Door Latch, fix or new?

[dedgar]

so my passenger door latch stopped working correctly, so I took it off, cleaned it all up, even bent that piece a little. Greased it all up re installed but it still doesn't seem to unlock. Do I mess more with it, find another or or just buy a new one? Are they new ones any good? They seem to look different than my original. It' s a 1970.

 

[Jfryjfry]

Keep playing with it. Probably better than aftermarket. But if you have no luck, maybe it's worth getting a good aftermarket.

 

[DirtDonk]

Yes to that. The original is "better" still, but the new ones work very well. Or at least they "can" work well. We went through three different brands, and even one where one brand had two styles (good and better) and only sell the one that at the time worked the best.
But if you can dial in the original, I still think they're slightly better.

If tweaking things does not fix your old one though, perhaps a few bits are just too worn out and no longer fixable except by a deep dive.
How well did you clean it up? Like super clean, or just tidied up a bit? Super clean is better, and new water proof grease is better still. Get that sucker sliding and clicking real cleanly.

Hope your old one will work out. But if not, even the worst new ones are better than a non-working original!;D

Good luck.

paul

 

[Rustytruck]

motor cycle chain lube works well for this, the lube that sprays thin and then gels as the solvent evaporates.

 

[dedgar]

thanks everyone. I just had bike degreaser and got most of it. I bought the big boy stuff today to really get it clean.

 

[Rustytruck]

if you know someone with an ultrasonic cleaner it will work well. I don't have one so I would use tide in my bullet cleaner without the walnut shells. road crap gets really stuck in all the nooks and crannys and the old grease really gums things up.

 

[dedgar]

well it's super clean now and seems to work, but I think the issue is the push button door handle! I have to figure out what's going on. the Rod seems to just stay stuck out and the flap doesn't push the rod to the latch now.

 

[Rustytruck]

original ford or aftermarket replacement. if aftermarket swap the old button to the new handle. people have had to do this in the past.

 

[DirtDonk]

does it open easily from the inside, and only the outside button gives you trouble? Or is it not working from the inside either?

Paul