OK....I ended up taking the whole seal off the door that opens to the refrige..it was not glued or attached with any type of fasteners....it was sitting in a groove that went all the way around the inside door...I removed it and noticed the bottom of the seal was stained brown....rusty color...so I checked for any seal breakage...none...which I was happy to discover and then I slid the cleaned seal back in the track and closed it and it worked and stayed shut.....so happy...I did buy a new latch but didn't need it...I'll save it for just in case.....