Habitation door won't open

On the road again

On the road again

Joined
Jun 2, 2017
Posts
317
Likes collected
483
Location
Manchester
Funster No
48,883
MH
Dethleff Trend
Exp
5 yrs +
We have a Bessacarr 442, 2016, and went to the storage today, pressed the key fob to unlock, step came out, door wouldn't open though. Got in through cab door and tried from inside, no joy. Tried locking, re-locking, unlocking, engine on, engine off, short drive, locking/unlocking from dashboard lock button etc etc all to no avail.
Called Swift and said new mechanism needed but nearest dealer who can even have a look is in Catterick ( we are in Manchester) and not until Monday and then they will have to send for part if needed.
Problem is we leave for France/Spain on 5th Sep for a month. :(
Anybody got any solution or ideas please?
 
Can you hear the the central locking motor operating when you operate the key fob or the dash lock button ?
Can you open the door manually ?
Can you put up a photo of the inside of the door ?
I may be able to help you, both my old Bessie and now my Rapido Hartal doors required repairs.
Cheers
Ed
 
Sheddy said:
Can you hear the the central locking motor operating when you operate the key fob or the dash lock button ?
Can you open the door manually ?
Can you put up a photo of the inside of the door ?
I may be able to help you, both my old Bessie and now my Rapido Hartal doors required repairs.
Cheers
Ed
Click to expand...
Hi Sheddy,
Can hear loud and clear the motor both with fob and dashlock. Can't open door manually from inside with handle, from outside with handle or key.
Can't post photo tonight, MH in storage.
Looking closely whilst locking/unlocking either way there is no movement of the locking bolts and no movement when , from inside, I tried to get them to move with a bit of downward pressure from a screwdriver but no joy.
 
My experience is with Hartal doors, do you have a curved full length access panel on the inside of the door like this one ?
 
That's the best pic I can find ATM Sheddy.The top and bottom pair of locking bolts just do not move
 
I have not stripped that type of door before.
As to the fault my best guess is one of the internal operating link rod ends has popped out of its location.
You will need to remove the door cover to get access to the top and bottom latches and the operating handle mechanism, look for screw head covers to remove to get to the screws, on mine there are 3, 2 on the grip handle and one on the door latch. The inner edges will probably be secured with plastic studs which can be carefully prized apart or industrial strips of Velcro. The outside of the panel edge may well tucked under the door rubber seal which can released and refitted.
Initially I would try and get access to the area around the handle to see if you can see any displaced parts or manually operate the top and bottom latches to open the door, you may be able to do this without removing the complete cover.
Somewhere in my garage I have a couple of spare top and bottom latches, but I can't find them I was going to see if they can be released with the door closed by moving the smaller spigot either in our out, maybe worth a try.
Best of luck
Cheers
Ed
 
Many thanks for your help Sheddy. I will have a look at the door tomorrow and follow your aadvice although I am the least DIY/ technical person you could ever meet so it might have to wait until I can get it to a dealers. :(
 
When you pull the internal handle there might be a screw behind it,if you take it out you should be able to remove the handle surround and see a bit more.
 
Thanks RB62, I will be back up there tomorrow and have a look for that and see what I can do.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Don't forget you don't have to use a dealer's, just an authorised repair workshop (if you want a warranty claim now or to protect that for the future) - there are more of these, more widespread, quicker service, and often better service as it's their main job, while a dealer's main job is selling.
Choose 'service centre' in the Dealer Type dropdown box:
https://www.swiftgroup.co.uk/find-a-dealer/type/repairer
 
On the road again said:
We have a Bessacarr 442, 2016, and went to the storage today, pressed the key fob to unlock, step came out, door wouldn't open though. Got in through cab door and tried from inside, no joy. Tried locking, re-locking, unlocking, engine on, engine off, short drive, locking/unlocking from dashboard lock button etc etc all to no avail.
Called Swift and said new mechanism needed but nearest dealer who can even have a look is in Catterick ( we are in Manchester) and not until Monday and then they will have to send for part if needed.
Problem is we leave for France/Spain on 5th Sep for a month. :(
Anybody got any solution or ideas please?
Click to expand...

We live in Staffordshire and have a very good registered (MCEA quality standard) mobile caravan/motorhome engineer just down the road. If we were having your problem we would be on the phone to Richard straight away .....it's a lot closer than Kettering and Richard is an excellent engineer we have used him for several years with both the Eriba caravan and now our motorhome. I'm fairly certain there are registered mobile engineers closer to you but we can recommend this guy. It's an option.
www.centralcaravanservices.co.uk. We have no connection with this company other than to use it ourselves.
 
Thanks to all for the help and advice. The MH is still under warranty so cost is not the issue, it's the time left before we go abroad 5th Sept latest and the (lack of) dealer's who have the time to do the job, hence the Catterick trip.
Parrot face, that sounds exactly the same problem and I will see if I can get at the mechanism to check.
 
