Cannot open the habitation door!!

My 2011 Nuevo 11 habitation door has this ongoing fault. It works fine whilst we are using it and as is the case now we have not opened the door for a month. The actual lock is working fine both with the fob and manually but the door will not open. I always make a point of slamming it shut before locking it. I contacted the service center and they say keep pushing and pulling the door and repeatedly try to open it. I have had the van rocking for the last hour and I am worn out!! Any ideas please.

We had this problem with our hartol door on our Nuevo 2012 , it turned out to be the retaining stay at the top of the door coming loose and jamming.I managed to get the door open with brute force then with a blob of locktite tightened it up and weve been ok since                                                Regards

Our door is the SEITZ door and I have followed the instructions given by the service centre, so much so that I now have broken the entry handle!! I think that this system was a load of rubbish ever since the day We bought the campervan and now wished I had taken the matter up with Autosleeper during it's warranty period!! When you think about how hard we work our normal vehicle doors and how complexed they are compared to what is a caravan door. Why do these makers get things so wrong? Please excuse me. I am just hot and bothered!!

paul bullock wrote:We had this problem with our hartol door on our Nuevo 2012 , it turned out to be the retaining stay at the top of the door coming loose and jamming.I managed to get the door open with brute force then with a blob of locktite tightened it up and weve been ok since                                                Regards

The same happened to us and the solution was the same.

If it still is not open then have a very close look at the gap between the top of the door and the frame (from outside).
You should be able to see the stay sitting between the door and the frame.  See if you can move it at all. My door jammed in the same way as yours seems to have jammed. At the time I was inside. The bottom of the door was moving but the top not. I did not know what had happened but jiggled it around until it finally opened and the stay retaining screw fell into the footwell. At the same time a small nylon pad also fell.
Once the door was open the cause was obvious. The retaining screw had worked loose and when it came right out of the thread in the door frame it had jammed itsdlf between door and frame.  
I put the screw back with the pad between the stay and the frame and tightened it but checked it frequently. It took very few door opens before the screw was loose again so, until I was able to put some loctite on it I checked and tightened the screw every couple of days. Now it has been glued there is no more problem.

Might be best to tell AS so they can modify future models. Do they have a recall system?

regards

Mike

I finally managed to open the door as a result of a lot of rainfall and the temperature dropping!! As the door gave way and opened you could hear a noise which told me that the rubber seal around the door had got well and truly stuck with the heat that we had during the past month. So success, but poses another question. How do I stop this from repeating itself? The rubber seal has left rubber around the area where the rubber seal closes to, so I will clean it off with a spirit solution. Would it be wise to apply a thin film of grease to the actual seal? Any comments!!

I've not heard of a door seal sticking like that but it is common for window seals to stick. There are several suggestions for window seals from a smear of petroleum jelly to talcum powder.

Thanks for that, I have just had a conversation with Auto Sleeper who suggest that I use a silicone spray rather than a gel as that would attract dust particles whereas silicone would not. I remember that Ford advise the same thing for their convertible car roof seals which in severe heat can do the same. Bearing in mind that for 6 months of each year we are in very hot temperatures but are using the door frequently. We got back from our last trip and did not open the door for a month in quite hot weather for the UK!!

Mutleysdad wrote:Thanks for that, I have just had a conversation with Auto Sleeper who suggest that I use a silicone spray rather than a gel as that would attract dust particles whereas silicone would not. I remember that Ford advise the same thing for their convertible car roof seals which in severe heat can do the same. Bearing in mind that for 6 months of each year we are in very hot temperatures but are using the door frequently. We got back from our last trip and did not open the door for a month in quite hot weather for the UK!!

Had 'squeaky' door seals on the car and after using all sorts, including silicone spray, to no avail, was advised to try this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EINSZETT-GUMMI-PFLEGE-STIFT-RUBBER-CARE-STICK-/390397740572

Problem instantly disappeared!

Was so happy, I then went and treated all the rubber on the 'van'.   

PB

Thanks PB I have just ordered it. You cannot believe how a rubber seal can stick the door shut in the way that it has!! This can also jam up the seal on convertible cars to the point where it can blow a fuse or worse still damage the motor.

Thanks PB I have also just ordered some. I have had the door stick shut several times and it takes some opening and the rubber seal leaves a black deposit on the frame. I have previously housed Holts rubber lubricant which helped but eventually it stuck again. It always happens when it is very hit and the door has been kept shut when left.

Gummi pflege is the answer - I use it regularly on my old Merc SLK