Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Driver door won't latch

Well, I just got back from a real interesting journey that reminds me of how much I love Ford quality. I had to drive home 10 miles in black ice/snow holding my drivers door shut. I tried everything to get it to shut. I pried at the locking mechanism trying to get it into the right positon but that didn't work. No matter what I tried it wouldn't shut. I've been having trouble with opening it from the outside for a few months now. When you go to open the door, it feels like it's locked, but you have to pull up harder to get it to open. Now this happens tonight, so that's making me think maybe the cable snapped. I tried pulling on the outside and inside handle as well as locking/unlocking it and the mechanism didn't move one bit. The ironic thing is when I got home and went to open the door, then the damn thing latched. I would like to think it's the cold weather, but with the prolonged outside handle trouble, I'm really wary. I don't know how it'll be tomorrow, but I can't do anything tonight outside in the dark and 20 degree weather. Is this a sign that the cable broke after a few months of pulling up hard on the outside door? Does anyone have a clue as to what would have to be replaced and how much a new cable assembly costs? I have to be at work tomorrow morning and I have no clue what I'm going to do if this thing decides to just swing open in traffic. It closes but if you push just slightly from the inside, it opens.

I have never had a problem with getting the door closed, but then again, I don't live in extremely cold temperatures..... Anyways, most people know to lubricate the door hinges, but I found I also need to lubricate the latch. It has been weird to open since I've owned it (when I bought it, I couldn't even open the door until I got the hang of it). Recently it got worse, so I lubricated the latch, now it is much easier to get into. I also lubricated (silicone) all the weather stripping so that makes everything open easier and not make that sticky sound (trunk is especially good at making that sound). I used some un-specified type of lubricant for the latch but it's made for doors hinges,etc. by a local company. White lithium is what I think most people use. Just use anything that will last a long time, doesn't hurt paint, and also won't pick up residue. Not sure that will solve your problem, but it may help... make sure you lubricate the latch real good in both open and closed positions.

This too happened to me (it was 5 degrees, and I washed the car earlier in the day, go figure). Thankfully, I was at work and took the panel off, used a heat gun, and a big glob of white lithium on the latch and all the internals. So far, this has worked great, even though I greased everything up in the fall and granted it hasn't been been freezing lately. Just know you aren't alone and hopefully this is the only fix you need. Hope this helps, and yes, from time to time I hate to say it, we are all reminded about Ford's cost cutting measures.
Sean

Well, I lubed it up pretty good and so far it's shutting just fine (crossing fingers). I sure hope it was just stuck due to the cold. It's supposed to be close to 60 here by the weekend, so I'm going to rip the door apart and see what causing the outside handle to pull up HARD when you try to open it. I heard a cable or something coming loose (and sometimes snapping) was a common occurrence.