[Biturbos4] Drivers door catches

Fri May 2 13:17:27 PDT 2008

The car has a clean carfax and has never been wrecked to my knowledge.
I'm the 2nd owner.  All the doors align perfectly, this car is mint.

Since it works fine from the inside I believe I'll have to take a look
at the linkage if I can from removing the door panel.  I don't really
want to mess with aligning the door striker since it works fine with the
inside handle and I don't want to make the problem worse.

Hopefully if its like an american car, you can bend the solid part of
the linkage slightly to make it pull farther when the handle is lifted,
that's the easy fix I'm hoping for.

Scott G. Long

  _____  

From: Mark R [mailto:speedracer.mark at gmail.com] 
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 3:15 PM
To: Long, Scott G A1C USAF AFMC 88 SFS/S4W
Cc: biturbos4 at audifans.com
Subject: Re: [Biturbos4] Drivers door catches

I've never seen this before.  Cleaning and lubricating the linkage,
handle, and door seal would be my starting point.  Also, check striker
pin alignment.  Has the car ever been in an accident?  Does the door
align well with the door frame and rear door?  The striker pin alignment
can be manipulated (externally, with a ratchet and a torx socket), and
it sounds to me the likely solution.  From memory, it's 3 torx-head
bolts which need loosened (not removed).

If that doesn't work, it's pulling the door panel and inspecting the
linkage.  I'd go to the dealer, or (better yet) a good independent.
Body shops are notorious for taking shortcuts, but if you know a good
one, that's certainly another route.

Clean and lubricate with a product such as PB Blaster, Boesheild, WD-40
etc.  If that works, some teflon lubricating spray every few months
would be the way to go.

Door seals can be cleaned with clean rags and soapy water (or a mild
cleaner).  Lubricate with a product designed for the purpose, glycerine
(from the pharmacy), or any other rubber lubricant.  Some use WD-40, but
that wouldn't be my first choice.

Sorry I didn't realize the issue was from the outside.

Hope I've helped,
Mark Rosenkrantz

On Fri, May 2, 2008 at 1:25 PM, Long, Scott G A1C USAF AFMC 88 SFS/S4W
<Scott.Long2 at wpafb.af.mil> wrote:

9 times out of 10 I have to pull it twice to open from outside.  Every
once in a while it opens first pull.

It was fine during winter, but now that its 70's it has started.

I think it's a linkage issue though because it always opens fine from
inside first pull.

I assume the outside handle has a sepreate linkage to the latch than the
inside handle does.  I am wondering if I should take it to a body shop
and have them replace the linkage.  Or if Audi dealer would be a better
option?  Any chance there was a recall for this issue?

Scott G. Long

-----Original Message-----

From: biturbos4-bounces at diablo.audifans.com
[mailto:biturbos4-bounces at diablo.audifans.com] On Behalf Of Aurangzeb M.
Agha
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 12:26 PM
To: Bi-Turbo Audi S4 Audi Fan Group
Subject: Re: [Biturbos4] Drivers door catches

Hi Scott --

I'm having the exact same problem.  I notice this happens the most when
the weather starts to warm up.  I saw it first as last summer was
starting, but as it cooled down, it went away, only to start again a few
weeks ago.

The problem is pretty annoying, as some times it takes three or four
"tries" to open the door from the outside--usually, finally, I can open
it without it catching, but one time I tried so many times I had to
finally get in from the passenger's side.

I have an '01 B5.

Best,

Aurangzeb

--
Message: 6
Date: Fri, 2 May 2008 09:54:05 -0400
From: "Long, Scott G A1C USAF AFMC 88 SFS/S4W"
        <Scott.Long2 at WPAFB.AF.MIL>
Subject: Re: [Biturbos4] Drivers door catches
To: <biturbos4 at audifans.com>
Message-ID:

<7A7F9CC06FD4524B97F41B9C957CA8A801C99680 at VFOHMLAO02.Enterprise.af
mc.ds.af.mil <http://mc.ds.af.mil/> >

Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="US-ASCII"

I should have said from the outside.  From the inside it takes two
pulls, that's normal.  But from the outside if I unlock the door and
pull up on the handle, it opens a bit and catches the latch.  You know
when you shut the door but it's not fully closed?  That's where it goes
when I open it.

If the car is unlocked and I'm inside, one pull on the interior handle
opens the door fine.  It seems like the linkage for the exterior handle
may need to be adjusted.  I'm not sure if this is a common problem for
B5 doors, or if I'm just unlucky?

Scott G. Long
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