Been a long time but I'm still around.
Driver's door latch just gave up on me. Will open from inside only which means I have to leave the window down.
Replaced the outside door handle but all that did was make it look prettier.
Time to replace the latch I guess. I managed to get it out and a lot of the levers have a lot of play in them......
I see some for sale on Amazon that look very identical to what I have but they don't say it'll work. Lots of GM trucks vans and S10 are listed.
So before I pull the trigger I wanted to pop on here and see if anyone has any horror stories to share and words of wisdom or caution.
1st time I've had to do battle with a door not opening so any advice is appreciated!
Thanks!
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Next day Update!
I guess nothing better than a good night sleep - does wonders , just like a cup of ole Joe.
Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures - don't they. Sensing that my latch assembly was useless I decided to try something .
Carefully grinding down the catch and pawl I indeed managed to get a little more life out of the old assembly. Since the levers were tired the Pawl wasn't disengaging the catch
unless the mechanism was completely pressed. The door handle couldn't get quite that much travel through the rod. So removal of material meant less travel of the levers was needed to disengage.
Trimming these two parts down was completely bass ackwards in logic since most of the time parts wear down and then won't work with each other. This time however
trying something that didn't make sense actually worked. I only removed what was necessary and there is plenty of metal left to safely keep everyone safe.
Here is a diagram of the fundamentals
( Illustration 1: Central locking system schematic )
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/engineering/components-features-central-locking-1083.php
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Thanks for the update and solution. Necessity surely is the mother of invention!
I have a Dorman 77112 LHS replacement for my cavalier in black.I have not bothered to replace it yet,but it is identical to the OEM one on the car.I think I bought mine from autozone years ago.Just a thought R.
