mick miller

I did exactly the same with my 300Tdi recently, only a large chunk disappeared down the housing to rest by the head inlet. I had to remove the whole housing, refit with a new gasket. Do the radiator one whilst your at it.

Well, in the absence of any advice this is what I did (so that others may benefit). 1. With the door lock in situ remove the door seal from the door frame. 2. Loosen all the door bolts, slacken the hinge pins off too. 3. Remove striker 4. Close door, lift and push until it sits absolutely flush with the rest of the body panels and there is an even gap all round. Observe position of hinges and how much lift in which direction you need to give the door. 5. With remarkable skill, imagination and handful of ingenuity place a ring spanner on the uppermost outer door bolt nut (inside), close door and lift into position then tighten the corresponding bolt. 6. Repeat with adjacent nut & bolt (open door, reposition spanner, close door, lift and tighten). 7. Work the way down the door hinges, leaving the hinge pins slack and inner door bolts loose. 8. Once the hinges are tight, refit the striker plate and shims, loosely, climb inside and through trial, error and observation find a point where the door lock will fully close and the latch will click through twice. 9. Refit the door seal. 10 Try the door again to ensure the seal is not preventing the door from closing. 11. Tighten the inner door bolts (same process, ring spanner inside, shut door and tighten). 12. Finally, adjust the hinge pins with the door shut, open the door and see if there is wiggle, repeat until wiggle gone. Note: It's a helluva lot easier if there are two of you! Not having the door seal in gives a tiny bit more adjustment on the striker too. It can be gently tapped into place once the striker has been tightened. Also, the rubber bush that sits on top of the striker plate may need some adjustment to allow the lock to travel in further.

Well, I decided to do a bit of a refurb to my rear 90 door. The previous owners had neglected to replace the dum-dum in the window so water had been leaking in for a good few years, resulting in a nice sodden, rusty rear door, door card etc. Not beyond salvage though I thought. Having removed all the rust I set about with the rust bullet (good stuff) and gave everything a liberal coat. The hinges were wobbly, so I replaced all the hinge kits with shiny new ones. I repaired the split in the door caused by the spare wheel having been bouncing around for years. I replaced all the old rusty bolts with shiny stainless ones and, finally, I replaced the rear lock which was broken (which meant if you lifted the handle a few times the door would unlock) with a new 'un re-using the old barrel. The door no longer wobbles around, it doesn't leak water and the rust is all silver now - generally I felt all happy and smug... that was until I tried to lock it. My new lock, when testing with the door open, functions perfectly on the key. Two positive clicks of the latch manually and the key will turn, a further click from the little internal cam and she's locked. However, when I try and shut the door, the lock only clicks to the first position and so I can't turn the key. It needs to be closer. I've tried adjusting the striker plate but short of grinding or filing the outside facing face of it I can't get anymore adjustment. Is there a knack to fitting these doors & locks? Will slackening off the hinge bolts allow me to get the door in further and give me the adjustment I need? Should I slacken off the hinge bolts, lock the door fully and then tighten up the bolts after? Does, slackening the hinge kits (you know the little tabbed nut, spring and ball arrangement) help at all (I hope not as I've already adjusted them up and knocked the tabs over)? Please help restore my smug, more than pleased with myself, grin. My thanks in advance...