Averting door lock disaster...
I have read a few posts on here about folks having their entrance door lock mechanism fail, and that it turns into a big ordeal. That has always been in the back of my mind, while I hoped it would never happens to me. I thought I would pass along my recent experience so that it might help somebody else....
Not long ago when I went to open the door (07 Journey) the outside handle pulled and felt like it was "grinding" in the mechanism and the door did not open. I saw that the door was not closed all the way so I pushed against it to fully latch it and then the handle worked fine. It happened another time or two and I thought I should do something about it.....
The other day my DW tells me, "I can't get the RV door open." I said you just have to push on it first as it isn't closed all the way. I went out and pushed on it and low and behold, the "grind" and it didn't open! I pushed again, same thing. As panic set in, I banged on the door at the handle and it opened! I figure, OK, it's time to do something about it. I took it apart and all the pieces appeared fine. After a bit though, I came to the conclusion as to what had happened is that enough stuff had shifted (the lock mechanism can slide around in the door if the screws aren't tight enough)and the little finger that sticks through from the outside handle had slipped a bit lower and was sliding under and against the bottom of the arm it was supposed to push, and hence the grinding.
I gave things a shot of super lube spray and put it back together. I also put a bit of RTV gasket maker behind the outside plate so that it would be less apt to slide around on the door. There was no seal or anything, just a dry fit, metal on metal. It seems putting the RTV on it will help keep moisture and dust out.
Finally, the only adjustment on the whole thing (aside from position of the lock when you tighten down the screws to sandwich it to the door is a nut on the rod going from the handle to the latch release. You adjust it after removing a black plastic glued on cover on the edge of the door right below the mechanism. The tighter the nut is, the better the outside latch mechanism seemed to work. I ended up making it a bit tighter than it was when I took it apart.
We are getting ready to hit the road for a long trip pretty soon, and that is now one less thing I have to worry about.
Safe Travels,
jeff
Not long ago when I went to open the door (07 Journey) the outside handle pulled and felt like it was "grinding" in the mechanism and the door did not open. I saw that the door was not closed all the way so I pushed against it to fully latch it and then the handle worked fine. It happened another time or two and I thought I should do something about it.....
The other day my DW tells me, "I can't get the RV door open." I said you just have to push on it first as it isn't closed all the way. I went out and pushed on it and low and behold, the "grind" and it didn't open! I pushed again, same thing. As panic set in, I banged on the door at the handle and it opened! I figure, OK, it's time to do something about it. I took it apart and all the pieces appeared fine. After a bit though, I came to the conclusion as to what had happened is that enough stuff had shifted (the lock mechanism can slide around in the door if the screws aren't tight enough)and the little finger that sticks through from the outside handle had slipped a bit lower and was sliding under and against the bottom of the arm it was supposed to push, and hence the grinding.
I gave things a shot of super lube spray and put it back together. I also put a bit of RTV gasket maker behind the outside plate so that it would be less apt to slide around on the door. There was no seal or anything, just a dry fit, metal on metal. It seems putting the RTV on it will help keep moisture and dust out.
Finally, the only adjustment on the whole thing (aside from position of the lock when you tighten down the screws to sandwich it to the door is a nut on the rod going from the handle to the latch release. You adjust it after removing a black plastic glued on cover on the edge of the door right below the mechanism. The tighter the nut is, the better the outside latch mechanism seemed to work. I ended up making it a bit tighter than it was when I took it apart.
We are getting ready to hit the road for a long trip pretty soon, and that is now one less thing I have to worry about.
Safe Travels,
jeff
