side door / screen door problem September 22, 2005, 07:46:10 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58280We have a 2002 MB and last weekend we suddenly - literally - starting having difficulty with our side door. No previous history of problems and it worked fine in the morning, not so fine 2 hours later.When we try to open the door from the outside, it will not open.When I sit inside and watch what's going on when I turn the handle this is what I see --- the outside door opens partially but the plastic handle to the screen door does not disengage from its plastic clip on the inside of the outer door. Thus, the screen door handle is keeping the outside door from opening. When I depress the screen door handle to free it from its clip the screen door pops outward a short distance and since it is no longer engaged with the outer door, the outer door will now open. As I said, prior to this problem we had no problem. The last time the door opened/closed just fine and it was not slammed, banged or otherwise mistreated.It seems intuitive that something is bent/warped. The manual talks about warping problems with the door and "reverse bow" but doesn't specifically address this kind of problem nor does it talk about how the owner may fix a problem with the 'bow' of the door. Tying the screen door handle lever down so that it does not engage the clip on the outer door allows us to use the side entrance but this is clearly NOT the preferred solution. Any suggestions about root cause and, more importantly, how I may be able to "undo" whatever caused the problem would be most helpful.Thanks to all.Hank Harwood
Re: side door / screen door problem Reply #1 – September 23, 2005, 03:42:42 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58316-QuoteAny suggestions about root cause and, more importantly, how I may be able to "undo" whatever caused the problem would be most helpful.Thanks to all.Hank Harwood Hank On the inside of the solid door is a large square black plate that has the main door handle on it. Under this there should be a small square catch with adjustment slots. This small catch is meant to hold the screen door handle partially open (down) so that the door latch is flush with the door edge when the two doors are together. If the screws have just come loose, or the piece is missing, it would allow the handle to rise and the latch to extend beyond the door thus locking it. If the catch is still there just adjust it so the latch is flush with the door edge when mated with the main door otherwise see if you can get a replacement from the factory.Best of luckDon & Bonney Hunt Silver Wings 2005 MB NE 45
Re: side door / screen door problem Reply #2 – September 23, 2005, 04:26:29 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58318Quote- Any suggestions about root cause and, more importantly, how I may be able to "undo" whatever caused the problem would be most helpful.Thanks to all.Hank HarwoodHank On the inside of the solid door is a large square black plate that has the main door handle on it. Under this there should be a small square catch with adjustment slots. This small catch is meant to hold the screen door handle partially open (down) so that the door latch is flush with the door edge when the two doors are together. If the screws have just come loose, or the piece is missing, it would allow the handle to rise and the latch to extend beyond the door thus locking it. If the catch is still there just adjust it so the latch is flush with the door edge when mated with the main door otherwise see if you can get a replacement from the factory.Best of luckDon & Bonney Hunt Silver Wings 2005 MB NE 45 Dear Don & Bonney,I know the part you are referring to. It seemed to be firmly in place, no play up/down but I'll check it again. My recollection is that it is as far down as it will go, therefore it is holding the screen door handle down as far as possible. Unfortunately, our LD lives in a storage lot so I cannot pop outside and check this out but will do so this weekend.Thanks for the suggestion.Hank
Re: side door / screen door problem Reply #3 – September 23, 2005, 10:43:16 pm Yahoo Message Number: 58333Quote Dear Don & Bonney,I know the part you are referring to. It seemed to be firmly in place, no play up/down but I'll check it again. My recollection is that it is as far down as it will go, therefore it is holding the screen door handle down as far as possible. Unfortunately, our LD lives in a storage lot so I cannot pop outside and check this out but will do so this weekend.Thanks for the suggestion.Hank I think you'll find that the block will have enough adjustment range as Don and Bonney suggest. However . . .The little plastic catch/block has 4 slots and is fixed to the door with screws. LD would normally install this so the screws are near the center of the slots, so there's room to adjust it as required. If your's really is mounted too low, there are several ways you might correct this. You could remove some material from the plastic strike at the edge of the screen door to provide clearance. You could file the screw slots in the latch/block to allow for more adjustment. You could re-drill the screw holes a bit higher. You might also glue a suitable spacer on top of the latch/block so as to slightly raise the screen handle (not too keen on this one though, unless you can be sure the shim won't come loose).all the best,bumper
Topic: side door / screen door problem (Read 5 times)
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Topic: side door / screen door problem (Read 5 times)
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