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Defender td5 door catch.


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Hi Newly registered here but have been browsing and picking up tips for a while-thank you

I have a 54 td5 hardtop, all goes well except the drivers door catch rarely shuts first time especially in colder weather.

I have greased/WD40 it inside out.

Sometimes it shuts ok then when driving along it 'pops' open my right leg/knee tends to lean on it when driving sometimes.

It does not fly open just 'pops' on to the catch.

Anyone else has this problem please?

The passenger door has always been fine but does get used a lot less.

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hi,

This is not an uncommon problem, I have the same on my 02 110, but its the passenger door.

My 110 has a lot of miles on it, so have replaced the striker plat and am going to put a new latch on (probably be in the summer when its warm, but other priorities - like work etc).

Other posters suggest its WD40 that cures all (I must have put at least 1/2 a tin on in the past, so I dont concurr), or the door rubber seal becomes harder over time and stopts the door from closing (more plausible, but I have fitted a new seal last winter, and this winter have same problem...

Im going to put a new striker, new latch and a proper LR door seal (not a pattern or aftermarket one) and see if this cures the problem, if not then I might just not use the vehicle in the winter ... laugh.gif

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Thank you! It does seem to be worse in the winter suggesting hardening of seals etc. the strike plate is rock solid I did wonder if this might have moved but it appears ok.

It is just very anoyning.

I have used a lot of WD40, the fitter at work always knows where to find his latest can!

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Hi Newly registered here but have been browsing and picking up tips for a while-thank you

Hi,I have an 03 90,had the same trouble on passenger door

have taken off striker plate etc many times,and adjusted it in out and up down,still won't shut in winter,until many many slams,its summer here now so the door shuts fine every time,but come winter,problem returns,all I can put it down to,is the metal expanding and contracting,lubricants don't help either.

I have a 54 td5 hardtop, all goes well except the drivers door catch rarely shuts first time especially in colder weather.

I have greased/WD40 it inside out.

Sometimes it shuts ok then when driving along it 'pops' open my right leg/knee tends to lean on it when driving sometimes.

It does not fly open just 'pops' on to the catch.

Anyone else has this problem please?

The passenger door has always been fine but does get used a lot less.

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I have the same problem on my 03 90,in the winter the passenger door pops,also very hard to shut,its summer here now,and the door is fine,can close it with one finger,come winter and the problem starts again.All I can pit it down to is the metal contracting and expanding,have taken off striker plate,adjusted it up and down,in and out,but still can't fix,lubricants don't make any difference

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ps I have to say moderators I am getting rather bored with how long it takes for my post to go up, I am a mod for a stationary engine site and it tkaes nowhere near this long, does it make any difference if I pay??? I was going to wait until I was out of moderation, i can't post at all in technical stuff. BORED Now.

I am not selling viagra or porn.

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ps I have to say moderators I am getting rather bored with how long it takes for my post to go up, I am a mod for a stationary engine site and it tkaes nowhere near this long, does it make any difference if I pay??? I was going to wait until I was out of moderation, i can't post at all in technical stuff. BORED Now.

I am not selling viagra or porn.

Thanks for your comments, I see you have two issues: First of all you are not happy with the number of responses and secondly you are not happy with the time it has taken to approve your posts.

Firstly, I'm sorry your query has not received as much attention as you had hoped.

FWIW my opinion is that a bit of fine adjustment of the striker in the door B pillar would seem to be in order. Use a pencil to mark the current position and then adjust the striker outward slightly. Insert a suitably sized allen key into the striker and rotate anticlockwise to undo the striker sufficiently in order to move it.

Secondly your comments regarding the time it takes to approve your posts.

Well again my apologies but what with it being the Christmas and New Year period perhaps some of our moderators are not able to be at their computers quite as much as usual. I note that your last posts were submitted at 12:58 AM and 01:01 AM this morning. I very much regret not being available to approve your comments in the wee hours on New years Day and that personal commitments later this public holiday morning prevented me from approving your posts until now. I am sure we (ie the moderators and admins) will do our very best to try and arrange our personal lives better over the festive season so that you do not suffer such a troublesome inconvenience in future.

