Trapped in car

[Phil Peters <PhilPeters@xxxx>]

Hi everyone,

I've got a problem with my driver's door at the moment. I will try to diagnose the problem as thoroughly as I can so you can get an idea of what's gone wrongâapologies in advance for the length of this e-mail!

It happened earlier this week when I dropped my brother off at a friend's house. Now, the house is a country manor house in the English countryside, so needless to say the roads were very small and quite bumpy. On the way home, I remember the door lock switch either locking OR unlocking (can't remember which as I was watching the road) when I drove over a bump. Still watching the road, I moved the lock back to its original position before I hit the bump, and then continued on home. 

When I got home I parked up and was about to get out of the car when I found that the door had stuck shut. After moving the lock back and forth a few times I put my hand out of the window and put the key in the outside door lock; then I tried opening the handle. The door still wouldn't open. In the end I had to climb out of the passenger door, which is no fun if you're as tall as me.

As always, my first port of call was the DML archives to see if the problem had already been discussed. I carefully followed all the advice about the door lock and latch rods and they all seem to be working fine. I also think the solenoids are fine (my car has all the original electrics and has been very reliable to date). So I doubt this is a "you should have lockzilla installed" situation. 

After searching the backissues archive again, the nearest description to my problem was listed back in 1998 by Jordan Gary: "The rear latch lets loose, but not the front"

He mentions that his car is a very early one and does not have door guides. Mine is VIN #4400 and DOES have door guides (the early stainless ones). However, it also has the EARLY style pull straps with the metal ring. It has been pointed out to me before that the early style pull strap design is inferior to the later style one (with the pull strap further back on the arm rest) in that the later style ensures that downward force is applied to the door structure in a more even manner. If you look at the position of the early pull straps, they are not level with the middle of the door where it meets the T-panel. By contrast, the later style pull strap system lines up perfectly with the centre of the door where it meets the T-panel. This means that the force you put on the door as you pull down is more evenly divided on the door structure. What I'm wondering is whether my door (with the early system) has closed slightly out of line. I generally tend to use the grab handle rather than the pull straps themselves to close the door so I am wondering if it has closed wrong. On June 21st 2001 Mike Substelny wrote:

"âI was trapped insideâand it had NOTHING to do with the lock mechanismâMy doors often closed out of alignment, making them jammed. They appeared to be closed normally, but the latches were nowhere near the locking pinsâWhen this happens it is very difficult to get outâThe door handles and rockers have no effect. Only brute force (or possibly a fast drive on a bumpy road) will get the door open. This may take many strong men."

This would seem to fit with my problem seeing as the back latch appears to be operating fine but the front one appears to be stuck. Or maybe when I hit the bump in the road the door unlocked and the door started to open a bit but then I locked it back in place?

If this is the case and my door is out of alignment, then what should my next step be? 
Many thanks, 
-- 
Phil Peters
VIN #4400 LHJ 58W
DOC #84
Wolverhampton, UK


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