My passenger door won't close unless the window is all the way down Anyone else had this happen and how to fix?
Hi Dave: I've not had that problem, but I have had the door panels off a few times. The latch is a typical Italian design. It relies on rods that actuate the latch. I can imagine, that perhaps one of those rods is slightly out of adjustment and that the window in the down position imposes a slight lateral load on the rod which puts it back in range. Cheers Mark
A bit more information. When the door is open and I raise the window all the way up it automatically drops back down a bit like it's supposed to but when I close the door it springs back like the window was up all the way. Its been going on for awhile and I have just been slamming the door shut. The other thing is its intermittent, sometimes it works properly. Its time to go in there and fix it but I've never taken a door panel off. Anyone remember any tutorials, have any tips?
It sounds like you have two different problems in the very same area. Adjust the door latch, so that you can close the door without having to slam it (and have it bounce back on and off) The switch that controls the window probably needs some WD 40. The switch is located inside the door latch.
I had a similiar problem where the lock would not catch. My mechanic advised WD40 on the lock. That worked for a while but in the end they had both door panels off and cleaned all the linkages and regreased. They said the wrong grease had been used at the factory and it had gone hard. Possibly lack of use as when I bought it, it was reasonably low mileage.
I think I may have cured the problem, at least its working now but I had to get professional help on this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APl0edZ8gI8
Dave, my passenger door acting differently, in the beginning could not close the door with no body in the passenger sit, after adjusting the exterior lock by ferrari the door closes nicely. Now, if somebody is in the passenger sit the door closes and open without problem intermittently. In this situation the only way I can close the door is by pushing the door in gently and it closes. I believe the whole thing is the alignment of exterior locking issue. I am in the middle of assembly of the right door, I took the whole thing apart for de sticky the interior latching handle. You can not do in situ , the whole thing needs to come off. I took pictures and I while post when it is ready. Some blame on the grease became hard, but these are 15 year old cars what should expext, just wipe off and re grease it. Do this test turn the battery off, leave the hood open, open the passenger door all the way with the window up, then activate the window switch see if the door cycles and if you close the door now you should not be able to open unless you go and turn on the main switch( that's why I said leave the hood open, so do not blam me) if it does then you need external alignment. See what happens. Sark.
Not that this helps at all... I spent a couple days with both door panels off my 2001 456M because the driver door would not latch one morning. It just bounced off the weather stripping. Latch would not hook on the striker. The locks have never worked since I've owned it, I just left it unlocked everywhere. Then it quit latching and I had to do something. I left it until after lunch and then went out the to parking lot to find the latch was working and closed on the first try. I pulled EVERYTHING apart and cleaned, lubed, ground on, bent and adjusted all of it. I checked every electrical switch for function, the harness plug in the front door jamb, solenoids... everything. Put it all back together several times adjusting everything until it worked perfectly. Key fob now locks the doors as do the key and the inside lock button. That was really a nice feeling. Since then, I've had the driver door bounce off the weather stripping again, twice. I cycle the locks, roll windows up and down and it eventually clears and latches. I'm at a loss. I don't think it's related to lube or adjustment. The manual clearly says do not activate the lock buttons with a door open, but I've not done that. Interested to see how this gets resolved. Martin
The WD40 I sprayed in the door latch mechanism has made it work perfectly so far. Eventually I'll probably take the panel off and do a proper job of cleaning the old grease off and re-lubricating with synthetic grease but I'm going to wait until it acts up again.
I've had my panels off 15 times. I can now do it in the dark in 10 minutes. Remember this was a $250,000 dollar car.
Reviving this thread. And I have read Dave's later posts about adjusting the window microswitches. I have this issue on my passenger door. It initially seemed to be OK with the window down so I adjusted the microswitch - but then it didnt work at all - the joys of intermittent faults....... When I next try I will try a bit of upward pressure on the door and / or adjusting what you guys call the "striker" (is this the bit screwed inside the door shut that the door latches onto ?). When i press the door inside the shut the window will go back up but it wont latch, it occasionally latches with a slam. This suggests to me that the car knows the door is shut but the latch still wont catch. if anyone can post detail on how it works, or what I can try next, I would be grateful..... thanks in advance.
Quick question: how can I adjust the outside door handle micro switch on my 550? My doors and windows work perfectly without any real problems But I notice sometimes that the handle must go out a bit before the window go down and the door lock is released. Sometimes I feel that the window has not enough time to go down before the door opens. It would be better it the window went down immediately when I grab the outside handle so that the window is completely outside of the rubber gasket when the door unlatches. Any idea?? Thanks a lot!
Looking at photos of the parts, I'm not sure you could independently adjust the microswitch. Here's a photo of the switch (thanks Ricambi) Image Unavailable, Please Login It's a button type microswitch, not an adjustable lever, and it's solidly mounted with two screws. It appears to be operated by a rotating cam. Image Unavailable, Please Login Perhaps the only way to adjust the trigger point is to adjust the entire handle mechanism? The button on the microswitch may be worn, leading to late activation. On first look, it does seem like a bad design. Experts?
thanks for the effort in posting the pics. the switch itself cant be adjusted but it sits on a bracket that can be rotated, thereby changing the point at which the mechanism hits the switch. Having inspected mine this is happening, and the window drops. It also still wont close when the window is all the way down, and / or the position of the switch is adjusted. So I doubt it is the switch - therefore I am keen for advice on other possibilities.
Thanks, Matt. I've been trying to make sense of the wiring diagrams for the doors/windows for almost a year now and haven't been making any progress. According to the WSM, there are 6 microswitches for each door. Driver's side SW1: outer handle (shown in photo above) for window dropping. Item 19 in the 550 parts manual (P/N 63859800) SW2: inner handle on armrest for window dropping. Item 22 in the 550 parts manual (P/N 171120) SW3: window position sensor (function?). Item 26 in Window diagram (P/N 168617) SW4: "door locking" sensor (function?) SW5: "door unlocking" sensor (function?) SW6: door open sensor on B (?) pillar for interior lights and door open indication. I haven't been able to find this in the parts manuals. This doesn't include the microswitch inside each locking motor-actuator, window operating switches, etc. If that wasn't complicated enough, there is a switch module shown in the parts manual which has 3 switches tightly packed together: Image Unavailable, Please Login This is labelled "doors locking microswitch" in the parts manual. Item 18 (P/N 63859200) Image Unavailable, Please Login What is the microswitch labelled 14? SW3 is shown as item 26 in the parts manual (for power windows). P/N 168617. Does this stop the window when it has dropped a few inches (as a result of door opening)? Image Unavailable, Please Login Sorry, I probably should have started a new thread for this.
coming back to this, i have been doing further research with the door card off. What i have noticed is that the door invariably wont latch if you open it and rapidly close it. I was playing with the outer door handle and watching the mechanism inside the door, and noticed the outer handle handle microswitch (63859800, SW1 in the post above) clicking at the right moment - but then every time I tried to close the door after playing with the handle it worked. So I think something is getting stuck such that the car thinks the outer door handle is being used which stops it latching. I am therefore considering replacing this switch, it isn't too expensive - do people think this is the likely culprit or could it be another part ? I forgot to try it after the door is opened from the inside, as if the door then closes that confirms the view it may be this switch.....
coming back to this - it wasnt the microswitch issue described above - the problem with intermittent problems is they play with your head. having read some other posts i decided to play with the door striker, as when i manipulated the latch in the door with the door open it clicked into the close position every single time. So i used a couple of washers to shim the door striker into a more prominent position and the door closed every time, even with minimal pressure applied. I hope this is it, but I wont claim victory just yet.....
