Door not engaging/locking on close

[ChrisInNashville]

My passenger door won’t engage and seat on close sometimes.   As in, I close it and it bounces back open or only partially engages and remains unseated.  And, even when successful, sometimes I’m still unable to lock it. 

I got inside last week thinking it was a slightly loose door handle.  I tightened it and the problem persists.  I’m not an engineer.   Where/what do you think I should focus on?

The car is recently restored, so I’m noting that the joints are not lubed...is it as easy as that or is there something else warranting attention?

[Tyler S]

Does it behave any differently with the window rolled down?

[ChrisInNashville]

No.  Same problem up or down

[Pawel66]

I had something similar and it was a question of adjustment of the catch part.

[Nicolas Aristodemou]

I think first of all you have to make sure that the door hinges are adjusted properly. Both in and out as well as up and down adjustments. If you get these right then you have to concentrate on the door catch mechanism. You might have to use the thin (1.5mm) baffle plates behind door catches on the A frame to get the door closing properly.

A good description of the process is giving pen in the technical manual in this site.

[ChrisInNashville]

A good description of the process is giving pen in the technical manual in this site.

Thanks.  I suspect you hit the nail on the head with the baffle plate adjustments.  I’ll research now

[Pawel66]

If you are adding plates, be careful not to damage the chrome on the door. In my case it was more about up or down adjustment, rather than in or out. It may be a good idea to use some yellow painters tape to see how both parts of the lock come together - they will leave marks if you stick the tape to the catch.

As stated already - the door needs to be adjusted first, make sure they fit and gaps are even.

[ChrisInNashville]

Well, after being on this site for 17 years, I just found the technical manual! 

Using that as a guide, I've tinkered a bit:
- The driver's side door works fine.  There, I can manually set the latch hook to open, half locked, and locked.
- The passenger door is different.   If I manually move the latch hook, it springs back to 'unlocked' position. 

I'm recovering from a knee injury and can't jump right on this, but does this imply anything that I need to anticipate as I recover and get focused on getting behind the latch mechanism (presuming it's easily removed and accessible...)

[wjsvb]

My driver's door (LHD) was not staying closed.  I removed the door panel and the latch mechanism, cleaned it thoroughly and spread white lithium grease on the moving parts and reassembled it all.  Works perfectly!

[stickandrudderman]

Common that the door lock assembly needs cleaning and lubricating.
Also look for an indentation in the face of the striker where the latch for the lock contacts. If there is such an indentation then chances are that the lock is not in the fully locked position when the door is shut. You can fill it with some chemical metal.

[ChrisInNashville]

Update.  It’s fixed!   I disassembled the door removing the door latch. 

Once I got it out and figured out action/reaction of the various moving parts, I realized it was two things:
A) one of the springs wasn’t engaged
B) the mechanism activated by the door handle (lower left in the picture) needed A LOT of lubrication as many suspected. 

Thank you! 

Of course, it was 2 hours of assembly for 10 minutes of repair.

Update.  It’s fixed!   I disassembled the door removing the door latch. 

Once I got it out and figured out action/reaction of the various moving parts, I realized it was two things:
A) one of the springs wasn’t engaged
B) the mechanism activated by the door handle (lower left in the picture) needed A LOT of lubrication as many suspected. 

Thank you! 

Of course, it was 2 hours of assembly for 10 minutes of repair.

[Brennie]

Can this be lubricated without disassembley?

[ChrisInNashville]

I don’t recall specifics now, but I’m generally lazy and not mechanically inclined.  If it was, I probably would have tried that