[s-cars] locked up inside latch

Charlie Smith charlie at elektro.cmhnet.org
Wed May 31 20:06:27 EDT 2006


Earlier, bill mahoney wrote:
> 
> Charlie,
> I believe this is kind of the same issue Tom Pollock has.
> Pulling the inside handle "I think" pulls the latch mechanism but then it
> gets stuck and the wire attached the inside handle cannot push the latch
> back and the spring on the latch is corroded and thus stuck.
> I would then suppose that the vacuum lock sets the latch mechanism back into
> place by pulling or pushing in a different way than the inside door handle
> would operate.
> I wish I remembered how this all worked better but it's been about a year I
> think.
> In any event I highly recommend spraying a bunch of some sort of thin
> corrosion fighting lubricant (I recommend the Kroil Penetrate or Boeshield
> T9) inside the latch from whatever opening you can find from the end of the
> door.  Work it in by manually pushing the door lock with a tool, pulling
> handle from the outside.. then repeat.  It can't really hurt anything and if
> it starts working, it should remain so... just as good as spending half a
> day in disassembly and possibly better given that some little plastic part
> is sure to be broken or forgotten whilst taking apart.
> YMMV
> Good luck!
> Bill M

This was exactly the problem!  Thanks Bill!

I took Bill's suggestion, and lubed the bejesus out of the latch and
what I could reach inside the door.  I unscrewed the two screws holding 
the latch in the end of the door, so I could push it 1/8" into the door
thus opening up a crack to insert the spray tube for the Boeshield T9.

Eventually, after locking & unlocking many times, and trying to open the
locked door with the inside door release lever many times - things started 
working OK again!

    - Charlie


  Charlie Smith  charlie {at} elektro.cmhnet.org  614-471-1418  
  http://www.elektro.com/~charlie          Columbus Ohio   USA
  http://www.elektro.com/~audi         photos & technical info

  95 S6 Quattro  -  24 PSI, RS2 6 speed, and other features  
  97 Dodge Ram   -  40 PSI, 4x4 w/Cummins turbo diesel





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