[urq] Who's got the best BTDT write-up for adjusting door latches and specifically the exterior trigger?

[dgraber460 at aol.com]

You are right Steve that if it is lubricated and well maintained it may last. Cold climates that stress things like door latches however take a toll on these units. I have a bin full of harvested units from the breakers to use as parts.?These are absolutely the first part to fy off a salvage car when it hits the yard. Any Audi in a Denver salvage yard for more than 8 hours will have no door handles. Unless of course they're already broken. Which is often the case.
Proper operation can extend the life as well. Owners that merely pull on the trigger to open the door shorten its life. Squeezing the handle and trigger together and thus not pre-loading the latch with additional force helps a great deal.
Once I have cleaned, lubbed, and installed a good unit on my cars, I generally have no problem, unless we get a nasty winter.


Dennis 
Denver

-----Original Message-----
From: urq <urq at pacbell.net>
To: urq at audifans.com <urq at audifans.com>
Sent: Thu, Jul 2, 2009 12:41 pm
Subject: Re: [urq] Who's got the best BTDT write-up for adjusting door latches and specifically the exterior trigger?




IME you're working on the wrong end of the problem ... the latch pin?is in the 
same position whether you're using the inside or outside door?release ... 

I've had good luck repairing this sort of problem by disassembling and relubing 
the door latch.??The latch?is easiest?removed with the inner door panel removed, 
but I've also managed to do this one with the door assembled.? The latch is held 
in place by two bolts, ISTR 6mm hex wrench is required.? If you have the inner 
door panel off, disconnect the operating rods and cables before removing the 
latch ... if you are doing this with the door panel in place you can release the 
linkages as you carefully pull the latch free of the door.? 

You can see the mechanism of the latch when it is removed ... the interior and 
exterior latch releases are quite different.? I don't remember the details, but 
the exterior release has a much more complicated mechanism, and is dependent on 
the position of the door lock mechanism.? Actuate the exterior release mechanism 
with the lock in both positions to see how it is supposed to operate (i.e. 
manually close the latch as if the door was closed and then see what is required 
to release the latch).? It may be that the lock mechanism isn't travelling the 
full distance for unlock, and this causes the release mechanism to have 
insufficient range.? Once you have loosened the internal mechanisms reassemble 
the latch to the door and see if the problem is resolved.? 

If this doesn't resolve the problem you can adjust the linkage from the door 
handle to the latch to bias it so that the latch will release with a normal pull 
on the exterior handle.? Perhaps the mechanism in the door handle is worn, but I 
have no BTDT there?... I hear so many complain about "team doorhandle" ... but 
in my 30+ years of dealing with Audi door handles I've never had to replace a 
single one ... 

Steve Buchholz



________________________________

I decided I was sick and tired of having to push on the window frame to get 
enough door pressure 
to make the outside trigger latch do anything, so I ordered 
new latch-pins that screw into the body.? The originals had long ago lost any 
plastic and were in need of replaced.

So I replaced them last night in the 105deg cool Houston evening.? Only 90% 
Humidity.? As you might guess my patience did not last long...
I could only get the outside trigger latch to work with the latch-pin set in the 
outside-most position, resulting in the door not lining up flush with the body.

I presume there must be some internal adjustments on the actuator rods (ala: 
5000/200?) that will allow me to put the pin in the correct position, but allow 
the exterior trigger latch to open the door.? It's worth noting the interior 
latch works fine no matter where I put the pin.

So what's the best adjustment procedures out there, and is this a no-beer, or 
drink first until relaxed kind of thing?

Rob D.
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