Driver door latch doesn't work

[Rich E.]

Drove the car today and the door latch worked fine however later in the day I went to close the door and all I heard was a thud. No click which used to be normal. When I pull on the inside cable it has tension and I hear a click. The latch (metal fork that goes around the metal post) doesn't have any more spring tension and doesn't click between its two positions. It's also facing away from the striker (the metal post that the latch hooks to.

Anybody have an idea and what I'm to expect when I pull it apart tomarrow. Is this common and what can I do to prevent this.

Having to drive 100+ miles with a bungee chord holding the door shut is not fun.

Rich.

 

[Cliff Beer]

Rich, you might want to try something other than a bungee cord, just in case something unexpected and really bad happens - maybe one of those inflatable sumo wrestler outfits (would be just like one big air bag)....

 

[Steve C]

Rich E,

Take off both of your door liners..look at the mechanism of door that works vs door that doesn't...I suspect a return spring has come off the door that isn't working...You should be able to see a difference (if not take pics of both and we might be able to help diagnose.

Steve P2125

 

[Steve C]

Rich E,

Another idea...Take a look in the "How To" forums under Interior ect...Look for post to do with "power door locks for SPF"..There find a close up of the SPF door lock mechanism..Should be able to see what wrong with yours...Suspect spring or link issue?

Steve