Subaru Forester Questions
Car-and-Safety.com
Subaru Forester
Tue, 26 Jul 2011
I suffered with a similar condition on my 2002 Forester pass. ...
I suffered with a similar condition on my 2002 Forester pass. door for 2 weeks. I took the drivers side apart - studied the operation, then attempted to free the bad door, expecting to eventually replace the latch mechanism. Two days later [20-40 minute attempts made 3-4 times], I still couldn't get the door opened! Then, I thought to lean INTO the door from the outside, and with the window down, jiggle the lock, latch, key and handle. Well, it freed up the latch in 2-3 minutes - the trick I think was pressing IN on the door, and not pulling on it harder. GOOD NEWS - the problem is in the latch - NOT the power lock unit or the linkage rods, and a replacement latch does not require new keys!
The rest of the story is not for the casual mechanic - it was Sunday evening, and we had a family trip planned for Tues. eve., so I had to get it fixed, or re-assemble it with a high chance it would re-lock. I removed the latch mechanism, studied the motions, and determined tat a piece inside the latch was broken. Without a replacement latch, maybe not one at the dealer, and no time in 48-hrs to visit a salvage yard, I drilled out the latch rivets and disassembled the latch [caution - do this sort of work in a deep, 5-gal. bucket - the parts will certainly fly everywhere] and there is no more difficult task than to figure out an un-documented, broken latch with missing parts!
I discovered a sheared-off bushing [cheap plastic!] for which I was able to rebuild and fashion a new axle stub using a small machine screw / washer from the junk I've taken apart over the past 40 years. More junk hardware bins found a 10-32 screw with an ultra-low profile head and a reduced-sized nut to replace the drilled-out rivet. The total repair took ~1.5 hrs, after the door was freed up. The latch works great - However, the entire process consumed 3 beers and trashed most of the weekend, having agonizing over the thought of having the door worked at a dealer's high-$$$ rate, and possibly the interior trim damaged.
If I had to do it again, I'd go the the U-Pull-It Yard, remove a working latch,and swap it out at my convenience. I never checked Subaru's price for a new latch - - it can't be cheap!
Bob
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