Door Will Not Latch Close

Try turning the latch mechanism by hand before closing the door.
Inspect the latch visually for any break or damaged.
On most of the cars open - close door systems latch/hatch are used.

If the Latch looks stiff and very dried up,then try spraying it with few oil drops to make the latch movement free.

If the latch looks very dull and loose then either its time to replace the latch or else its fitting assembly needs to be inspected and realigned.

On some car models the latch moves automatically and get open/close and on some car models its controlled by spring assembly.Inspect that assembly.

UNDERSTAND THE SIMPLE THEORY OF VEHICLES DOOR LATCH:----

Latch contains locking device.
These allows user to lock the latch.
On opposite side of the latch there is a part called striker.
The latch rests there on striker when the door is closed.
The latch is held in the assembly by a part called clasp.
So when door is closed,the latch is locked,at that time its held by clasp and latch rests on striker.

Now when you open the door,clasp will release the latch in open position and striker will open the door.

So all these latch,clasp,striker,their moving assembly needs properly inspected to confirm the problem.

Also make sure that nothing is blocking the latch or its internal support components from its movement.
Sometimes a piece of cloth or dirt/dust gets collected or stuck-up there and these causes the problem.


The latch has to move in and out.The latch is like a clip,it should hold and release when you close and open the door.

if the latch is not giving any movement while you open or close the door then it has to be replaced.

If the door is locked and not getting opened,due to stuck up latch,then you have to manually disengage  the latch.
The latch moves up to close and down to open.
You can try these move the latch up by hand to close and then pull handel manually to open the latch.


Dont slam the door hard,it will damage the door as well as latch assembly.

Also inspect the door hinge.If the hinge is loose,it will not let the door reach its closing limit.Also if hinge is got bent or damaged,then it can cause such problems.In that case view the door hinge.If its damaged then replace the worn hinge. Or else its quite possible that you have likely bent or broken the latch mechanism from continual slamming of the door to close it. Try using a screwdriver to push in on the latch and see if it will click in place. The pull the door handle and see if it will release. You could have bent or moved the part attached to the car body. Every time the door hits the latch it likely disturbed its original location. You may need to adjust the striker back to its original position. Check for signs that the striker moved by looking for missing paint.


NOW on automatic Lock latch systems,the door get open and close by solenoid systems.These all procedure is controlled by vehicles inbuilt computer system.These computer system is also called as BCM.Full form of BCM is Body control module.

These door close and open function get operated by Keyfob systems.
Keyfob is a small unit,on which there are two buttons.One to open and one to close.
In the vehicle there is a sensor to detect the keyfob.When the keyfob is pointed towards the vehicle and button on keyfob is pressed the door gets operated.

In the vehicle there is security alarm system.If the door is left open or not got closed of if somebody else(thief) tries to harshly open the door by pulling it hard,then door alarm gets activated.In these cases,just check all the vehicle doors,if any of them is not closed or locked properly,the alarm indicator helps to let you know.

On car doors,other then glovebox doors.There is activation rod.These rod movement,lets the latch move back and forth to open and close.If the car door is not getting open,then door panel has to be disassembled from inside,by entering from other-side of car and once the door panel is open,you can view inside the activation rod.Release the rod manually to latch move freely to open the door.

To remove the outer door handel,inside door handel is no need to be removed.Both are fitted sperately to vehicles door.


REPLACING THE DOOR LATCH

If the door latch is checked and inspected to be faulty,then replacing door latch is not that very difficult.
Its just fitted with few screws.You need basic screw drivers set to open the screws and remove the faulty latch out.
The door panel has to be off,once the panel is off,you can view the inside of panel.The latch is held by clips,remove the clips and remove the screws securing the latch and slide the old latch out,reverse the procedure to install new latch.

On automatic operate system,there are few wires and connectors also to be disconnected to remove the latch.

See below the latch assembly diagram,for how it basically looks:----

Car door latch assembly

These details will help you.
Thanks.