I usually close the sliding door by pushing the back end in rather than using the door’s momentum, but recently it seems to take more effort to get it to shut properly. Both front door catches rotate easily by hand but the sliding door catch doesn’t seem to want to rotate at all by hand. Before I start taking things apart, is this normal?
Pushing the handle up should pull the back end of the door in -(note - it took me 12 months of ownership to find this out )
Our early EB did that but our LB doesn’t. Lifting the handle releases the fully ‘open’ catch when closing the door. Not sure what year the change took place.
If the catch is hard to rotate, it may be worth trying to get oil inside the lock mechanism. Apart from taking it off the door and feeding it oil to dissolve off crud an d lubricate the lock there is not a lot you can do as you cannot take it apart. Check though that the roller on the track and the U hinge beside it are not letting the rear of the door sag so it gets harder as you end up with the latch trying to lift the back of the door onto the striker bar.
Thanks Mike. The catch alignment with the capture pin looks good, no door change to the door height once closed. I tried adjusting the striker plate to see if it helped but no joy. We’re off camping tomorrow so I’ll take some oil with me and see if I can loosen it off - and annoy the campsite whilst doing so.
Mine’s a 75 and doesn’t do it. We might be homing in on the change point here. Anyone know whether the mechanisms are interchangeable?
All my doors have the keys in the handles, so does that mean they've all been changed? Registration and M plate both agree mine's a '77, delivered directly to the UK. Would there be a difference between panel vans and microbuses? Cos mine's a panel van conversion.
I don’t think so, but it could be something we haven’t sussed out, I wonder if other later panel van owners have the same?
