General Sliding door won't open

[Geoff21]

A friend recently bought a 2017 Ducato panel van. The sliding door worked OK to start with but then refused to open with either the inside or outside handles although the central locking can be heard to operate. When I investigated I found that on the main lower latch the plastic cover that surrounds the metal latch has been damaged at the top and now stops the latch from retracting into the mechanism. I managed to get it to work by pushing the plastic part back but it keeps springing back out. Does anyone know if the plastic cover is essential or can it be cut off? If it is needed, is the cover available or does it need the whole lock assembly replacing? any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Geoff21]

Hi all. Well, after over 130 views nobody has answered my question. I assume that is either because no-one has had this problem before or, more likely, that I did nor explain it very well. Anyway, we decided that as the door was not working properly we had nothing to lose by trying to sort it. I cut off the offending piece of plastic and the door is now opening and closing from inside and outside and does not seem to be any different from the other doors. I hope this may help anyone else who may have a similar problem.

 

[andydiver]

Thank you for your update, yeah, sometimes an issue leaves everyone stumped.... and..... occasionally...... people rather say nothing than speculate....

 

[IceVovo]

Yeah, I read your post but have a different model.

I do have an issue with a latch at the top right of my sliding door.
But the 2 docking points are broken where the door closes.
They are made of cheap plastic so look designed to wear out.
I have ordered some new ones and waiting on delivery of those parts.

Once they arrive....was going to confirm if the other part of the door latches properly
after fitting those other parts.

...but my year/model is different to yours. Most likely a different latch mechanism.
Great to hear you fixed it!