Before going to the trouble of taking opening up the door panel and taking
out the latch assembly, you may want to check the archives for the last
couple of months. There were a few posts about cleaning the door tracks
with simple green and a power washer (like at a car wash). I seem to
remember this being an easy solution for doors that didn't close properly
due to dirt sticking to the grease in the tracks. Perhaps this would help
or solve your problem.
Good Luck
Bill
90 Westy Syncro
Lake Tahoe

----------
> From: Per Lindgren <lindgre@ONLINE.NO>
> To: vanagon@VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Sliding Door and Cold Weather
> Date: Monday, December 07, 1998 2:18 AM
>
> Bryan wrote:
>
> > Every winter when the weather turns cold, the sliding door on our 87
> > Westy develops a tendency to unlatch spontaneously.  Usually it just
> > takes a couple of extra tries to close it and to leave it locked to
keep
> > it from popping open again.  But this year, it just won't close
anymore!
> >
> > So, do I need a new lock assembly or is there something to adjust that
> > will resolve this problem?
>
> I had to deal with this on my moms 94 Vento (Jetta). when the door
finally
> opened, it was impossible to close....soluton was: take out the latch
ass'y,
> dry it with a blow torch (careful), hair dryer or similar, to get out the
> moisture, and use some really sticky oil or thin grease, so any moisture
> will not freeze any moving parts. Bicycle or MC chain oil is fine, white
> grease should also work well.
>
> PerL
> 88 Syncro