Roadster Door Latch malfunction.

[mcwho]

The Drivers side door latch is messed up.

it is very difficult to get it to unlatch, have the pound on the door

Been this way for a while. inside there is a lever that is supposed to be secured by a piece that keeps it in alignment, looks like pot metal. Is there a way to fix this. Looked at the FFR site and they are out of stock, is there another source.

I believe it came this way.

[frankb]

Look here... http://www.linger.com/cobra/DoorLatchRepair.htm

Maybe this will help. Not hard to do.

[Murd]

I had to do this too. I went through two or three before doing this mod.

[mcwho]

Thanks for the quick reaponse and fix, I will try this and see how it works.

[ptstew]

Look here... http://www.linger.com/cobra/DoorLatchRepair.htm

Maybe this will help. Not hard to do.

Wow! Great info. Just last month I had my driver door latch off repeening it. I will definitely do this repair next.

[Real time recon]

The Drivers side door latch is messed up.

it is very difficult to get it to unlatch, have the pound on the door

Been this way for a while. inside there is a lever that is supposed to be secured by a piece that keeps it in alignment, looks like pot metal. Is there a way to fix this. Looked at the FFR site and they are out of stock, is there another source.

I believe it came this way.

Couple years ago I had the same problem w/the same door.I solved it by adding and subtracting washers until the door functioned properly.The magic # (of washers for me) was 3,as pictured here.122532

[edwardb]

That latch mod with the carriage bolt is highly recommended. An easy fix to prevent the latch from coming apart in the future if it hasn't already. But that may not be why you're having trouble with the door not latching properly or getting stuck. What I've found, and others have reported it as well, is the pin in the door latch doesn't fit properly in the hole in the catch on the body. Often it's a tight fit or won't go all the way in at all. Whether it's plating, mfg tolerances, who knows. Just doesn't fit well. These aren't the highest quality parts after all. You can take the door latch apart (while doing the mod) and make sure the pin is clean and smooth. Check the the fit in the hole. In many cases I've found it necessary to sand or use whatever means necessary (within reason of course) to clean up the hole so the pin will go in and not hang up or get stuck. The second thing is alignment is very important. Otherwise that too can lead to jamming. Some time ago Jeff Kleiner recommended putting the chassis catch on first, then click the door latch onto that, then swing the door in to find the best location for the latch. Adjust the tab on the chassis to get the best angle, use washers to get the best spacing, and the latch spacer if needed. Once the latch is flat on the door in the right location, then attach it. That's how I've done mine and it works perfectly. I'll bet it works better after these two things.

Side stories. Sometimes the pin gets stuck (like yours) or sometimes it just doesn't go into the hole and the door won't stay closed. Symptoms of the same problems. I was talking to a guy a while back that I was going to take for a ride. He asked me if my doors were going to stay closed. He said the last time he went for a ride in one of these every time they went around a corner his door flew open. Said he was glad he was belted in. The driver said "They all do that..." I assured him mine didn't and I wouldn't recommend any further rides with that other guy. Second story. Literally the very first ride I took my wife on with my very first Roadster, the door latch got stuck on her side and she couldn't climb back out. I had to disassemble the catch from the chassis to get the door open and let her out. Talk about first impressions. That's when I learned about the two things described above.

[CraigS]

In addition to the mod I always do three other steps. 1- I throw out the stretch spring because the inside spring is plenty strong. 2- I take the sliding piece out, clean up any roughness, lube it w/ bearing grease, and reinstall. 3- The plate on the frame that the stationary piece bolts to isn't always perfectly aligned. That can make it hard for the stationary piece to fit correctly into the latch. Check this by loosening the nut and working the latch closed so you can see if the stationary piece will stay aligned as you tighten the nut. I have had to work out a way to slightly bend the frame tab on a couple of FFRs. Oops, I forgot step 4- once you have the latch working well, close the door, loosen the bolts that hold the door to the hinge and tighten them back again. Now open the door just enough so it is out of the latch, squat down next to it and watch the top surface of the door compared to the body just behind the door opening as you latch it. The frame piece is a triangle where it slides into the latch so it will self center somewhat. If it has to self center you will see the door move up or down a little. But you don't want that because it adds friction to the latch process. You may need to readjust the door to hinge nuts slightly to be sure the door does not move up or down as it latches. It takes some time but these actually can be made to close almost like a modern car.
Edit to add; Looks like EdwardB and I were typing at the same time.

[Jeff Kleiner]

The latches have a double catch; if it is only catching on the first one you'll get what Paul's friend experienced. The guy was half right when he told him "They all do that..." but what he left out the other part of the sentence which is "...when they aren't done correctly" ;)

Just a couple of things for general info.

Remove the exterior coil spring attached to the lever. Retain the one behind the plunger. EDIT: I see that Craig mentioned this as well

When setting up the latches pull the handle back to retract the pin. You will usually find that it sticks out a little, as much as 1/8". File it so that it is flush with the latch housing.

Lube the plunger...I like dry graphite because it won't retain dust like grease.

Give about a 1/16" chamfer to the hole in the striker receiver where the pin engages.

If you are using the laser cut spacer between the door and latch assembly (almost mandatory on the driver's side) you'll probably find that the circular portion that rotates with the handle rubs on the spacer and can cause it to bind or not move freely. Relieve the edge around the hole in the spacer so that there isn't interference. Similarly if the spacer isn't used it may rub on the fiberglass when the latch is installed directly to the door and the 'glass will need to be cut away behind it.

As Paul said alignment is key so that the pin and striker are parallel; don't be afraid to give the tab a little bend if necessary. As for fore and aft, stacks of washers work as spacers but I prefer to cut a section of hard nylon...with this you can get it close with some tension on it and then you can fine tune the forward/back by loosening or tightening the nut on the backside to slightly compress or relax it.

https://scontent.fewr1-6.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/p720x720/86352143_2571446189644740_2386678227914457088_o.jp g?_nc_cat=106&_nc_oc=AQmPAjgr7rRbkVIIgIft_GbsXZEBnnDpeKHvnwJ5Iqg EAPoypkHyC6tRNl09mGGTkDk&_nc_ht=scontent.fewr1-6.fna&_nc_tp=6&oh=5bef6434b8d1cfb5f63e34cddb4912a5&oe=5EBDD9F5

Spend just a little time and your doors will release easily, close and latch with a finger flick and not fly open when giving a friend a ride!

Cheers,
Jeff