Door latch problem

[Mad Cow]

Ever since I bought this car the driver's door latch has been weird, sometimes it wouldn't latch shut when I closed the door (door just bounces back open). After trying to figure out why I realized that the door has a better chance of latching if I let got at the last second and let if swing closed under its own momentum instead of holding on to it the whole time. I also noticed a squeaking noise coming from that same door when driving over rough roads, probably from the chassis flexing and the door not being latched well enough. Finally, a couple of days ago I hit a big bump with the front driver's corner of the car and the door just popped open to the half-latched position and refused to latch fully until I stopped and closed it. Also, not sure if it's related but my interior driver's door handle has alot of play, I can move it about 1/3rd of it's total swing before it catches and unlocks the door. The latch mechanism itself moves freely, so greasing it won't help.

Could it be as simple as the striker being out of alignment or is my latch/mechanism busted? I don't want to rip out the door panel unless I have to because I know how fragile those damn clips are.

[TMatthews]

I had a similar problem but a much less severe. My problem was caused by a small spring that is attached to the interior door handle. You have to pull the door card off and either find the spring or put a new one in its place.

[A4Shizzle]

Well the interior handle problem is very common from what I have read here. It's almost normal with the age of these cars really. I have the same issue, but since it's not really "broken" I'm probably going to put that off for a while. To fix it you have to get behind the panel and either replace the whole mechanism with new (used will probably be the same) or McGuyver something from the hardware store.

The other issue could be the alignment or the door frame and latch. I had the same thing happen when I had to take the whole door off to get to the inner lock mechanism. When I put it back on the first time (didn't mark alignment before removal) it bounced right back at me. It was a little disappointing since I thought I was done, but it was a quick fix. I just loosened the huge torx bolts on the hinges and wiggled it around till it closed right, then tightened them back up. I would imagine it could be fixed the same way on your car.

GL!

[esrokes]

yes that little spring for the door handle really is bad, it loosens up and rattles terribly... you will be better of seeing if you can bend your spring or get a assembly from the wreckers, do you need any help on removing the door card?

[USAF Long]

Just bought an A4 in Tampa, drove it back to Dayton and the damn drivers door is doing the same thing. I have to try to shut it like 5 times before it catches. The latch in the door is easy to move, I can put my finger in there and push it down but it won't lock into place. Obviously this is a problem. Before I take it to a body shop is there anything I can do myself to fix this?