2008 Access door handle won't move

[Morich]

The post above looks exactly right if we go back to one of the items you found and posted, it mentions needing a deep socket to remove the nut. If not familiar with deep sockets, there is a normal size depth and the whe we have a rod so that the threaded end sticks up too far for the normal depth socket to work we sometimes have to get a second set of sockets which are much deeper.
My thoughts would be that one of two things has happened.
There might have been some type of metal failure and some connection between the latch and the "fingers" which close around the part on the frame. I don't know the real names of the fingers but would call the frame stud like thing, the "strike" if it were on a house.
Second idea is that the long rod is a form of adjustment for how far the latch moves the rest of the mechanism to open the fingers.
Do you have another door to get in and out is you close this door? I don't and your problem has made me wonder what to do if my latch fails! Out the window? OUCH!
This would be a nice time to have a new latch in hand and look at it to see what moving the knob does and how it connects to the fingers. There may be a small piece missing on yours and the whole has to be replaced but if you had two side by side, you might be able to compare and see if all parts are there and it might only need the nut on the rod moved to adjust how far it moves the fingers.
Thinking of it as our fingers gripping something, the "muscle" in our arm might need to be adjusted or that muscle may not be connected to our fingers?
I would assume a replacement latch would come only with the whole, inside, outside and all parts in a package but it also should be a pretty common item as it appears to be the same for lots of years and types of Winnebago.
A quick search seems to never find the right type or info for our latch adjustment.

 

[creativepart]

Does this help:

 

[Morich]

Excellent find, Creative! That's the one that I did NOT find. One big thing that I would want to try before going further can be seen better here. The fingers/ claws or whatever we want to call them can get sticky so a spray of some lube like WD-40, lithium or silicone can be all it might need at times. I suggest doing all the lubing on everything that looks like it needs to move before trying to take the nut off the rod. One big reason is that the nut looks like a thing to get lost! I don't know what's down below the nut but they have a way to go places we can't get them back.
Big question? Does the inside handle move freely when not connected to the outside? That might tell you the binding/jamming is in the linkage or outside. Or you might be looking right at a jam on the inside handle parts.

 

[Kathleen-WO]

Raining

We've had rain yesterday and today. I think it isn't forecast for tomorrow. I'll try to pry off the black stopper then.


If only we didn't have so many mosquitoes . . .


Kathleen

 

[Kathleen-WO]

Excellent find, Creative! That's the one that I did NOT find.

. . .

Big question? Does the inside handle move freely when not connected to the outside? That might tell you the binding/jamming is in the linkage or outside. Or you might be looking right at a jam on the inside handle parts.

Yes, creativepart, your video will be very useful, I think. I'll look for all my socket wrenches today. I think I have a deep socket. I hope it's the same size as the nut.


And Richard, you've warned me about losing the nut. I'll definitely try not to.


To answer your question about the white handle moving: no, it is frozen no matter whether the inside and outside are connected or taken apart. Because the threaded rod and its connection to the nut are so wiggly, I guessed that if I tightened the nut, maybe the handle would start to move.


The RV has been well used. I bought it new 12 1/2 years ago. It has 213,000 miles on it. I live in it more months than I live in my house. Perhaps it's just dying of old age. I'm unwilling to give up on it because the Ford 350 chassis/engine has been extremely reliable. I have had no motor problems at all. I also like the length - 23' - and the roominess of the Access.


There doesn't seem to be a new RV that will give me the same comfort and reliability. (I don't want to learn how to maintain a diesel; I want to stick with gas engines.)


P.S.: I didn't notice until just now that there were two pages to this thread. Sorry I haven't responded sooner to these last two.

 

[Kathleen-WO]

I Have Three Doors

the long rod is a form of adjustment for how far the latch moves the rest of the mechanism to open the fingers.
Do you have another door to get in and out if you close this door?

. . .

This would be a nice time to have a new latch in hand and look at it to see what moving the knob does and how it connects to the fingers. There may be a small piece missing on yours and the whole has to be replaced but if you had two side by side, you might be able to compare and see if all parts are there and it might only need the nut on the rod moved to adjust how far it moves the fingers.

. . .
I would assume a replacement latch would come only with the whole, inside, outside and all parts in a package but it also should be a pretty common item as it appears to be the same for lots of years and types of Winnebago.

