R32 Door Latch Mechanism

[Timtim123]

Hello, recently my passenger door has had trouble locking. I could occasionally get it to lock by trying a few times or really forcing on the manual lock switch or something, but it's gotten worse. The central locking makes a bit of a buzzing/grinding sound as if it is getting stuck. So I decided to take it apart and after playing with it some, gave up and bought a used mechanism, which includes the mechanical half and the electronic half.

After playing with the new (used) part, it's doing the exact same thing. In messing with it, I plugged in only the electronic portion with the mechanical half disconnected. The arm looks to swing the whole length without any trouble when locking the driver door and triggering the auto lock. However, when I add the mechanical portion, both the new and old one, it gets stuck before it fully locks.

In just playing with the mechanical portion, I can get it to lock fine using the rod lever, but you have to push it a bit to get it to fully lock (it hits a point where it gets a little tight and then clicks to lock position), so I can kind of understand why the motor can't get it to lock all of the way. I find it a little strange that two parts are both having the same mechanical issue though. The part where it clicks into lock position looks to have an arm that rubs up against the arm for the door handle and latch release, when I look inside the mechanism as best I can. So if you slightly pull the release lever while turning the lock lever, it doesn't hit the rough click point really. I was thinking of trying to find a way to adjust the two arms so they aren't hitting one another so that it is easier for it to get past the lock 'click'. However I don't see an easy way to do so or a way to really take the whole thing apart without breaking it. Maybe I can force some slight tension on the release lever to keep it's arm from rubbing on the lock arm. I'm sure this isn't making a lot of sense without pictures though if you haven't looked into it prior.

Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience taking the lock/latch mechanism apart or adjusting theirs due to similar issues. I searched a good bit and while this seems not too uncommon, most people say they just bought a new part and moved on. I tried to do that but have the same issue, so I'm thinking there has to be a way to fix this since it seems to be the mechanical portion. Any help or thoughts are appreciated.

[Duncan]

funnily enough, I just finished cleaning out the boot lock on my 32 since the key wasn't working most of the time. Once the barrel was out it was clearly hard to turn with the key.

Basically I cleaned the barrel thoroughly with brake cleaner, turning the key to work the tumblers around. Once it dried out I lubed it with some graphite powder, it works perfectly now.

I'm not clear on what you mean by mechanical part, but if it includes the lock barrel give that a go. For the rest of the components I just cleaned them out with brake cleaner and then used lithium grease on the moving parts, although I'm sure regular grease would have been fine.

Do you have a pic of where exactly you think the problem is?

BTW I wouldn't discount that the second hard part is also just dirty...it's the same age afterall...

[Timtim123]

funnily enough, I just finished cleaning out the boot lock on my 32 since the key wasn't working most of the time. Once the barrel was out it was clearly hard to turn with the key.

Basically I cleaned the barrel thoroughly with brake cleaner, turning the key to work the tumblers around. Once it dried out I lubed it with some graphite powder, it works perfectly now.

I'm not clear on what you mean by mechanical part, but if it includes the lock barrel give that a go. For the rest of the components I just cleaned them out with brake cleaner and then used lithium grease on the moving parts, although I'm sure regular grease would have been fine.

Do you have a pic of where exactly you think the problem is?

BTW I wouldn't discount that the second hard part is also just dirty...it's the same age afterall...

Thanks for the reply, I'll try and get some pictures tonight (US time). It's not the actual lock barrel, but the latch portion of the door which is separate (the lock barrel connects to the latch portion with a rod). I sprayed my original and the second hand part down pretty good with brake clean and then pb blaster last night and it definitely did loosen it up some but maybe not enough still. Both the original and second hand are functioning the exact same though which leads me to believe something is just off or can be adjusted, just not sure what. I'll try and grease it up good and get some pictures too.

[Timtim123]

No pics because I've got the latch back on the door for now. I greased it up pretty good and still didn't have any luck but am able to get the mech to lock fine now using the door latch on the inside. I found that the angle of the rod that connects to the door mech/lock arm affects how smooth or rough it locks. I was able to get it at an angle in which it will now lock and unlock fine from the inside (something it wouldn't even do before). It still seems to get jammed up though when using the key or the electronic central locks, in which it hits the point before the 'click' and then just buzzes/grinds. I'm not really sure what else can be done without breaking one open and trying to figure out some more what's going on in it. For now, I think I'll cut my losses and settle for just manually locking/unlocking from the inside and just unplug the electronic lock and disconnect the key barrel rod.

I'll play around with it a little more tomorrow but if nothing new arises, I'll live with it for now