Failed hatch locking mechanism

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TheFinn
Advanced Driver
Posts: 266
Joined: Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:38 pm
Location: Finland, obviously

Failed hatch locking mechanism

Postby TheFinn » Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:23 pm

So far I've had one part failing on my car: the rear hatch locking mechanism.

A mate was checking out my new acquisition and after having had a look in the boot he slammed the hatch shut. But instead of it locking properly, there was just this unusual sounding thud as the catch wouldn't lock around its counterpart in the rear panel. Pressing the electric opening switch we could hear the solenoid clicking, but even repeated presses of the switch didn't help.

On closer inspection I noticed that the locking catch in fact swiveled correctly around the counter-pin on closing the hatch, but there was another catch that should have been triggered to keep the locking hatch in closed position. And it was this other catch that stayed inoperative.

As we were at my mate's parents' summer cottage about 60 km from my home there weren't any proper tools (i.e. Torx screwdrivers) available. Trying to poke the mechanism with some nails to unbudge the second catch didn't help either, something seemed to be well stuck. Fortunately the cinematics of the Mégane hatch are such that the hatch stayed down on its own, so I could easily drive back home without the hatch bouncing up and down even if it was unlatched.

Back home I stripped (next day) the hatch interior trim and removed the locking mechanism from the car. With the mechanism in my hand I still couldn't figure out what was wrong, so the only solution left was to open it.

After removing the white cover there was a little white piece of plastic that fell off from inside the mechanism. On closer inspection it turned out to be the other of the two pins on the side of a nylon cog operating the 'locking catch that locks the locking catch'. The loose pin had jammed somewhere in the mechanism preventing the cogs from turning.

Image

As I knew the cog wouldn't be available separately from Renault, and that a new locking mechanism would cost an arm and a leg, I had no choice but try to fix it myself. Well, TBH I gave the parts to my dad with the words 'do you think this could be fixed?'. :roll: Being a self-learned radio amateur who builds his own rigs it only took about 45 mins before he gave me back the mechanism saying 'I think it should work now'. :D He'd found a tiny screw from his parts bin just the right size that he used to fix the broken pin to the nylon cog, of course first drilling a small hole through the centre of the pin and through the cog. As the material was nylon-like and as such 'oily', superglue alone wouldn't have kept.

All in all, helps to have someone more skilled and, above all, more patient than you for tricky jobs... :D [/img]

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pedja_bl
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon May 17, 2010 7:13 pm
Currently Drives:: Megan 1.5 dci Grand Tour Privilege
Location: Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska, BiH
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Re: Failed hatch locking mechanism

Postby pedja_bl » Sat Sep 15, 2012 9:45 pm

It's exactly as you described! It was cheep and fast fix, thank you!! :mrgreen:
Image ~It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don't say it.~ http://palacinkarnica.blogspot.com/


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