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Bay door latch won’t catch
Third bay driver’s side door has a pull knob in the utility bay (4th bay). Pull the knob, and the 3rd bay door unlatches. The pull knob has disconnected from the latch, and is hanging loose. What is the trick to reconnect it?
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11 Replies
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Pray……………
I had that happen. But I was fortunate in that when it came out in my hand the mechanism remained together long enough to allow the door to pop open.
I cannot remember the details, but I had to disassemble the mechanism from the bay I wanted open, reconnect the rod and make a modification to the mechanism to insure it would not ever come apart again. That was too long ago for me to remember the details. I presume you have a twin to that door release on the opposite side of the coach. If you have to figure out the magic trick to open the defective door that is the one that will reveal exactly how it is put together and what you may have to do to get the bad one open.
I can assure you there is nothing in any book anywhere that shows what you have to do.
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Thanks, Jon. Unfortunately, that’s the only door with a latch like that.
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If it is the door latch mechanism I am thinking of, it is similar to door latches on a car.
On my current XLII I have the same latch on the OTR condenser door, the evaporator door, the driver’s door to access the steer compartment and the door behind the tag axle on the passenger side. My only suggestion is to find another Prevost and see if you can use that as a means of determining what you may have to do to release the door so you can make the repair.
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Per,
I decided to see how to get you out of your dilemma and while I don’t have an easy answer I have some thoughts.
First, I am assuming the rod you pull to release the door ends at a mechanism like the one shown below.
The rod at the bottom of the photo pulls the lever and that releases the door. If the rod breaks or becomes disconnected the lever isn’t going to move. Obviously your first step is to extend something through the hole(s) the rod extends through to catch and pull the lever.
Unless you are very lucky the rod you have will have to extend into the bay and you will somehow have to find the hole in the lever and then pull. You are better off to create a slightly longer rod with a very short hook on the end so it will pass through the rod holes in the chassis, and past the lever, and then hook it as you pull back.
This is a slightly different view, and it shows if you run the new rod in it will only go so far as to hit the steel housing. Then from that, orient the hook so it will catch on the lever, and pull back. You may have to drilll the holes in the chassis to a larger diameter to allow room for the hook.
Hope this helps.
1999 XLV X-6872, liberty #440 -
Jon, I really appreciate you going out of your way to help out. I was able to get a longer rod through the hole and catch the lever. Once I got the door open, I removed the mechanism, and I found Prevost has a 1″–excuse me–25mm inspection hole with a plug on the knob side. Unfortunately, Marathon in their infinite wisdom saw fit to cover the inspection hole and plug with pretty plywood. So I took a hole saw to the wall, and now the plug is accessible. Your picture shows a lock device that locks the pin to the level–my broken one was laying on the bottom. I’ll see if I can get a replacement. In the meantime, the access hole lets me open the door any time I need to.
Again, thanks a lot for your help!
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This just happened to me too. This web site is AWESOME. I took your advice and got a coat hanger, cut it with some wire cutters and bent a small hook on one end. I inserted the coat hanger in the same hole that contained the rod and was able to open the lock within one minute.
There is an inspection knock out plug too, but mine was covered up with plywood and could not be seen until I had access to the locked compartment.
Thanks again for providing this web site to the Prevost Community!
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Pat, if enough folks start praising the site that much Tom and I may consider another increase in the dues.
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Per,
Do you have a pic of what you’re talking about? My handles all look the same.
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Tim,
Jon’s pictures above shows it pretty well. This is the door for the OTR AC, so you won’t have the side-opening door. It’s door number 4 on each side–I suppose you probably have a door similar to the other doors in that location. -
I don’t think Tim has OTR.
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Yep, no OTR.
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