Topic
Repairing a door lock mechanism. 10 years 4 months ago #135455
Some of you may remember I changed the passenger side door locking mechanism some time ago, as it was doing the grindy, whirry thing. The noise can sound like a machine gun too.
I did an autopsy on it and found that a small plastic shaft had snapped off from the main housing, allowing a pawl to float free and not engage properly.
I had threatened at the time to repair it, but never really got around to it.
Well, I did an autopsy on the driver’s side when I removed it yesterday and found exactly the same fault. While I was in the mood I decided to fix this one (will fix the passenger one at a later date).
The plan was to fit a new shaft to replace the snapped one. Obviously gluing the old one back in place would not last 2 minutes. I toyed with the idea of drilling though the case and fitting a rivet of the correct size, but this had its problems (could damage the plastic, would expand when riveted in place and be too wide for the pawl). So I decided to narrow the plain shank of a screw and cut to size (8mm in length - 5mm of old shaft + 3mm depth of case). To give extra support and strength I welded a square of metal to one end.
I then drilled out the location of where the shaft used to be
I then pushed the new shaft though the casing and Araldited it to the outside of the case.
With the new shaft in place
I could refit the pawl
Reassemble the mechanism and mechanically test the levers.
All seems OK, but I will have to wait until I need a lock change again to try it out fully.
This may not be the same as all failures experienced by F/TF owners, but I have had 2 now and both have been the same. As you can see, a little hobbying and you can save yourself around £40 on ebay.
I did an autopsy on it and found that a small plastic shaft had snapped off from the main housing, allowing a pawl to float free and not engage properly.
I had threatened at the time to repair it, but never really got around to it.
Well, I did an autopsy on the driver’s side when I removed it yesterday and found exactly the same fault. While I was in the mood I decided to fix this one (will fix the passenger one at a later date).
The plan was to fit a new shaft to replace the snapped one. Obviously gluing the old one back in place would not last 2 minutes. I toyed with the idea of drilling though the case and fitting a rivet of the correct size, but this had its problems (could damage the plastic, would expand when riveted in place and be too wide for the pawl). So I decided to narrow the plain shank of a screw and cut to size (8mm in length - 5mm of old shaft + 3mm depth of case). To give extra support and strength I welded a square of metal to one end.
I then drilled out the location of where the shaft used to be
I then pushed the new shaft though the casing and Araldited it to the outside of the case.
With the new shaft in place
I could refit the pawl
Reassemble the mechanism and mechanically test the levers.
All seems OK, but I will have to wait until I need a lock change again to try it out fully.
This may not be the same as all failures experienced by F/TF owners, but I have had 2 now and both have been the same. As you can see, a little hobbying and you can save yourself around £40 on ebay.
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