Richard, I'm hoping that the rod does what you think it might.
Yes, my RV is a Class C. I've been using the truck doors. I just got home from my winter trip. To unpack the RV I took the back door latch apart and propped the door open. It would have been very difficult to empty the RV through the truck doors.


You're right about having another latch available for comparison. But I don't want to buy one until I figure out whether tightening the nut will work. And if that doesn't work, I still have to figure out how to remove the white plate from the nut so I could install a new one. I can buy just the inside plate. It costs $72 plus shipping.

 

[Morich]

No problems with me on the slow response!! Most of us do have other things to do besides look at forums. things like stuck doors can get in the way, for sure.
On the other hand if you want to know when folks post on a subject, do you know about the "thread tools" section where you can add a subscription to that posting group and have it email you when new posts arrive?
Depends on how you feel about getting more email!

 

[Kathleen-WO]

Negotiating This Website - Impossible

if you want to know when folks post on a subject, do you know about the "thread tools" section where you can add a subscription to that posting group and have it email you when new posts arrive?

I think I must be subscribed to that already because I get a message in my Yahoo e-mail account when you've written something.


I dislike this website intensely. It's impossible to find stuff, impossible to even know which link to click on.


The way I get back to this series of messages is because I've bookmarked it on Firefox. The other day, before I did that, I couldn't find it at all. There should be a place where I could see which postings I've started.

 

[Morich]

Try clicking on your name, thenn find "all statistics for a list of a bunch of stuff that might interest you. Posts started by use, post you have entered into ,etc.
One point is that you may want to drop off if subscribed to some one post, as you may not want an e-mail on the subject a couple years from now!!!

 

[Kathleen-WO]

More Pictures

I took the door apart again because it hasn't started raining yet.

I found a socket that was long enough to play with the screw. I loosened it, then tightened it, trying to move the door handle after every adjustment. The handle is still frozen. I never took the rod completely off nor the inside plate completely off. The first picture is self-explanatory.

The second picture is hard to see; it's dark and blurry. But it's the best possible with just one person holding everything and holding the camera with just one hand.

There's a washer-type thing connected to a black plate about 2" long. That smaller black plate is flat against a larger black piece. The washer is halfway inserted into a white plate. The black plate moves up and down, and that's what opens and closes the grabby thing that wraps around the gold post in the door frame. If I manually wiggle the whole inside latch plate, the black plate moves, and the pieces inside flip the grabby thing open or closed. If the white handle moved, it would be pushing the black plate on its own.

Because the black plate is part of the door itself, not part of either the outside or inside latch, I don't think buying a new white plate would help. I'm not sure what to do next. If it weren't for COVID, I'd bring the RV up to the local Winnebago dealer next week. But I'm avoiding all interiors except the grocery store. I'm not going to be using the RV in the near future anyway. It's a pain not to have a house door, but at least I'll never be locked either in or out because of the truck doors.

 

[Kathleen-WO]

Another Old Post I Found (2014)

We did take off the black round stop in the door and adjusted the nut but that did not fix it. it did make the inside handle almost open the door so with a hard pull we could get out the door. The black outside handle was still "lame".
We drove to Blanding UT , a small town of less than 5000 people where I found a garage that might be of help.They were too busy but called some one who might be of help. That guy knew someone who works for himself and is very mechanical. The garage called him and he came to our campsite ½ hour later !!!
The nut in the side of the door kept us from taking the inside part of the lock out of the door but he took he nut off and took the inside and outside of the whole locking/handle mechanism out. By putting the two parts together away from the door he noticed that one of the metal plates inside was bent. That is why the black handle could not make the contact to open the door. This may have been happening over the years. he did not know why it was like that.
A quick trip to his truck and some magic made the plate work as designed and within 15 minutes all was well again!!
This is not something we could have found since we were afraid to take the inside part out since we could see it was screwed into the side of the door.

* * * * *
Maybe I should have taken the inside part completely out. See what mechanics think of that ordinary people don't!

 

[Morich]

Well, got to say that you are now leading me and know far more about what's inside!
But I am kind of one of those old hammerheads that has to look at things and turn them over a few times to see what they do!
I take things to the truck and hammer on them!
But in your case, I would have to try pulling/ turning the inside handle and try to spot what is stuck or not moving and keeping it from moving, too. Seems like with ost of the internal connections loose, it should just be free to flip aounrd but something is stuck.
Maybe some part of the lock is not moving out of the way correctly?
Glad to hear you have a couple other doors. I DON"T! One way in or out the back window!

