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roadster door release sticky

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Carl W

2008, #311 thunder gray 1.5
Oct 18, 2016
148
132
laguna beach, ca
My 1.5 Roadster driver's door release takes 3 or 4 pushes of the button to actually open the door. It makes the proper "click" sound with each push. This happened to me shortly after I bought the car about a year ago, and someone suggested squirting WD40 into the mechanism, which worked immediately. However, starting about a month ago, it's doing it again and WD 40 has no affect. Any advice?

It looks to me like to get to the insides of the mechanism that I'd need to remove the door panel. Anyone do that before? Does it just pull off?

Thanks!
 
Hey Carl, I'm wondering if all the use of WD-40 has actually created a dust & dirt trap in the mechanism. An old school locksmith once told me many years ago to use graphite powder to lubricate lock mechanisms and I've had great success with it ever since. Does the door open as expected if you use the interior handle? If so, perhaps you have a bad actuator on the electronic release.
 
Graphite on an electric switch? I think DeOxit might be a better approach. I guess it depends where the problem is. A click of the switch (like the click of a keyboard key) might be the contacts making a mechanical connection, not an electrical one.
 
This happened to me shortly after I bought the car about a year ago, and someone suggested squirting WD40 into the mechanism, which worked immediately. However, starting about a month ago, it's doing it again and WD 40 has no affect.
WD40 is not a lubricant. See https://lifehacker.com/5891936/when-should-i-not-use-wd-40
QUOTE: “WD-40 isn't actually a true lubricant. WD stands for "water displacing" and its main use is as a solvent or rust dissolver. The lubricant-like properties of WD-40 come not from the substance itself, but from dissolving components. And the effect doesn't last. WD-40 can be a good substance to start with — it can help clean up rust or other grime. But depending on what you're working with, you should probably follow up WD-40 with use of a true lubricant such as one based on silicone, grease, Teflon, or graphite.”
 
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Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments. I will try spraying a true lubricant in there and see if that works and will let you know. Does anyone know how hard it is to remove the door panel? It looks to me like I will need to remove it in order to get to the inner workings of the latch.

It sounds like the mechanism is working with each touch of the door button, but it takes 3 or 4 pushes every time for the door to suddenly actually open.
 
Quick update. Immediately after I open the driver door, it will open every time with one button push. After some time, it usually takes two pushes. This is still progress because it started taking 4 pushes. After the lube, it went from 4 to 3 and now to 2 and sometimes 1. I think the lube is working it's way into place. My trunk also got resistant to opening but after the lock lube, it's been perfect again.