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Driver door stuck closed

837 views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  fretburnr 
#1 ·
Driver door has been refusing to latch closed for the past couple weeks at random due to the cold temperatures up here in Upstate NY. Outside handle would stick open when I opened the door, and upon shutting, door wouldn't latch. I've been able to get it to latch after slamming it repeatedly a few times, but that did not work tonight...odd because it isn't overly cold tonight. Anyway, I manually fiddled with the rotating latch inside the door to see if it moved, it did, but I pushed it too far and it latched (which baffles me because it wouldn't do this when I tried to shut the door...). Obviously since it was now in the latched position, it couldnt go over the "rail" it locks over and door still won't shut. I then tried the handles, locking and unlocking, and someho got the door to close and stay latched. Problem now is, door won't open. Neither handle does anything, however the interior handle will unlock the driver door when pulled, but won't open the door. HELP!
 
#2 ·
Your latch mechanism likely needed drying and lubrication - I had a similar problem during the really cold weeks with my old e36 m3. The sticking open was a sign that parts were no longer sliding properly, and may have now frozen together.

Try getting the interior very warm for a while and then attempt to open the door. In my situation, the lubricant on the latch mechanism had been worn away over time, and a small amount of moisture got in between the sliding parts and froze them in place. With enough interior heat, it thawed enough that pulling the handle with a shoulder shove from the inside got the door to move. Once I had the door open, I used a screwdriver to close the latch, and had to pull the door handle and pry the latch the other to re-open it. It was super sticky. I cleaned it with some solvent and q-tips, and then re-lubricated with LPS.

When working properly, you should be able to close the latch with the screwdriver, then upon pulling the handle it should snap open cleanly. That's the "pop" effect that you normally get when you pull the door handle.
 
#3 ·
Your latch mechanism likely needed drying and lubrication - I had a similar problem during the really cold weeks with my old e36 m3. The sticking open was a sign that parts were no longer sliding properly, and may have now frozen together.

Try getting the interior very warm for a while and then attempt to open the door. In my situation, the lubricant on the latch mechanism had been worn away over time, and a small amount of moisture got in between the sliding parts and froze them in place. With enough interior heat, it thawed enough that pulling the handle with a shoulder shove from the inside got the door to move. Once I had the door open, I used a screwdriver to close the latch, and had to pull the door handle and pry the latch the other to re-open it. It was super sticky. I cleaned it with some solvent and q-tips, and then re-lubricated with LPS.

When working properly, you should be able to close the latch with the screwdriver, then upon pulling the handle it should snap open cleanly. That's the "pop" effect that you normally get when you pull the door handle.
Well, door decided it was going to open and close properly again about midafternoon today. Sprayed the mechanism with a lot of WD40 afterwords, however at about 9pm went to get food and the door wouldn't stay shut again. Got it home, sprayed it with a bunch more WD40 and parked it in the garage, not overly warm but slightly warmer than outside I guess. Went up to check on it about 2 hours later, door works properly again. I'm worried it won't in the morning, and have school. Thoughts?
 
#4 · (Edited)
You'll have to work the lubricant into the mechanism by spraying and then working the latch back and forth with the screwdriver and pulling the door handle to release. It may take some time and work to really free it up. Like I mentioned earlier, when it's good you'll be able to latch it with the screwdriver, release with the handle, and watch the latch snap open. At that point lubricate everything a little more to ensure moisture is displaced.

Keep in mind, WD is great for displacing water (which you need), but not a great lube and will tend to attract dirt over time causing the latch to stick more. After getting it free, I recommend using a light machine lubricant like LPS, triflow, or similar.

Another thought, as it seems you're still battling freezing moisture, is that you can use a heat gun (carefully) or hair dryer to try to thaw and dry out any remaining water before further freeing and lubrication.
 
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