Haynes' World is a regular feature that takes a look at what the staff at Haynes are doing with their vehicles. This time, a dodgy door lock is driving Euan to distraction.
Car: Seat Ibiza 1.4 Sport
Owner: Euan Doig
Car manufacturers are seemingly intent on filling cars to the brim with new, high-tech and inventive ways of improving your âownership experienceâ. Heated armrests, massaging seats, warm air blown onto the back of your neck â the intention is to make it feel like youâre at a spa day, when in fact youâre at Norton Caines services.
But I can tell you now, I have found the best piece of interactive technology, and itâs fitted to my Seat Ibiza. A door.
No, I havenât lost my mind â it really is. You see, ever since I bought it, my Ibiza has suffered an issue with the driverâs door lock that caused the door to fail to latch completely every time it was shut. This necessitated an extra tug every time I got into the car, or an extra shove every time I got out.
The door is the first and last aspect of the car you experience on every journey, so such an issue tainted each trip in the thing. It was frustrating in the extreme.
Why wonât my car door lock?
My investigations soon revealed that the door lock simply wouldnât latch properly, no matter how much lubricating fluid I doused it in. The mechanism was clearly faulty.
So, I invested in a new door lock, then dug out the Haynes Ibiza Manual and started to do my homework.
Car door lock replacement
I looked out the tools I reckoned Iâd require, including the masking tape, and set to work.
The door inner trim came off fairly easily, although the fact that my car is a three-door posed a slight issue because one of the screws was in a different (obscured) place.
Still, it came off easily enough, and I remembered to lower the window before unplugging all the connections.
I then pulled out the plastic bungs, which allowed me to undo the window-mounting bolts, taped the glass to the door frame, then detached the wiring loom from the door inner panel.
After that, it was a case of removing the door-lock bolts, then the bolts holding on the door inner panel, and removing it from place.
I then unplugged the electrical connection from the old lock, then unclipped it from the panel, and as Jo Bon Jovi once said: we were halfway there.
Refitting is a reversal of the removal procedure
Prayers over, it was time to start the reassembly, and truth be told, everything went reasonably well, apart from me being unable to thread the handle release cable through the door to the back of the exterior release handle. I had to tie some twine to it, and use that to pull the cable through. Still, it worked.
Everything went back together just the way it should, and once reassembled, the windows worked properly. And you canât imagine the sense of relief and joy when I shut the door and it latched properly first time â and has done so every time since.
Nothing rattles or squeaks either, which is a pleasant surprise.
Wish Iâd done it months ago, because it would have saved much gnashing of teeth.
Mind you, you can imagine how I felt when exactly 23 hours after completing the repair, the Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) suddenly decided to wake up in the middle of the dashboard. I now know exactly how John Cleese felt.
Letâs hear about your repairs
Anyway, if you have a tale of success, frustration or annoyance at how a DIY car repair has gone, why not let us know about it? Weâd love to feature you and your car on the website. Just give us a shout on yourrepairs@haynes.co.uk. We canât wait to read about what youâve been up to.
