99 'Burb with Door sticking

[sogteam]

I've got a 99 Suburban with a sticking driver's side door. When I pull the handle to open, it has to be forced a bit occasionally to open. A couple of times the door lock has stuck in the lock position when I open it and I am unable to shut the door until I get a screw driver and unlock it by pushing up on some little part (I don't know what it is called) that makes the lock move back to the open position. Anyway, I am wondering what parts needs replacement--does this sound like a bad actuator? I have a friend who is a Dodge mechanic who says he can replace the bad part but he told me I need a new "latch assembly" after he attempted to "adjust it" but there was "nothing to adjust." I guess Dodge's are different. Does it sound like I need a new actuator? I just want to be sure to get the right part. Thanks much!

[gregory914]

The rear passenger doors on my 97 would not open unless you pushed them, it turned out to be lubrication or lack there of! I sprayed the latch mechanism and opened and closed it a few times and all was well for a year or so. Then it needed another shot.

The actuators may be a different story, I haven't had that pleasure yet with mine but one of the posts above sounds like he's got it dialed in. GOOD LUCK.

[sogteam]

What type of lubrication did you use? WD-40? Silicone spray?....Thanks!

[gregory914]

It was Slick 50 ONE Lube, a PTFE based lube that pumped out not sprayed and looked like a clear oil, comes in a skinny red can. Or you could go to a parts store and see if they have "Red Grease", it comes in a spray can and works great, better than the white lithium sprays. A mechanic gave me some and I used it for years on door latches and hindges. It sort of foams up and penetrates.

[nm156]

Hello, I also have a '99 burb and just went through the same problem. Gregory is right about the lube. What I did was take some brake cleaner and spray out the locking mechanism real good. Cleaning out all the old lube. Then I used the lube and it's been fine for about a year now. Now as far as opening the door, I don't know if you meant from the inside or out. I had a problem a couple of months ago where my driver door handle on the inside slowly broke off. It was a problem for a few weeks until finally it broke off in my hand. I replaced it myself, the trickiest part is getting the door panel off. It only cost me 35 bucks at the dealer and about an hour labor. Good luck. I almost forgot if you do it yourself you will have to drill out a 3/16 pop rivet that is on the handle assembly and replace it.

[sogteam]

Thanks for the tips on lubing...I tried this approach and didn't see any results (I didn't remove the door panel but just sprayed inside the whole where the latch is). Is this enough?

Since my first post, the door won't open from the inside at all. I have to roll down the window and open from the outside...a real pain. Luckily, it hasn't been raining too hard when I need to do this.

Do I need to remove the door panel to get to the part that needs to be lubed? Feels like I'm gonna break it if I try.

[bendam1]

If you can open the door from the outside but not the inside you might want to check the entire mechanism from the inside door handle to the latch mechanism, first you want to see if anything obvious is loose or has come off from any where, each time a link is connected to another linkage it will have a clip that will secure it to the other so look for that. Then go from there. Now if you pull the handle to try and open the door and it's really tight feeling or feels like it's sticking then you should try and locate where that problem might be. Sometimes the window coming down rubs against one of the arms and tweaks it just enough that it won't work properly, also the arm mechanism will come out of the rail holder as well it's a little white piece of plastic that acts as a guide and over time it will wear out as well and just won't hold the door arm. Or the linkage arm might be rubbing against something internally a brace, bracket, rivet, etc... And it just might need to be tweaked away a little bit and or lubed. I know that this might sound confusing but if you take off the door panel and just pull on the latch to see what is moving and or not moving it'll be clearer to you, hopefully. Hope this helps.

[jluddy]

Originally Posted by gregory914

The rear passenger doors on my 97 would not open unless you pushed them, it turned out to be lubrication or lack there of! I sprayed the latch mechanism and opened and closed it a few times and all was well for a year or so. Then it needed another shot.

The actuators may be a different story, I haven't had that pleasure yet with mine but one of the posts above sounds like he's got it dialed in. GOOD LUCK.

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gregory914

I saw your reply on sticking doors and wondered if this stuff (Slick 50) works for quieting creaky doors that do open OK. Or is it just for sticking doors?

Thanks for your help in advance!
jluddy