MK2 rear door stuck shut
 

Hi All,

The rear door of my 1960 MK2 has gotten stuck shut. Cannot open from inside or outside. It recently opened, so this is a new issue for me. Wondering if anyone has any advice on how to proceed?

Thanks!

Rob

Does the button outside or the lever inside feel like it is doing anything or are they both too free, or both stuck feeling like something is jammed ?

The inside handle feels the same as the working side. It seems to be locking/unlocking. However, the outside button, when pressed, does not feel as though it's doing anything. Hope this helps.

I am just off to work, but will get back later.

Hi Rob,
well, the rear door locks are pretty simple, yet also pretty robust, I have attached a video which hopefully shows the workings, the toothed wheel is the actual catch, the lock works like a ratchet, with the outside button or pushing the internal door lever releases the wheel (ratchet) so that it can rotate freely and the door opens.

First, have you tried pulling the door with the button pressed, or pushing with the door lever opening, or vigorously wiggling the door back and forth from outside with the button pressed, the easiest answer is that the wheel has seized and this may free it ?

The button presses on the angled lever that my finger is pushing on the 3rd picture, showing the catch in the open position, the 2nd picture is with the door lever opening the catch, and hopefully you can see this working in the video.

The lock is very mechanically simple, and it is unlikely that both the button and the inside lever have both come detached or broken, the toothed wheel is on a fixed centre point, and may have seized, so try what I have said above and let me know how you get on.

From what the OP is describing, it sounds like the linkage between the outside and inside door handle mechanism that releases the ratchet catch, has become disconnected somehow.

I haven't looked inside my door for a long time, so I can't advise, but there being no pressure on the outside door button, would seem that, that linkage has become disconnected.
It's also affecting the inside handle as well.

The wood door cap may be able to be removed, then the lower piece.
This will expose the vinyl inside door skin that may be able to be peeled back to gain access to the release mechanism.

I'm not sure if any of this can be done with the door shut though.

Hi Jeff, the only common part the outside button and inside handle share is the toothed gear latch.

The outside button pushes on the top lever, and there is no linkage between those parts, one simply pushes on the other.

The inside handle operates another lever which lifts the common latch. So either the latch or the gear wheel is seized/jammed IMO.

I will look at the doors later to see if it is possible to access anything with the doors shut.

Looking at mine which has the back seat out you should be able to remove the door card with the door shut fairly easily.

Once you have done this you may be able to use the lever on the mechanism that the outer handle operates, however, as mentioned above the fault sound more like its in the lock itself.

Best of luck, you may end up destroying the lock to get it open as I cant see how you can get into the lock easily. Maybe try spraying releasing fluid into it just in case?

I was think about the door issue, the door lock works by swiveling the push mechanism away from the lever, so if the door is in the lock position the outside button will feel disconnected, that's because it is in the locked position. See attached video.

Stupid question, have you tried opening the door from inside not just locking and unlocking. The inside lever has a direct link to the latch which would be difficult to break.

The locking arm could become disconnected from the outside button, and if it had done so in the locked position, you could only open it from inside, there is a tiny clip that holds the locking mechanism together.

Let us know, this may be really obvious, but sometimes the simple things are easy to overlook.

Had this on my Mk 2 when I first got it, always after locking the rear doors from the inside.
Remedy I used was :
1 Unlock door with interior handle.
2. Flood outer push button gaps in handle with copious amounts of WD40 whilst 'Flicking' the button with your thumb.

Mine eventually opened.

3.Open door & remove cappings & door cards. (After removing interior handles with those funny little pins!)

Lag door lock linkages in oil & grease & reassembe.

That was ten years ago - in my case nothing was broken or worn out - just needed an oil can & some grease !

Good Luck!

Pete

OP seems to have vanished, hope he got the door open ?

Follow-up
 

Thank you for the advice and my apologies for the delay in responding. We have been working on rebuilding the engine from scratch on the occasional holiday weekend, so that has taken priority. We are taking the door card off today; a bit frustrated at the moment because the window regulator handle won't come off even after removing the retaining pin. Stay tuned.

I strongly dislike this internal mechanism. While my door cards are off I can move the plunger to hit the release plate but what will I do when the plunger slips past the plate when the cards are on? I'm thinking of ways to engineer a more sure system - one that won't require door card removal every time this fails. Thinking of replacing one of the round rods with a hexagonal one for greater control.

Success!
 

Thank you all for your assistance! We managed to remove door card and found that gear was gummed up beyond belief. Some “manual persuasion” via my boot did the trick. De-gummed and working well once again.