Door latch Drivin me crazy

[Joseph K.]

I put the door latch back on the passenger side after a repaint and the lock mechanism will not lock or unlock. If I loosen the three screws that hold the latch mechanism the lock it works perfectly. I cant find anything that would cause this to happen. All of the adjustments on the attaching rods look good. Has anybody run into this problem? Do I have to buy a new latch?

[Steven G.]

Re: Door latch Drivin me crazy

I had this problem on a 71, I lubed everything, fooled with it a while and adjusted horizonal rod to inside latch and works fine so far, but if this reoccurs, I am installing another door latch. Steve

[Joseph K.]

Re: Door latch Drivin me crazy

I had this problem on a 71, I lubed everything, fooled with it a while and adjusted horizonal rod to inside latch and works fine so far, but if this reoccurs, I am installing another door latch. Steve

Steve,

Which inside rod did you adjust? There are three rods that go to it. One from the outside door handle, the second from the inside door handle, and the last one from the inside lock handle. The outside lock mechanism on the out side of the car is connected to it also. The inside lock handle rod and the outside lock are the ones that do not work when I tighten the screws.

Thanks

Joe

[Steven G.]

Re: Door latch Drivin me crazy

Joe, their are 4 adjustable rod ends, make sure everything is assembled correctly with proper clips in place. Check each rod and adjust to full pull/distance are correct and centered where applicable. Remove, adjust one at a time to pin point problem adjustment rod, all cars are different so I can't tell you how much to adjust. I can take/send a pic of a car I have if you get to a complete loss. (send e-mail ) I adjusted inside door lock rod to get mine to work properly. STEVE

[Joseph K.]

Re: Door latch Drivin me crazy

steve will give it a try over the weekend. Thanks Joe

[Joseph K.]

Re: Door latch Drivin me crazy

I did all the adjustment that I could and the lock does not work when I tighten the three screws that hold the latch. I went to the other door and had the same results. Does anyone have an idea what I'm doing wrong? I looked at the latch operation and there is no apparent reason why this is happening. I purchased the screws at Paragon and they are all the same length and appear to fit perfectly. Any Ideas?

[Michael G.]

Re: Door latch Drivin me crazy

Joseph,
When you loosen the mounting screws an everything works, there should be a slight loosness (ability to wiggle) to each rod. Tighten the mounting screws and see which one loses it's ability to wiggle.
I would also check that the mechanism isn't being distorted when tightened to the door. Slide it out and check the two mating surfaces (mechanism & door) for debris or obstruction. Mike

[Gene M.]

Re: Door latch Drivin me crazy

Joseph,
I'm not too familiar with c3 latching, but are the screws too long and binding on something? Suggest you try shorter screws. I do know the original screws are quite short.

[Joseph K.]

Re: Door latch Drivin me crazy

Joe, their are 4 adjustable rod ends, make sure everything is assembled correctly with proper clips in place. Check each rod and adjust to full pull/distance are correct and centered where applicable. Remove, adjust one at a time to pin point problem adjustment rod, all cars are different so I can't tell you how much to adjust. I can take/send a pic of a car I have if you get to a complete loss. (send e-mail ) I adjusted inside door lock rod to get mine to work properly. STEVE

Steve,

It was the adjustment of one of the rods. It turned out it was the rod from the door handle. The rod adjuster had to screwed up toward the the outside handle. Once this was done the inside locking mechanism worked perfectly. thanks

Joe

[Steven G.]

Re: Door latch Drivin me crazy

Joe, I'm glad you were sucessful !! Seems like that inside rod/clip adjustment is tricky! Steve