Re: Habitation door failing to lock with key fob

by gassygassy Tue Feb 27, 2024 4:40 pm

On mine, the trim had already been taken off for this job which might, to the innocent, seem to be a regular part of a 5,000 mile service hugegrins

. The rubber pulls away from its slotted in fixing but the straw coloured plastic is held in by 283 staples which you have to ping out with a small tool. You do not need to disassemble any of the window to get the inner skin off.
Getting the pull-shut handle apart is probably going to be the difficult bit. You can unscrew the big Phillips screw easily but there is another one hidden inside the hollow of the handle at the lower end. As mine had already been taken apart I was able to gently prise the two halves apart. You will see a join between the door-side half and the hab-side half. Exert a gentle but firm force on the hab side half, forcing it away from the door half. Hopefully it will separate, but it depends what glue has been used. If you just lever it away keeping a constant strain on it, hopefully it will come apart. If it does, you will see the other screw which is easy to undo. Then of course pull the straw coloured panel away and the whole glory of the operating mechanism is there in front of you. Operate the locks by pulling the cables and you will see how it works. On mine, one of the complex shaped springs was broken and I suspect that may be a common fault. I got replacement springs from AutoSleeper. I think they were about £12 each which is not bad for a spring that must cost over one penny to make - but less than two pence. But at least you can get them. Send A/S and email with your build number (inside or near the glove box) and they will identify the correct spring, and you can order it from them.
I didn't bother with re-stapling the inner skin when I rebuilt it. I used double sided foam tape and just stuck it in place. At the same time of course you will rotate the pull handle through 180 degrees so you can open the cutlery draw. I 'glued' my hab side half of the handle back using non-setting butyl rubber sealant, as used to seal panels on motorhomes. Very cheap, about £3.50 for a cartridge. As it is non setting I can just pull it apart when the job needs doing again.
I notice that A/S, instead of ordering doors with handles rotated like this, just give you a pull-open flap now.
Some photos so you know what to expect:

Habitation door failing to lock with key fob - Page 2 4546e210

Habitation door failing to lock with key fob - Page 2 A031f310

Habitation door failing to lock with key fob - Page 2 1dc69b10

by Caraman Tue Feb 27, 2024 5:30 pm

A really useful video. He described a 'white stud' which the solenoid hooks onto. The white stud had broken on mine. The Lippert tech removed all the staples and didn't refit them. He didn't use a hair drier. The only glue holding the inner skin to the door was double-sided foam sticky tape that he prised apart with a Stanley knife. He didn't attempt to remove the inner handle intact. Instead he took a drill to it to expose one of the screws which he then undid. I know gassygassy got his off intact but that may be because it had been removed before. Mine seemed to be stuck in with hard glue. I see gassygassy removed the whole inner skin and rubber seal. As in the video, the Lippert tech only removed enough of the rubber seal to gain access to the internal mechanism. The bottom of the seal is glued at the mid-point of the door. He left this intact. He stuck a new cover on the internal handle with white silicon sealant so I may be able to get mine off without damaging it as gassygassy did. I can't say I'm looking forward to doing this job.

by gassygassy Tue Feb 27, 2024 8:26 pm

Yes, my rubber seal was also stuck to the door frame at the bottom in the centre. You don't need to tear this off the frame.

by Caraman Fri Jun 14, 2024 1:01 pm

I finally got around to splitting the habitation door apart and replacing the internal locking mechanism and the black external door handle after swapping the barrel lock over only to discover as I was trying to refit the upper and lower cables that they had sent me the wrong mechanism! So I had to take it off and reinstall the old mechanism after I had replaced a missing screw and nut and tightened two others which seems to have solved the problem. Its early days but it all now seems to work although I sometimes have to use the unlock button on the key fob a couple of times for it to fully unlock. How long it will remain working is another matter. The photo shows the new one fitted where there isn't enough space to connect the cables and the old (correct) one held by it (sorry the photo is on its side). You can just make out the missing and loose screws. I couldn't get the beige plastic internal door handle off without breaking it but I had spare.

Habitation door failing to lock with key fob - Page 2 Img_7318

Gassygassy has already explained how to gain access to the inside of the door so this is my repeat:

1.         Fully open the door.

2.         Remove the plastic beige cover on the long internal door handle.  Its stuck in place.  The cover will probably get damaged so a new one should be on hand.

3.         Remove the short screw and washer at the bottom of the long internal door handle.

4.         Remove the long screw holding the internal door latch to the door.

5.         Peel back and remove the black rubber seal that goes around the door leaving the join at the bottom of the door intact.

6.         Remove all the metal staples that are holding the skin to the edge of the door.

7.         Use a Stanley knife to cut through the double-sided foam tape holding the edge of the skin to the door.

8.         Checking there is nothing holding the edge of the skin to the door, carefully prize the edge of the skin away.

9.         Use Stanley knife to separate strips of double-sided foam tape in the middle of the door/skin.

10.       Detach the bottom of the linkage rod between the internal door latch and the internal locking mechanism.

11.       To remove the internal locking mechanism, remove 4 long screws and 4 short screws, detached the two latch cables and the 12V supply for the locking motor.

12.       To remove the external black door handle, remove 4 more screws.

13.       To swap over the barrel lock, use a red Zada barrel removal key.

14.       To remove the long internal handle, unscrew the top bolt from inside the skin.

15.       Reassemble in reverse order using fresh double-sided foam tape.  Don’t bother to refit the staples.  Consider refitting the long internal handle the other way around to allow more space for the cutlery drawer if there is an end kitchen.

16.       Use silicon sealant to stick the plastic beige cover back on the long internal door handle.

Tips – do it on a dry day with no wind that can catch the open door or door skin and if on a gravel drive put a tarpaulin down to catch anything that drops off.  Take photos before removing screws etc.  Have a step ladder to hand to reach the top of the door.

by gassygassy Fri Jun 14, 2024 5:27 pm

Well done caraman. Mine had a broken bottom spring- the one in the picture so I ordered one top and one bottom one from A/S. I only needed the bottom one so I have a top one spare if anyone needs that. They are £12.50 each, but as you cannot fabricate one yourself, you just have to pay the price they ask! Must cost . . . ooh .. .. . 0.0185p to manufacture. by the time you have set up the machine to make 10,000. Which I think is a reasonable manufacturing run for these very common doors.