Quick help needed! Drivers door won't shut...
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Apr 2003
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From: Boston
'05 A4 1.8TQM6
Quick help needed! Drivers door won't shut...
my father is having an issue with the drivers door on the ML. It seems that when he tries to close the door, it won't stay shut. The latch seems to not be open or stuck in the closed position so it won't latch onto the B pillar. Any suggestions? I told him to try and spray some WD-40 onto the latch in hopes it'll free it up because I don't have time at the moment to go look at it yet. Trying to get some advice on how to fix this as it's night time and no garage/dealer service is open right now. Thanks!
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Joined: Dec 2004
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From: UK
2002 ML270
my father is having an issue with the drivers door on the ML. It seems that when he tries to close the door, it won't stay shut. The latch seems to not be open or stuck in the closed position so it won't latch onto the B pillar. Any suggestions? I told him to try and spray some WD-40 onto the latch in hopes it'll free it up because I don't have time at the moment to go look at it yet. Trying to get some advice on how to fix this as it's night time and no garage/dealer service is open right now. Thanks!
It may be that the latch has sprung down, that happened to one of my rear doors once and the passenger kept slamming it in spite of the noise and the fact that it obviously wouldn't shut - I was furious.
Anyway, if that's the problem it's easily fixed, push the latch up with your fingers, check one of the other doors for a pattern if you are not sure what it should look like.
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Joined: Apr 2003
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From: Boston
'05 A4 1.8TQM6
Thanks for the help! I told my dad to use his fingers or a screw driver to push the latch back up and then try to close it but it would just go back to the closed position.
Then I thought about, what if he tries to open the latch from the inside, as if he wanted to get out of the car. Well, I told him to try that (since he was only trying to unlock the latch from the outside door handle) and it worked! He pulled the door handle from the inside and it unlocked the latch. Now it works again!
Strange how the latch would just fall into the closed position. He even used the remote to unlock the doors but the latch wouldn't unlock. Oh well, its fixed now at least.
Then I thought about, what if he tries to open the latch from the inside, as if he wanted to get out of the car. Well, I told him to try that (since he was only trying to unlock the latch from the outside door handle) and it worked! He pulled the door handle from the inside and it unlocked the latch. Now it works again!
Strange how the latch would just fall into the closed position. He even used the remote to unlock the doors but the latch wouldn't unlock. Oh well, its fixed now at least.
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Joined: Nov 2001
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ML
Thanks for the help! I told my dad to use his fingers or a screw driver to push the latch back up and then try to close it but it would just go back to the closed position.
Then I thought about, what if he tries to open the latch from the inside, as if he wanted to get out of the car. Well, I told him to try that (since he was only trying to unlock the latch from the outside door handle) and it worked! He pulled the door handle from the inside and it unlocked the latch. Now it works again!
Strange how the latch would just fall into the closed position. He even used the remote to unlock the doors but the latch wouldn't unlock. Oh well, its fixed now at least.
Then I thought about, what if he tries to open the latch from the inside, as if he wanted to get out of the car. Well, I told him to try that (since he was only trying to unlock the latch from the outside door handle) and it worked! He pulled the door handle from the inside and it unlocked the latch. Now it works again!
Strange how the latch would just fall into the closed position. He even used the remote to unlock the doors but the latch wouldn't unlock. Oh well, its fixed now at least.
Actually, that's by design. It's happened to me often, usually when I'm cleaning the doors after a good wash. The first time it happened I called RoadSide and they walked me through using the inside handle to release the lock. Welcome to ML world!!!
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Joined: Apr 2003
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From: Boston
'05 A4 1.8TQM6
I see, interesting design. Needless to say, we thought, great, something to repair now. Though I must say, our ML has been pretty good throughout the years...almost 8 years old and has 95k miles on it. All things so far have been minor and covered under warranty.