Please be aware that 'paying' or donating to the forum does not buy you any preferential treatment - the terms as laid out here still stand to ALL new members.

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Many thanks for your comments of the door issue, I will try as you suggest.

As to the issue of moderators I am not suggesting that mods are there to leap on any news post 24/7 I am just puzzled as to the length of time to come out of pre-mod.

I was only posting at that hour as I clearly not running an organised life as I am on call this weekend.

Many thanks to the people that have come back re my door and the other threads I have read on other issues.

Happy new year all.

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Ben, I look forward to hearing how you get on, I'd love to know how to fix this problem myself. The doors on my '02 110 CSW do this and it can be quite alarming! I've tried adjustment, lubrication and replacement of parts, but no success.

Best regards,

Phil.

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  • 1 year later...

I have booked mine in to the local 4x4 place for them to have a look as I Cant live with it as it is. Will update the thread when its fixed, even if that means a new 110 biggrin.gif

Ben

How did you get on? My 110 has just started doing this. I'm considering changing the door seals as the doors seem to close more easily after the interior has warmed up.

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Same here, my 2005 TD5 Hardtop started a couple of weeks ago, I find that if you use a screwdriver to latch the lock back then push the button to open it again, then my one locks first time for some reason, and from memory I had this on my old 2002 TD5 when new ?

Richard

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I believe this is due to the lubrication of the 'arm' of the latch, the bit which actually wraps around the striker pin. People have had success by cleaning this and re-lubricating with something like that graphite powder grease stuff (I forget the name).

Also make sure the black plastic around the striker pin is not worn. This can cause the door bounce issue as well.

As a last resort, some people have removed the stiffener in the door seal rubber which lies at the curvature of the body panel just above latch height. This is a bit of a boge, but it will help with the door closing.

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I believe this is due to the lubrication of the 'arm' of the latch, the bit which actually wraps around the striker pin. People have had success by cleaning this and re-lubricating with something like that graphite powder grease stuff (I forget the name).

Also make sure the black plastic around the striker pin is not worn. This can cause the door bounce issue as well.

As a last resort, some people have removed the stiffener in the door seal rubber which lies at the curvature of the body panel just above latch height. This is a bit of a boge, but it will help with the door closing.

Thanks - just of to Maplins to buy some of this!

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Hi All

Have just resolved my non latching door :unsure: I sprayed it with clutch and brake degreaser, and now it works every time, I know I will have to re lubricate it but it showed to me that in my case all the old oil and grease must have gone hard when it gets cold, so by cleaning it away it now moves freely and latches every time :i-m_so_happy:

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I too have suffered from this - and fixed it!

It happens because the door bounces on the bit bolted to the door frame before the catch in the door has a chance to move and grab the pin.

It happens more in cold weather because whatever is used to lubricate the catch is more sticky and it takes fractionally more time to move.

As suggested, you need to clean out as much of the old grease as you can then replace it with something more like White grease, PTFE, graphite etc. I used a can of spray chain grease.

The plastic sleeve on the striker plate, I believe was intended to reduce the bounce. Simply rotating the sleeve so a less worn bit faces the door helped a lot too.

The plus side of this was that I designed a new striker plate which does not rip the belt loops or pockets off your trousers when you get in! I expect it will appear in a store some time!

Si

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The plus side of this was that I designed a new striker plate which does not rip the belt loops or pockets off your trousers when you get in! I expect it will appear in a store some time!

Ooh bu%%er! Not long completed ordering a new genuine pair online! A striker plate that does not rip your favourite pair of 501s would have been worth waiting for!!! :wacko::unsure:

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It looks very similar to the original (unsurprisingly) just a bit less catchy!

I was talking to a chap in a shop who said "I bet you drive a Defender" Astounded "how did you guess" he pointed out that we had matching ripped side pockets and belt loops on the left hand side! Perhaps time to do something about this me thinks!

Si

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  • 6 years later...

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