Community Forums

SATXJeep · 08-17-2017, 07:26 AM

Second day of my trip and the bedroom sliding door won't latch in either the open or closed position. Anybody have this issue and know how to correct?
Thanks

X-OEM · 08-17-2017, 08:33 AM

Is the problem the same in all level conditions? Jacks up / down etc. Sometimes my bathroom door does not latch easily under certain jacks down situations. If your bedroom door design is like mine, I find it hard to fathom level conditions as the cause, but the only thing I could think of.

When you slide the handle up and down in the door, is there "some" resistance or does it move freely. You should be able to feel the mechanism working if everything is functioning OK. If it moves up and down really easily, maybe the sliding handle is not connected to the locking pin. Should be an easy warranty fix. Maybe a rubber door stop in the interim?

As I am thinking about this, the pin is spring loaded and slides along in the track until it come to a hole in the track at both ends and automatically extends upwards into the track and "locks" the door in place. The spring must be broken. I wish I could go outside and look at the door in mine, (it is in storage) must be an easy answer.

TJ · 08-17-2017, 10:49 AM

An easy temporary solution is to cut pieces of dowel (or something similar) to drop in the tracks. Add a duct tape tab to make them easy to remove.

TJ

Winemaker2 · 08-17-2017, 11:17 AM

look at top of door w/ flashlight...

Does the pin move down w/ the handle? Spring return up?

Are there stops w/ hole in each at either end?

Is it an alignment issue or parts missing / not working?

I'm not sure how to get the door off to remove / replace mechanism as I'm new to my Ventana...still a lot to learn

DGBPokes · 08-17-2017, 12:20 PM

Our previous Newmar, with the sliding door, wouldn't stay closed going down the road. We liked to close it and run off the dash air as much as possible. I tried Velcro on the wall first, that didn't work. Then added Gorilla Glue to larger Velcro strips. BIG mistake !!! DW couldn't get the door open, well big ole me can! Tore the jamb off the wall messed up the wood. After a big repair task, and lots of words of wisdom from the DW, I bought a door hinge pin form Lowes and drilled a hole at the baseboard of the wall,into the closed door and used the pin from then on. Worked perfect.

SATXJeep · 08-17-2017, 03:42 PM

Thanks for all of your suggestions and help!

I just stopped for the day and took a better look with a flashlight. The latch mechanism seems to be working fine. I can tell the spring is not broken. In looking at the pins on the top of the door it appears that the pin does not reach the "catch" hole on both the open and closed position. If I push up on the latch I can get the pin to catch on the hole.

Thank you all for responding! I have learned so much on this site due to those that take the time to help!

Beer time!

Sicduc · 08-17-2017, 03:59 PM

If you put your hand on top of the front corner of your door you will feel a pin that goes up and down when you move that handle turn it out a couple of turns and see if that works...

MJFZ · 08-17-2017, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SATXJeep

Second day of my trip and the bedroom sliding door won't latch in either the open or closed position. Anybody have this issue and know how to correct?
Thanks

I posted the following in 2012/2013. I hope it might help in your situation:

Symptom: On our 2012 DSDP one of our pocket doors would not stay latched when underway.The door would bang open and closed and we would secure it by putting pillows at the base of the door to keep it from opening.We had our dealer adjust the door as well as Newmar when in Nappanee having other work done on our coach. After each adjustment the door would stay latched for a few thousand miles and then would return tobanging open and closed.With the help of Newmar customer service, I decided to find a more permanent solution.
In retrospect I should have taken a few pictures, but while making the adjustment I did not think of it. I will do the best I can do to describe my solution. The door is held in an open or closed position by a plastic bullet shaped pin with a hexagonal base at the top leading edge of the door. When moving to either full open or closed this pin ramps up a plastic retainer mounted to the top rail and then drives into a hole. The interference fit of the pin in the hole is what keeps the pocket door latched in either the full open or full closed position.The plastic bullet shaped pin is firmly attached to a hexagonal metal rod that transfers motion from the finger pull mounted in the edge of door to the plastic pin. In both cases, when the pin was adjusted, the technician turned the plastic hexagonal base of the plastic pin counterclockwise and that would extend the pin further.At the time that seemed like the right thing to do and firmly latched the door. However, the plastic pin is firmly secured to the metal rod, so when turning the pin you are actually turning the rod out of a few small threads located in the finger pull. In my case, the threads being very loose would allow the rod to vibrate down in the finger pull retracting the plastic pin and then allowing the pocket door to freely open and close.
Once I figured out how this works, the next step was to fix it. There is no need to completely remove the pocket door as I did to make this fix work. To correct the rod adjustment, first remove the four screws that hold the finger pull to the door- don’t try to remove the finger pull yet. Second, remove the leading edge pin from the top trolley. This requires you to slide the plastic lever and then pushing the leading trolley towards the trailing trolley. I used a small round inspection mirror to see how this connects.This will allow you to drop the leading edge of the door down a few inches so the pin/rod can be retracted far enough to remove the finger pull. Now you can unscrew the plastic pin and pull the pin and rod up, once the rod has been pulled up a few inches, slide the finger pull off the door. You can allow the rod drop inside the notch cut into the door. The rod had about 1/8” bayonet end and then threads with a nut . The nut was secured with Locktite. I decided to add a second nut (6mm) against the first so the rod would stay extended.You could break loose the factory nut and move it down the threads and use locktite to secure it.Look at the finger pull and you will see the few threads that the rod attaches to.
To reassemble pull up the rod, slide in the finger pull and now screw the rod into to the finger pull. The tough part is getting the pocket door reconnected with the top trolley. This is when the inspection mirror and a small flashlight helps to see what’s going on. Not much room for your fingers, but with some patienceit will go back together. Don’t forget to move the trolley lever back to the lock position and replacing the four screws holding the finger pull on.