Ducati sliding door striker plate adjustment

[Lizbiebrowne]

This one will move the TRAILING EDGE of the door in and out of the doorframe and also lift or lower the trailing edge of the door in relation to the doorframe. To adjust the door OUT of the door frame you will need to loosen the torx bolt next to the three white adjustment lines and pull the door OUT of the doorframe. To adjust the door UPWARDS in relation to the door frame you will need to loosen the bottom nut on the bolt that acts as the hinge and correspondingly tighten the top nut by the same number of turns, every full turn will translate to about 1-1.5mm up/down vertical movement of the door relative to the door frame. You may have an issue with the door dropping so lifting the trailing edge of the door will help, however I still think the issue is the latch mechanism.

This one will move the LEADING EDGE of the door up and down and in and out in relation to the door frame, it has to be adjusted UP AND DOWN at the same distance as the corresponding slide mechanism at the top of the door ( the photo below) To adjust the door UPWARDS relative to the door frame you will need to loosen the three torx headed bolts ON THE DOOR, by a max of 1 turn each to give you some friction between hinge and door and prevent the door from going completely out of alignment, to make the door move UPWARDS relative to the doorframe use a lever or a strong helper to lift the bottom edge of the door making the hinge move down the door (I hope that makes sense!!). TIGHTEN AT LEAST ONE TORX BOLT IMMEDIATELY! To make the BOTTOM OF THE DOOR move IN AND OUT of the doorframe you need to loosen the grey nut and move the door in or out according to the three guide marks.
THE TOP OF THE DOOR MUST BE ALTERED UP OR DOWN AT THE SAME TIME AS THE BOTTOM OF THE DOOR, IT DOESN'T MATTER TOO MUCH ABOUT IN/OUT.

This one alters the UP AND DOWN and IN AND OUT of the top of the door, it works a bit like the trailing edge adjuster in that there is a threaded hinge that allows the door to move up/down relative to the door frame. To move the door UP loosen the top nut by the same amount you moved the bottom plate/door joint (pic above), then tighten the bottom nut by the same number of turns. To move the TOP LEADING EDGE of the door loosen the bolt in the middle of the mechanism and adjust in or out accordingly.

Having said all of this I still think your issue is the latch/lock mechanism. My reasoning is that the stick on decals on the trailing edge of the door seem to line up perfectly with the those on the side of the van, the swage or fold contours in the door seem to line up well with the the door frame when the door is shut, and you say the lock/door opening has gradually become more of a problem. My experience of dropped doors is that it looks really obvious that it's dropped because the swage lines are out of alignment and getting the blighter to open or shut is a pain in the Arras all the time and doesn't materialise gradually.

Hope this helps!!


Cheers!

Russ

Thanks Russ for going to all that trouble. I only hope I can translate your comprehensive instructions into a positive result.

 

[RustyRuss]

Let me know if you need more assistance, I really like doing things like this, it’s like a 3 dimensional version of a crossword for me!!

Cheers!

Russ

 

[RustyRuss]

Did you get it fixed in the end?

 

[Lizbiebrowne]

Been tinkering with it this morning. Loosening the bolts as you suggested allowed the latch to swivel quite easily on the top right bolt, no force needed. The green rings mark the bolts’ original positions. I tried loosening off the top right bolt further but there’s no movement to be had there. The door does close significantly easier now. The handle is still stiff so I’m wondering if that’s a lubrication issue. All in all a good result so thanks very much for your help and interest.

 

[RustyRuss]

I’m glad you’ve had some success. The handle will come apart by taking an “escutcheon” plate off the inside of the door, probably a pz2 self tapping screw in the middle behind the actual door pull/handle. Remove the escutcheon plate and then there will likely be a plate with the handle set on it and several galvanised steel rods about 3mm thick attached to it. Photograph everything from multiple angles to make sure you don’t mis place any of them, numbering them before photography is also a good idea. There will be a decorative cloth and hardboard cover over the inside of the door, it is attached using push on plastic clips, use a lever, like a small crowbar, as close as possible to the clip and lever the panel off a clip at a time.
Work the door handle with the door open to see what all the rods do, it’s fascinating! Note that some of the rods will slide in slots and appear not to actually do anything, this is because the next thing you have to do is lock the door… but with the door open. In post #34 above, top picture, you can see the lock mechanism that will catch the latch in the doorframe when the door is closed, use a big screw driver to simulate the latch on the doorframe and “shut” the door (leave the door open but operate the catch.. hope that makes sense!) and you will see all the rods moving in relation to the door handles. What you will probably find is that the door lock is stiff and will need to be persuaded back to the open position with the tip of the screw driver when you use the handle to “open” it again.
Use silicone grease spray (nothing else) on all joints and the lock mechanism, work the door lock mechanism a few times until it pings open on it’s own without the use of a screwdriver.
check it works properly before putting the decorative panel and escutcheon plate back on.
Finally, you are very likely to break a few of the retaining clips, next stop the local scrapyard, they are universal fitments on all cars from the early 90’s onwards for door panels and the scrapyard guys will very likely give them to you, you can get a HUGE bag of them on flea bay for about £10.

Let us know if this helps with your stiffness!

Cheers!

Russ

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[Lizbiebrowne]

Thanks Russ - we're off on our inaugural continental trip next week so I'll have a go at this on our return. Thanks for your help.

 

[RustyRuss]

Pleasure! Have great fun!

Cheers!

Russ