Help! doors suddenly wouldnt close!! 84 Cougar.

September 18, 2006, 04:26:00 AM

Hi all. I own New Zealands only 1984 Mercury Cougar 302 V8 and possibly the only fox bodied cougar in my country, right at the bottom of the South pacific . It was imported from hawaii to Nz in 1987. It is still stock original and in great condition, in white with the original factory 'wires' , wheels. But.. Ive had something really weird happen. One day I was sitting in my car and was waiting for someone else in my carpool to jump in. I hit the unlock button and they hopped in but when they went to close their door it just bounced and wouldnt connect with the catch. So.... I jumped out my side and went around and knelt down and tried to shut the passenger door. There was nothing I could do. So I went back around to the drivers side and hopped in to call a friend on my phone, but... what do you know?....huh?... my door wouldnt shut either!! both doors would almost shut but would not connect on the catches. It wasnt electronic..it seems ..as the push-button entry still worked and i could still lock and unlock the catch, but its as if something mechanical had kind of 'shut down' in both doors. I do not understand this at all. has this happened to any other cougar owners or does anyone know what has gone wrong?. We had to drive home, physically holding the doors closed with our hands!!!..as both door catches had simply kind of 'shut down'. any ideas? I would appreciate any help. Thanks and best wishes all. will post some pics of my cougar soon. Tim. 84 Kiwi V8.

Help! doors suddenly wouldnt close!! 84 Cougar.

Reply #1 – September 18, 2006, 09:29:05 AM

The latches have probably "latched" on you - it's fairly common in older cars when the lube in the latch assembly dries up(though strange to have both doors do it at once unless the car has been sitting). Take a fairly large screwdriver and stick it in the latch where the pin would go if the door were closed. Pull up on the door handle and use the screwdriver to move the latch mechanism to the open position. Once you have them open, lube them up. You may have to open and close the doors several times to work the lube in.