If it is then we couldn't get a replacement spring until we returned from Spain. So we flipped the lever over and so long as we always locked the door but didn't pull the handle we managed to get through a 9 week tour of Spain.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Cheers PF, just been onto dealer I purchased from on Preston (so getting closer!) and they will check it out early Tues morning.I will see waht they come up with and tell them of your experience.
As long as they identify the problem, if the worst came to the worst, I could drive over to the Swift group in east Yorks and pick up the parts myself.

Don't know why I didn't contact dealer we bought from in first place, just thought it would be quicker to go direct to Swift in case it was a common problem and I was doing something wrong.
 
On the road again said:
Don't know why I didn't contact dealer we bought from in first place, just thought it would be quicker to go direct to Swift in case it was a common problem and I was doing something wrong.
Click to expand...

Are you sure that Swift will give/sell you the parts?
When the smoke alarm packed up on my Bessie, they refused to send me a replacement one direct. They insisted on sending to their appointed dealer, who was miles away, and only after I had gone there first for them to inspect the broken one, waited 3 weeks for the part to arrive, then go back for the dealer to fit it.

Turned out cheaper for me to buy a better quality one off Amazon and fit it myself.

Thats customer focused service for you
 
Last edited by a moderator:
What I am saying Robert is that, when the dealer sorts/identifies the problem and if parts are needed, I could, to speed up the process and ensure we get away on time, pick up the parts myself, after being ordered by the dealer, as they are less than 90 miles awy unlike an overseas MH maker.
They have agreed it is a free warranty covered job and the problem I have is getting it done in time
 
On the road again said:
What I am saying Robert is that, when the dealer sorts/identifies the problem and if parts are needed, I could, to speed up the process and ensure we get away on time, pick up the parts myself, after being ordered by the dealer, as they are less than 90 miles awy unlike an overseas MH maker.
They have agreed it is a free warranty covered job and the problem I have is getting it done in time
Click to expand...

Have Swift told you that they will allow you to collect the part?
Great news if they will
 
@Robert Clark - our Bessacarr 484 occasionally plays silly buggers re the hab door and the central locking system. Suffice to say we never leave the keys inside the vehicle, as on one occasion we could have been locked out. Haven't quite worked out what's going on yet, but this thread is of interest. Can't help thinking there's some sort of clash between locking and alarm systems, as the hab door isn't consistently treated as the 'boot' by the alarm fob, but still locks centrally from the dashboard and the driver's door lock. There might also be an issue with opening the hab door from the inside without centrally unlocking. Or not. It's all very confusing.

You say Manchester - have you tried Spinney, near Holmes Chapel? They have a service department (for future reference, as you already appear to be sorted for this issue).

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
We have had an issue before, similar to the one you describe magicsurfbus and thought it was the same this time but, after numerous attempts and combinations could not unlock from inside or out so got in touch with Swift to see if it was something obvious we were missing but they seem to think it's the mechanism not the sequence of events.
Not tried Spinney, we've only had it 2 months and 1st major issue so Preston is a) where the dealer is and b) closer for us in North Manchester.
Robert- they have not said we could pick up parts but it's my last resort solution ATM
 
Just an updateto the 'problem'.
Up early and to storage for 07.00 . Pressed key fob, step slides , tried door.............................opened no problems! :)

Checked all combinations of locking/unlocking and worked perfectly. Returned this afternoon to re-check and all OK.

Cancelled dealer visit but just wonder what I did wrong or what went wrong last week. Obviously not mechanical.
 
That's great but it could still be mechanical. There are some longish connecting rods in the system and it's quite possible for something to stick but still be flexible enough to appear to be operating.

Now that you can I'd suggest getting inside the door - care there could be a hidden screw or two in the handles - and checking everything is operating freely. Be embarrasing if it happened again when you're miles from anywhere.
 
I had exactly the same problem on a swift, I contacted hartal, or the UK concession, and they sent a engineer out. In ten minutes he took door apart, reattached rod and showed mecwhat to do if it ever happened again ( it did twice). Worth a try ?

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
We've just experienced same problem, we'll yesterday. Saturday morning just after Xmas, no one answering phone. By then I had not read this post..... management wouldn't have let me try repair anyway, ha.... no trust in my abilities 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

However in the end someone did pick up phone and said if we drove to him he would fix. His mobile van was being MOT.

Repair same as described above, photo shows door lever, silver cover comes off, silver bar unscrew then remove panel top to bottom.

Behind door lever is an arm with u shaped hook on end which has disengaged from lever housing. Obviously put it back then working.

Before he started he pushed the two "arms" sticking out of door side, one top one bottom, then returned after repairs done. Photo below.

I think I going to happen again as door lever is not opening cleanly, this was the case before it disengaged. Ha... Will management let me now repair. 🤔🤔🤔🤔

Anyone in Heysham / Morecambe area might find these people useful.

Leisure Medics on Heysham Business Park. James looked after us, nice chap.

20250105_120103.webp
20250105_122020.webp
 
Last edited:

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Join us

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top