Front doors will not shut

1995 LINCOLN TOWN CAR
182,000 MILES • 4.7L • V8 • 2WD • AUTOMATIC
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KRIS KULP
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  • 2 POSTS
Both the front doors will not shut unless you take your finger and lift the little bottom latch up. If not the doors will not shut and latch.
Mar 22, 2020 at 5:43 PM
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JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • ASE Certified Mechanic
  • 110,194 POSTS
  • ASE Certified Mechanic
There should be a spring in the latch assembly that does that. It's possible they are broken or the latch needs cleaned and lubricated.

Have you tried cleaning and spraying them with a penetrating oil?

Let me know.
Joe
Mar 22, 2020 at 6:09 PM
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KASEKENNY
  • ASE Certified Mechanic
  • 18,907 POSTS
  • ASE Certified Mechanic
Just to clarify, when you open the doors from the handle, inside or out, they will open and then when you go to shut them they bounce off the striker? Then you need to lift the latch up and they will close normally?

If this is the case, can you get a video as best you can from the outside, opening the door and videoing the latch? Try to keep the door handle in the "open" position until you pull it away enough to see what the latch does when you release the handle.

Clearly the latch should not be moving when you open the door and release the handle so this is what I am interested in seeing what it is doing.

It may need to just be cleaned up but it is odd that both are doing it.
Mar 22, 2020 at 6:18 PM
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KRIS KULP
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Sorry it took so long to respond. I didn’t see your response until about a week ago and then took me until now to respond. Hopefully you still are able to help me figure out why both my front doors are doing this. Hopefully the video helps. If not let me know.
Apr 9, 2020 at 8:39 AM
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JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • ASE Certified Mechanic
  • 110,194 POSTS
  • ASE Certified Mechanic
Hi,

We are happy to help. Did you attach a video? I'm not seeing it.

Let me know.

Joe
Apr 9, 2020 at 4:17 PM
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