Newbie - Duo Plus rear door problem

[alive23512]

Hello all. My new (to me) pre-loved Duo Plus was delivered on Tuesday. That night, in the darkness and pouring rain, I went out to my little beauty to retrieve the mass of documents that came with it. The key was a bit tricky to get into the back door but it was the correct key. I turned the key to the right and pulled on the handle - nothing. I turned to the left - still nothing. I tried this several times, pulling harder each time with no luck. Eventually the handle came off in my hand. Needless to say I gave up until the next day. I then headed in from the front and opened the door easily from inside. It appears that with the key it is not giving enough movement as the inside knob and therefore the latch is not releasing. Has anyone had this problem and knows the cure? I do not know where to start looking for spares - but spare what? It gets worse. Today, when I was locking it up for the night, the front passenger side key just kept rotating and not locking the door. Luckily for me it has security deadlocks so I can leave that problem for a while. But the back door ............... Sorry for the long post.
Kind regards to all,
Tony & Barney (the Yorkie).

[Graham]

Hi Tony

Welcome to the forum, this problem rang a bell with me so I searched the old forum and found THIS THREAD I'm not sure whether its the same problem but it might help you.

[alive23512]

Hi Graham.
Thank you for the quick reply. That thread looks very interesting. I will print it out and have a read in bed. It is incredible, by the way, how flimsy that rear door handle is - clipped in at the bottom and the smallest possible attachment area at the top. I think I will try to fit something more solid when I sort out the lock.

[alive23512]

Hello again all.
I am still no nearer to entering my Duo Plus (good home wanted for two very clean and tidy rear seats). The only thing I can add is that I notice, from the inside, the opening knob needs to be all the way clockwise for the door to open. A degree anticlockwise is not enough. As stated before, the key does not move the knob far enough.

What I have noticed is that the slot for the key is not truly vertical, but several degrees to the right. My line of thought is that the lock barrel has turned in the hole and, to my way of thinking, this could be the answer to my nagging problem. I wonder if any forum members can confirm the vertical state of their (Duo?) back door key hole. This would be of huge help to me as I have run out of ideas. DIY on the lock assy. will have to wait for warmer weather in case I have to sleep in Rommy for security reasons, i.e. bad problem made worse.
Regards,
Tony

[alive23512]

alive 23512 - Junior member ?????? !!!!!
Wish I was! Will need to work out how to sort this before I am arrested.

[Graham]

alive 23512 - Junior member ?????? !!!!!
Wish I was! Will need to work out how to sort this before I am arrested.

It depends how many posts you have done a junior member is up to 30 posts when you have done over 30 posts you become a member and when you have done 100 posts or more you are a senior member, it's nothing do with age, otherwise I would be a junior member with my youthful years.

[alive23512]

Thank you, Graham. This happened once before on a Camera Forum which I promptly left. I will sleep well tonight. Bit slow on the take up. All to do with age, you see. No joke inferred or intended!
Tony

[Alan]

I have a Duo HyLo Plus, and the key slot position is vertical, to lock and unlock you only need turn the key about 20 degrees. Which way to lock or unlock I can't remember off hand, but would let you know again, when I am not trapped in work.

[ant]

Hi Tony.
The rear door lock key should only need turning a few degrees either way to lock and unlock, the important bit is it must be returned to the resting position before removeing the key.If the key /lock is slightly worn you can get the key out before it's back to vertical ( or horizontal, the barrel can be fitted either to rest at vert' or horizontal), if you do remove the key too soon it can jam the barrel and the door will not open ( un lock or lock). Also to actually open the door you should always push on the door itself while pulling the handle to release the catch. The reason for doing this is to squash the door rubber and therefor releasing the pressure on the door catch and easing the outer handle, that way you never put any force on the lower pivot of the outer handle and the door opens very much easier.
Ant

[alive23512]

Hello ant and Alan. Thank you for the quick input.

The info provided is going to be of great help. Have had Rommy over a week now and I expect to be going out in him/her shortly for the first time. It will be interesting when Barney (the Yorkie) casts his eyes and feet on Rommy for the first time. Had a few light snow showers here in Sth. Cumbria earlier so must get going soon.
Will keep you updated on the lock situation. Not the lock really - I can hear the click in the far clockwise key position and I have found it locked from the outside when trying to open the door from the inside and have had to climb back over those darned seats, two of which I want rid of. ASAP would not be quick enough!
All I want for Christmas is to be able to get into Rommy from the back.
Regards,
Tony.

[alive23512]

Message for Alan.

I have a feeling that your lock is a different type but I could be very wrong.
Maybe someone can confirm this.
Tony

[alive23512]

Oh dear. put my foot in it. Alan and ant are making much the same comments regarding key movement. I am getting so frustrated with this problem. I will give it a rest for a while. I would far rather be supping brandy by a warm fire anyway. Sorry chaps - must concentrate more.
I will have to fix something else, equally important, as well. Took Rommy for the first run today (in a blizzard) and Barney gave me a paw on the shoulder to tell me that the back door was wide open. I had been in the back earlier and not closed it properly. Did this a few times with my Transit so made up an alarm, wired into the roof vent too. Wired through the ignition, of course.

Question : How do you find these white coloured vehicles in the snow?
My idea is to put up a flag (when heavy snow is due) showing a hammer and sickle. That way someone is sure to find the vehicle before I do.
Tony (and Barney)

[alive23512]

Hello all.

I was hoping that the weather would improve enough to enable me to sort out this rear door lock/catch problem, but it looks that I will have to suffer for a little while longer. I can, however, add a bit more to the observations that I have already posted on this thread, as follows.

With the rear door open, and with the latch pin moved manually to the position it would be in if the door was closed - not the first position it clicks into, but the second and final position, everything seems normal at this point.
Now, inserting the key and turning it slightly anti- clockwise as if I was opening the door if it was closed, the latch pin only moves to the mid (safety catch?) position. In other words, the latch pin is not moving to the position required to open the door.

This indicates, to my way of thinking, that the key is not moving the barrel (not likely looking at the answers I have already received) or some internal mechanisim enough to move the latch pin to the position required to open the door.

I have removed the plastic plugs (eventually!) to gain access to the lock screws but I was wondering if anyone (Ant?) knows what the small, about 3mm, holes on the inside knob and lock assembly are for. It could well be important that I know this before I take the lock screws out.
As always, any help offered is greatly appreciated.

Tony

[ant]

Hi Tony.
None of my rear door locks have any extra holes ( just 4 on the main body of the lock and 1 on the bottom of the inside handle). If you unscrew the 5 screws the whole body of the lock comes away, there's nothing inside that wants to spring out and get lost!
Ant

[alive23512]

Cheers Ant.
Thank you for the quick reply. That is very good news. I was having thoughts of bits flying all over the place. If the weather stays mild with no rain for the next few days I will attack the lock before the next big freeze, due next week.
Tony