Rear door won't open

whileyrider · Post by **whileyrider** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 7:55 am

Hi everyone,

I've had my L400 since 2011 and it runs like a dream, but this winter the electric door locks have started to act a bit wonky. Side door works intermittently, which isn't a big deal as I just have to double check. But now the rear door is acting erratic. I searched on the forum but didn't find a thread dealing with this issue specifically.

A few weeks ago it ceased opening, either with the key or with the electric locks from the driver's door. But then last weekend it came back to life for a couple of days, but now isn't working any longer. During the brief window, I sprayed some WD-40 in and around the mechanism to see if that would loosen things up. (Note: I know that WD-40 is a degreaser and not a lubricant, but thought it might loosen things up.) I'm thinking that the hard winter was a factor and maybe there's some moisture in the rear door in and around the locks. I think the solution is to lubricate the moving parts in the mechanism, but I'm pretty clueless about this problem.

Possibly related, last fall I noticed that the rear door latch/mechanism wasn't engaging as positively when closing the door. It would close and lock, and I couldn't open it with my hands, but when driving it sounds clunky from time to time as if the latch isn't engaged as well as it should.

Any ideas? For some reason, popping off the panels on van doors is scary to me because I feel like if I don't do remove it properly I'll have a hard time getting it back on. I'm tempted to take it to a shop to have it done, but am not sure whether it would be a body shop.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Post by **FalcoColumbarius** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 1:43 pm

I drive an L300, different, I know but it may be the same thing I discovered. If you have a third brakelamp in your rear windscreen ~ it's possible that there is a door lock pin within that lamp casing. As I said, mine is a Starwagon and in my case ~ the tailgate stopped opening (except by a great deal of fidgeting) and I couldn't for the life of me suss it out until I remembered that the early Starwagons came with locking pins for the tailgate. It turns out that when they introduced the third brakelamp in the window, they just built it over that existing pin lock. Over the years the plastic pin lock cover vibratedly™ unscrewed itself until it lengthened the whole pin enough that it came in contact with the top of the brakelamp casing, hence unable to fully unlock.

I'm not saying this is your problem but I could see them leaving the pin lock in the L400s and.... well it might just be the cause of your problem ~ or not.

Falco.

whileyrider · Post by **whileyrider** » Thu Mar 23, 2017 6:56 pm

That's worth checking for, thank you!

I assume it's easy to pop the plastic interior panel off if you know the right attack points, no? It's hard to find any resources on line for this after searching for a bit. and the manual doesn't seem to show the rear trim:
http://www.delica.ca/manuals/L-400%20Ma ... TERIOR.pdf

Post by **FalcoColumbarius** » Fri Mar 24, 2017 1:27 pm

I haven't documented the tailgate but I have written a thread on the front door, same general game.

This is the link to the thread: Two Ten Millimetre Self-Tapping Bolts And A Window.

Falco.

chris · Post by **chris** » Fri Mar 31, 2017 11:28 am

Here are some pictures:

http://imageevent.com/russpix/photos/tailgateconversion

The thread is here: http://www.mdocuk.co.uk/forums/viewtopi ... 35bfbbaa07

Remove the pull-down handle and then carefully pop the fasteners. Then get covered by black goo from the vapor barrier.

204explorer · Post by **204explorer** » Fri Mar 31, 2017 5:40 pm

I have two issues with my rear door. I have to replace almost all the plastic trim clips and dont know where to source them. I also try to figure out where the switch for the interior light is. All other doors have a seitch that turns on the interior lights when the door opens. Cant find it for the rear door.

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chris · Post by **chris** » Fri Mar 31, 2017 6:50 pm

The thread link above has a picture and part number for either a mitsubishi dealer or auto parts place or eBay.

If I understand you correctly, the light over the hatch area does not come on when you open the hatch? If so, check to make sure the light cover is slid to the correct position (the lens is the switch.) If thats not the problem then the door doesn't know it's open and I think the switch is inside the latch of the door and is activated by the metal catch.

204explorer · Post by **204explorer** » Sat Apr 01, 2017 6:29 am

Chris, the light rear interior light comes on when any other door is opened but not when the rear hatch opens. Of course once in a while it will work. When i take the cover off to replace the clips i will investigate this.

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