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Rolling door latch-up problem

3K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  DSMLVR 
#1 ·
Hi all, for the last few months the rolling door on this 94 GV has seemed to need a bit more of a shove to latch completely. A few days ago the door refused to lock up at the rear. Much of the plastic covering on the latch finger had come off and was jamming the mechanism, keeping it from opening up to accept the strike post.
OK, I've replaced the latch but the door is still very hard to bring to a complete lockup. The latch is held in with three screws which appear to offer no positional adjustment and the strike post doesn't appear to be bent so I suspect that there is something else going on here.
Other info: The door's rear roller was becomming a bit draggy, which was "corrected" with a few shots of light oil.
Question: Can the rear roller wear enough, or does the roller have some sort of plastic covering to make it move quietly which when it comes off will cause the rear of the door to ride low, making it harder for the latch to operate properly?
If the answer is yes, is the roller any harder to replace than was the latch itself? If it's just a bit of wear, can the wear be adjusted for?
Haynes and Chilton just show pictures and give specs on door gap, but that's in the locked-up position which I don't see how would indicate any door roller wear.
Has anyone else been here, done that?

Thanks, Stan
 
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#2 ·
I had this same problem with my 95 last year. The problem is not the latch, but the metal part of the door that the latch is attached to (with the three screws). I would be willing to bet that this is bent. If you look at the outside of the door, you may see a slight outward vertical dent.

To resolve the problem, I very carefully bent the metal back into shape, and this seemed to work. I also adjusted the position of the door, but I did that before fixing the bent part, and I probably would not have needed to do that.

All in all, a little bending would have done it, and the latch would not even have needed replacement.

Let me know if this helps.
 
#3 ·
No creases found.

Well Michael I looked and the metal in that area is nice and flat... almost wish it was just a "bend it to make it work" situation.
I still lean towards it being wear realted, because the condition has progressed from freely operating to this point over the last three or four months.
I wonder if there are any body men on this forum who've been down this road already?
Thanks for your help,
Stan
 
#4 ·
So now it's fixed!

Well after almost two hundred bucks the door works as advertised!
90 for the new latch and 90 something for the "Center Hinge", the one which is mounted half way up the rear end side of the door.
The center hinge's lead roller was coming apart, which mispositioned the door laterally which caused the latch to engage incorrectly, battering it until it started jamming.
Bottom line, if door begins to not roll SMOOTHLY and not latch properly, forget trying to fix it by just oiling it!
Replace the center hinge before you ruin the latch... like I did.

Boy, I wish some one had told me... experience is sooo expensive some times.

Stan
 
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