Door latch issues - top half doesn’t return.

[crazzmc]

Hi everyone,

My passenger door never really closed well. And the previous owner said to slam it shut. Well I did that about 3 times before it stopped shutting all together. It only closed on the first stage.

Well I took it apart and it at first the top latch was always closed and the bottom one was the only one closing. When I un-jammed the top latch I found out that whenever you pull the lever to open the mechanism it doesn’t return because it looks like the spring is broken. The bottom latch does have a spring around it.

I can’t go any further because I can’t open these weird Phillips screw/bolts.

Any ideas on what to do? No one really sells these latches (at a decent price) or parts for them. If anyone has used any good aftermarket ones let me know but everything I’ve seen is $100+ per latch.

Will get more pics of the top latch service sucks and no power currently in my town in CT.


Bottom latch:

[basketcase0302]

"crazzmc"]Hi everyone,

My passenger door never really closed well. And the previous owner said to slam it shut. Well I did that about 3 times before it stopped shutting all together. It only closed on the first stage.

Well I took it apart and it at first the top latch was always closed and the bottom one was the only one closing. When I un-jammed the top latch I found out that whenever you pull the lever to open the mechanism it doesn’t return because it looks like the spring is broken. The bottom latch does have a spring around it.

I can’t go any further because I can’t open these weird Phillips screw/bolts.

Any ideas on what to do? No one really sells these latches (at a decent price) or parts for them. If anyone has used any good aftermarket ones let me know but everything I’ve seen is $100+ per latch.

Will get more pics of the top latch service sucks and no power currently in my town in CT.


Bottom latch:

On a side note I'd look at the door strike real....hard as that is a known issue on the doors most folks forget to address. It is "adjustable" to an extent to help with closing the door, (loosen CC / move slightly / re-tighten / repeat until you find a sweet spot for the door). Also look closely at the hinges as if they are wore out your literally beating your head against a wall working on the latch as you'll destroy the new one in a short time.
I would start here, (there are dozens here to reach out to in search of it-ask away) in search of sourcing a used one, (ebay destroyed our used parts market with their "super sellers") and also put an ad in the Wanted parts here on Fordification:
http://www.fordification.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=11

[jamesdfo]

If the spring is actually broken, and you have any Pick'n'Pull yards in your area, I would just go get one out of a donor truck.

But if it's too gunged up to be able to tell, soak it in some lacquer thinner, simple green (whatever you have on hand), give it a good scrubdown & rinse, and then hose it down with an aerosol can of white lithium grease.

**Cannot confirm, but I wouldn't be surprised if the dentsides use the same latch assembly (take yours along for comparison)

[sargentrs]

Only $30 at Dennis Carpenter http://dennis-carpenter.com/m/product.a ... -9721812-A