Well I've spent half the day pulling it apart, but I still can't make my 74 kombi's sliding door close normally.

Problem is, to open it I need to press the handle and pry the rear of the door away from the body. I know it's meant to pop out by itself, but it's never worked that way, and I've finally had enough! Of course, I also have to slam the door closed, pushing the rear into place. And the door simply doesn't operate from the inside at all, enabling me to trap unsuspecting passengers for hours on end
:cry

Is there a way to adjust it so it works the way it's meant to? My manual is no use at all, because it's showing pictures of someone else's door, not mine.

i think all kombi doors are the same. mine only opens by itself because i am parked on a hill. you must learn the art of applying force to the handle and directing the rear of the door out from there, with a bit of practice and muscle it is quite easy.

There is a spring in the rear hinge & roller asembly, there is also a teflon guide block, if this is worn it will not allow the assembly to operate properly, you can get replacement blocks for around $12.00
Rob...

Pins in the hinges can also wear causing them to sag, this prevents the catch at the rear working correctly.
There is a little adjustment to correct this, but otherwise try and find good second have hinge/catch parts somewhere.
:thumb

I think the rear hinge is good. I replaced it yesterday thinking that this was the problem, but the problem remains...

I think the problem might be with the long spring/cable that goes from the latch to the hinge. Is the door handle meant to engage with this cable, and push it towards the rear of the door, when you turn the handle? It seems that the latch should connect to the cable, which should disengage the hinge, allowing it to pop open. But I get no action here.

I'm going to have to pull the latch apart and play....

Frustrating, but I'd really like to be able to open the door from the inside. What luxury that would be!

From the latch mechanism on the inside there should be two cables (well mine has two) running to the back. There is an adjustment on it which might help. Both inside and outside handle sit on the same spindle and operate the same two cables, so not sure why the outside one would work and not the inside one?
I don't think this will affect the closing problem though.
The plate bolted to the body (at the back of the sliding door) with the pin the catch hooks onto is adjustable and may help the closing problem. Make sure you mark it's current position first so you can go back if you need to.
:thumb

Think I've found the problem. There's a spindle on the plate that comes from the end of the cable. (I only have one cable that goes all the way to the latch) The handle has a sort of curved hook shaped plate that should (?) sit behind the spindle, and push the cable when the handle is turned. Mine sits in front of the spindle and just moves alongside the cable plate, it doesn't connect at all. I think it must have slipped out of alignment, because it performs no function the way it is.

The reason you can't get out from the inside is that you can't pry the door out at the hinge from inside. It's a bugger to do from the outside, but it's easier.

So I think the problem is that the handle only unlatches the door at the front end, and has no relationship to the hinge, which you have to operate mechanically.

I'll try to get the latch behind the spindle and see if that helps any. I can't see any adjustment zones for the cable on my door unfortunately.

Found the problem. My last post was entirely off track, and the handle end was doing exactly what it should be doing.

It was all in the hinge end. (Thanks Andy!) Tweaked the hinge down a bit (so the door sat a little higher in the back) which made the prying on and off easier.

But the reason that the door wouldn't release itself came down to a tiny little spring in the rear catch. The cables get pulled by the door handle, the cables then do some convoluted dance inside the rear catch, which allows the final bit that latches the door shut to release. But without a nice springy spring it just sits there and looks like a mullet until you use brute force to pry it loose.

So after cleaning a whole heap of crap out of the rear catch, putting in a new spring and greasing the whole thing up nicely, I now have a door that opens and closes beautifully, even from the inside! :bounce:bounce:bounce (I'm going to have to think of a new way to trap passengers now. Maybe occy straps...)

Congratulations, well done!!! :thumb

As for trapping passengers, just take the inside handle off. It works every time!

Nah, I'll just get them to sit in the front seat. I haven't fixed that door yet!

Cool, another fix well done :thumb:thumb

Congratulations on a job well done!!:thumb

I know what you went through i had the same problems with my sliding door and it took many frustrating days for me to fix.

Good work!!!

The trick is that holes in the door for the bolts which hold the hinge on are bigger than the bolts are, so you should get some play to adjust.

OK, first open the door slightly, so the hinge has popped open, but the door is only like an inch or two open.

(I hope you've got a walk through, cause there's lots of climbing over the front seats to be done otherwise )

Prop the door up as high as you can on a milkcrate and a few planks of wood, so that it bears all the weight.

Since you've propped the door up nice and high, the rear roller should be slightly above the runner.

There are 4 bolts holding the rear hinge in place. Two will be accessible from the inside and two from the outside. Take them all out.

Keeping the hinge inside the door still, wriggle the damnable beast of a hinge so that it comes downwards a bit in the door. If you've propped your door up properly, you should get a couple of mm play in each bolt hole.

Put the bolts back in. When you're doing this, the hinge may try to ride up again. Swear at it and force it back down.

Tighten bolts VERY tightly, or you'll be doing it all again soon!

Good luck!
:thumb