boot door can't be opened anymore

[perelaar]

Hello all

the past weeks I noticed it got increasingly difficult to open the boot door on my swb T2. Never tried to fix it, as it will be sold in the coming weeks.

Now, today I could not get the door open anymore, from outside or from inside.
Tried locking and unlocking, the solenoid in the door clearly works, but no movement in the door. Took door card off, mechanism looks OK, cable between inside door latch and the lock is intact.
I cleaned and lubricated as much as I could reach from the inside, I can move the latch mechanism OK, I bent the copper coloured cablestop as per Banshee's post some years ago - but the door does not open.

Any tips? Selling it like this will not improve whatever little it has left

 

[don simon]

T-doug to the forum!!! :augie

 

[Thomas61]

Hi,
I take it there is not anything caught between the door and frame as you say it has been a progressive problem.
Maybe try pushing the door closed against the lock from the outside and try unlocking again. Could be the lock mechanism is stiff against the locking plate and pushing will take the pressure of the mechanism.

Good luck

 

[Banshee]

If my post didn't help you then I'm stumped :nenau

 

[perelaar]

Pushing door from outside did not work, lifting door (by spare wheel) didn't work either.

Solenoid confirmed working, I can hear it and see the little vertical plastic locking indicator going up and down.

Tried banging the door from the inside while locking/unlocking, no luck. I'm now going to try and take the spare wheel off, and see if I can get a little mirror into the door to see what's going on.

 

[terranosaurusdoug]

What does the trigger on the handle feel like?, it may be unlocking but the trigger or inside lever not doing owt!

 

[terranosaurusdoug]

T-doug to the forum!!! :augie

Does Belgium have many trees?

 

[don simon]

Does Belgium have many trees?

Dunno mate. :nenau

 

[jims-terrano]

Best suggestion I can think of is remove inner tailgate trim. Then get a helper on the outside to operate the trigger and watch what the push rods are doing. Maybe you can see what isn’t being operated and assist it with long nose pliers or something.

 

[terranosaurusdoug]

Dunno mate. :nenau

They won't if I go

 

[solarman216]

I will have a look at my off road Mav in the morning as it is stripped out so easy to see the bits and take pic if needed, Rick

 

[solarman216]

This is the complete lock, the blue is pushed down by the outside handle, the top green is operated from the inner handle, the lower green and yellow are the locking levers, with the door unlocked (green lever up, yellow down) then there should be resistance on the blue, if no resistance then it is in the locked position, hope this helps, Rick

 

[perelaar]

Update, with good news! Door is open

I removed the door handle, removed the spare wheel to reduce load on the door, and with a helper lifting and wiggling the door by the spare wheel bracket I used the key in the driver door key hole. After a few attempts the back door opened :thumbs

Now took lock out to check and clean, will let you know if all works well after reinstalling.

Rick, the lock on my T2 does not have the yellow lever at the bottom, only the green and blue ones on top. I noticed as well the cylinder and mounting points for a keyhole are there, but nothing inside them and outside covered up with a little plastic panel. Pictures later, now first a coffee.

 

[perelaar]

2nd update: door blocked again. Tried the lock outside the door, all OK. Installed again: it locks (with difficulty) but does not open again. Maybe with a lot of fiddling like before, but don't have the patience for that tonight anymore.

Could the steel U-bracket the door "locks" on have moved?

 

[solarman216]

does sound like something is out of alignment, try closing the door slowly and gently does it catch anywhere? Rick

 

[perelaar]

As far as I could make out, the latch inside the lock does not seem to turn. I can get it to turn if I help it along with a screwdriver, but it does not rotate freely.

Will try and get door open again tomorrow, remove lock again, remove solenoid, and flush the lock with degreaser or penetrating oil in hopes of flushing out any dirt.

If no quick solution tomorrow I'll bite the bullet and sell it on without working rear door. Bummer, that...

 

[perelaar]

So, last update: door is fixed!
I removed the cable going to the inside door handle (which isn't used at all anyway), bent the top lever upwards a little bit, and twisted the blue plastic thing on top of the lever in such a way that the highest part is now making contact with the linkage from the outside door handle.

Door opens without any problem now.