drivers door problem

[beakie]

So for the last month or so my door has become quite a bother. At first it wasn't staying shut now and then, than it got to the point I had to try 3-4 or more tries to get it to shut. So I looked it over, found the problem, and tried to fix it, but it hasn't gone away.
In the pic, where the arrow is pointing, the little allen keyed bolt will not return to the up position after the door has been opened from the outside. Open from inside, no problem. When I go to get in, I have to reach back with something and flip that bolt up. Only a bit as it seems to be somewhat spring loaded, but if I don't I have to swing the door as hard as I can to get it to close. Even then I think its just the inertia of the door hitting the frame that causes that bolt to swing up and do its job.

Has anyone ever seen or heard of this before, or have any ideas on how to fix it. I have tried spraying it down with brake cleaner, than penetrating fluid, than a chain lube for a dirt bike (something thick that wouldn't drip away).
That didn't help any.

Anyway here is the pic. thanks for any help.

 

[Matthew Currie]

My guess is a failure of the outer handle itself in some way. I've had rust problems with these, which sometimes causes them to break or bend. The handle has a sort of flip-up mechanism that is actuated by the button, and its pivots can get messed up, so even if the button seems to spring back, perhaps that mechanism is too stiff to allow the rod to return.

The handle is attached with two nuts on studs, and if it's rusty it's really (really!) easy to shear the studs off. I've resigned myself to doing just that and then redrilling them and tapping them for a 1/4 inch coarse bolt. There is a brass insert in the plastic handle, so it's pretty easy to tap. However, if you do that, you must be very careful while drilling not to go too fast and heat it up, or the metal core into which you're drilling will melt loose in the plastic handle and just spin.

 

[stewie]

have you tried taking the interior door panel off and lubing up the entire assembly? my pass rear door was having a similar issue, but would not open. i was able to get the door panel off with the door stuck closed, and then spray with wd40. after working the latch mechanism manually i was able to break it free. it worked for about a year.