Door latch went weird

[goldduster360]

I was getting out of my car last Friday after work and when I pulled the door handle something let loose and now my door has to be slammed to get it to close. The door latch used to have two catches now it only has one and you have to close it pretty firm to get it to close. The first catch was the safety catch and now it does not work. Spring or cam has failed?

Any one have this happen before? I would like to take it apart and see if I can fix it but I hate to pull the door panel off and find out I need to hunt down another latch mechanism if it's a non serviceable type of part. The striker is not loose and has not moved, tried adjusting just for the heck of it and nothing changed.

30 yrs of car crafting and this is the first door closing failure I have experienced.

Attempt repair or just go on the hunt for another one?

 

[cudamark]

Sometimes you can replace a return spring if that's all it is. Otherwise, you're probably looking for another latch. You won't know until you remove it and see what broke.