:38:18 -0600
Reply-To:     Jonathan Poole <jfpoolio@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jonathan Poole <jfpoolio@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Magically Opening Sliding Door
In-Reply-To:  <2972435665242486520@unknownmsgid>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

If this problem is a result of the latch being worn out, and you are feeling cheap I can offer an alternative solution that I have used.

I was working on a van with this problem and realized that the Magic Opening was caused by wear in the latch. Wear had pretty much dulled, rounded and changed the angle on the bottom side of the crab claw looking thing (sorry about the bad terminology),, the part of the latch that rotates and locks into position while grabbing the adjustable post on the rear side of the door frame. I used a dremel tool with a small metal-grinding head and re-angled the inside of the bottom part in the "claw".

I know this is a poor explanation but if you want to spare yourself the hassle and expense of buying, installing and adjusting a new latch mechanism you may want to explore the latch to see if you notice the rounding off wear pattern that could be causing your problem. Once I had located the problem it only took one or two minutes of careful grinding to fix the problem, and yes the door still stays closed no matter how bumpy the road or how hard you slam it.

Jonathan Poole


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