Re: Door latch spring source?
Reply #19 –
Yahoo Message Number: 116495
2003 Intrigue owner Donnie was talking to me about this thread, and offered to share some pictures he had too.
I was helped from this board 2014, after being locked out of the coach. We have an 04 Allure, with the same door handle/lock. And as luck would have it, we were at one of the thee dump stations in Denali National Park. (We were quite 'popular' as the lines for dumping grew, with 1/3 of the lanes blocked:)!). Luckily we had the driver's side window unlatched, and I was not at all gracefully was able to climb thru. And with a bit of encouraging choice words, the door did open from the inside.
Not many hardware stores in the area, and we were dumping after spending 7 days in Savage, and before going into Teklanika for three days. (For those not familiar, you must agree to remain at least three days, and you must leave your Toad back at the visitor centers, as you go into the park on the same dirt roads as the green tour busses.).
We parked at the visitor center to have WiFI, and I researched various boards and found a post about the likely problem with the handle/latch. I told my DW that I was confident I could MacGyver a temporary fix once we were in the Tek Campground. She reluctantly agreed to proceed. (AND WOW! So glad we went inside further. Savage was great, even saw The Mountain... But Tek was special.)
Got into door panel off, and examine the hand/latching mechanism. Our problem was both a weaker spring, and the catastrophic break was a C Clamp had dislodged from one of the rods. So that was an easy fix, as I found the C Clamp in the bottom of the door, and added a dab of RTV Sealant to the C clamp. The weaker spring, was addressed by timing about a 12" string to the panel screws, near the hinged side. Tied a loop in the end of the 12" string, and then used a small bungie cord and one end thru the loop, and other hook end up and in the back side of the sliding latch handle. The tension on the bungie, kept the latch from jarring into lock or partial locked condition when we went outside of the coach. For travel, we'd just unhook the bungie end thru the string loop, and lock the door.
May not have looked pretty, but it was effective. Found a spring that I could use in a hardware store in Canada, as we were headed South. (Bought two, and still carry the spare.)
For other reasons, we had OMC replace the full handle/latch with a new unit, two years ago. I do a yearly inspection of the C clamps (And yep, have a dab of RTV Sealant on the new one too.) And keep and eye on the latch.
But, will add the lanyard trick during the next maintenance cycle:)!
Got to love this board. Everyone helping each other:)!
Best to all,
Smitty
04 Allure 31017
Topic: Door latch spring source? (Read 2207 times)
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