5000TQ Door Latch

[Ed Kellock]

I can't think of anything in the release lever path that would be
temperature dependent.  I would suspect that the inside door release
mechanism might not be pulling quite far enough and your door latch box
itself might need some lubrication to allow it to move more freely.  I don't
believe there's any adjustment available on the inside release mechanism.  I
just had a door apart on a junkyard 5000 and the cable for the inside
release is similar to the later cars, but longer.  It's a hard steel wire in
a sheath that has hooks on both ends.  The only thing that comes to mind is
the end where it connects to the inside door release lever.  If it attaches
like the later cars, and if it came loose or was attached incorrectly, it
might limit the movement enough to shorten the throw.  Either way I'd still
give some attention to the latch mechanism box in the door jamb.

Ed


-----Original Message-----
From: quattro-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:quattro-bounces at audifans.com] On
Behalf Of Stephen Sherman
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 10:36 AM
To: quattro at audifans.com
Subject: 5000TQ Door Latch


Another of my 87 Audi's cold weather problems has surfaced again with 
this cold snap; the driver's door will not open from the inside whenever 
it is below 10F or so. Works fine from the outside latch, or at warmer 
temps, or after the car has warmed up for a while; so I don't think it 
is the door latch itself per se, but something about the inside latch 
handle/cable.

I had planned on digging into the door next time it warms up, and wanted 
to gain any insights folks here have about what might be causing this. 
It seems that when it's cold/not working, the inside door level just 
doesn't move enough to release the main latch. It moves all the way, as 
far as it does when it's warm and works; that just isn't enough to 
release the door latch. Is there an adjustment for taking up some slack 
in the cable or the like? Maybe bending the inside door release 
lever/mechanism a bit? Anyone solved this annoyance?
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