 

[creativepart]

I dislike this website intensely. It's impossible to find stuff, impossible to even know which link to click on.

The way I get back to this series of messages is because I've bookmarked it on Firefox. The other day, before I did that, I couldn't find it at all. There should be a place where I could see which postings I've started.

Hey Kathleen,
Sorry you don't find the forum easy to maneuver. You must be new to forums but the majority of forums work like this one - the software here is the most common Forum software used on over 3 million forums workwide.

Everything you want to do is do able, you simply haven't figured out how things work just yet.

You will get the hang of it. But here's a link to some instructions of how to make the software work for you. And, once you take a moment to learn the operations here you'll know how to do things at millions of other forum's too.

https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/f62/forum-101-posting-photos-and-accounts-help-349894.html

PS. Not a lot of other users have had the issue you are having... so it's difficult to find other posts/threads about the issue or how to fix it. It's not a specific issue with Winnebagos as that latch is used on tons of RVs. Check www.irv2.com (your log in from here will work there) and, of course, Google to find more info. That's how I found that YouTube video for you.

 

[Kathleen-WO]

I'm going to quit thinking about it for at least a week.


Creativepart: I did find other posts about locked doors by scrolling all the way to the bottom of this series.


Thank you for the link. I'll check it out.


And thank both of you for working so hard on my behalf. I'm sorry nothing has worked so far.



Kathleen

 

[Kathleen-WO]

I've Just Done Something Very Stupid

Good Morning Richard,
I took everything apart this morning and took tons of pictures. I found the problem, but I don't know how to fix it. The pictures will show you. It's a round gold rod attached to the door frame which accepts a black hook from inside the door. After they're meshed together, the black hook won't release. And that has to do with the white handle on the plate. I'll have to send two messages because it looks like I can attach only four pictures to each message.
Kathleen

Using some advice from TriMark, I took the nut off the shiny rod and pulled the inside white latch completely off the door. The handle still wouldn't move. I saw a little knob on the inside of the white part that I thought was supposed to be inserted into the black strip on the inside. I wasn't strong enough to get them to match up because I couldn't stretch the spring far enough. (All this is irrelevant.)


I was going to wait for some strong man to wander down my street and ask him to put the knob into the hole. We have a lot of mosquitoes here, and I didn't want them to get inside the RV while everything was taken apart. SO I CLOSED THE DOOR ! ! !


Mistake! Without the rod still attached, I don't know how to make the hook release from the gold post.


I've just written again to TriMark to ask if there's a way to open the door without the rod being attached.


Anybody want to try to guess?


Kathleen

 

[Kathleen-WO]

I GOT THE DOOR OPEN ! ! !
When I called Winnebago he told me that if I were to bring it in for service, the mechanic would play around with a screwdriver trying to unlatch the hook from the gold post. I finally figured out where to put the screwdriver, and the door opened.


My original problem is not solved: the white handle is still not moving.


But at least I can put everything back together and close the door properly now. I've written to TriMark a few times. Let's see if I get a response to my final question: if the handle doesn't move, is there anything else possible besides buying a new inside plate with all its parts.


Kathleen

 

[Morich]

Sound slike still a mystery going on! I've been out of action for a few days while traveling but just looking in to see how it goes.
But then again, I'm where I need to look over your shoulder now to learn something! Amazing how many places I have looked at an RV but still never looked inside the latch on the door! Lack of motivation, I guess!
Teach me, please? Where is this magic spot to put the screwdriver, as I may need it really bad at some point as my RV only has one door for breaking down.

 

[Kathleen-WO]

I'm where I need to look over your shoulder now to learn something! Amazing how many places I have looked at an RV but still never looked inside the latch on the door! Lack of motivation, I guess!
Teach me, please? Where is this magic spot to put the screwdriver, as I may need it really bad at some point as my RV only has one door for breaking down.

If you're standing outside the RV and looking into the spot where the shiny rod would go, it's in the right bottom corner of that area. I thought about where I'd been shaking the white plate and put the screwdriver there. I just shook it around a little and the door opened.


At first I was trying to slip the screwdriver between the gold post and the hook, but that's impossible.


But, as I said, nothing has changed from the original problem: the door handle is frozen. I wonder if I'll get another e-mail from the person at TriMark agreeing with that assessment.
Kathleen