I have an '86 and all sliding door issues on mine are worse when it
is cold.  Won't latch or "bounces" when you close it.  this usually
causes the uninitiated to try to slam it harder, which only makes it
bounce harder and makes me cringe.  The popping open I have had is
due to the fact that is it not really latching at all.  I have
usually fixed the problem by lubricating the moving parts on that
latch at the rear of the door.  I think the problem I diagnosed was
that the moving parts were sluggish and not moving fast enough to
snap over to the latched position.

Edward

At 07:13 PM 1/3/2010, Marc Perdue wrote:
>Any of y'all had your sliding door not want to stay shut?  The one on
>my '87 Westy is doing just that, even when locked...  Not a fun thing,
>driving down the road and have the side door pop open . . .  What
>broken mechanical thing should I be looking for and where?  I was
>going to start with the latch on the rear edge of the door, but it's
>too cold to be working outside just now, so I'm emailing you all
>instead.
>
>Thanks,
>Marc