So I replaced the passenger door latch because even after cleaning it my power locks still wouldnt work. I used one of those a premium latches off amazon since thats all I can find. After replacing the latch the door wouldnt close easily, to fully close I had to slam it. Also bearing in mind I currently have the inner door seal off while waiting for replacements. Ive adjusted the striker and even with it far enough out that the door doesnt sit flush to the body and it still takes more force to close than the other side and the handle seems to have a lot of tension since its hard to pull compared to the other side. Anything im missing or should ask them to send me another latch?

 

How are the door hinges?

 

As far as I can tell theyre ok, the door doesnt look like it sagging.Should I adjust the striker downward to account for possible hinge issues or is there another check I can do?

 

Open the door all the way, grab it from the bottom and lift up. Check for loose hinges and let us know what you found.

 

It has less than 1/8 inch of movement up and down.

 

Is the door latch high or low when lining it up to the striker bolt?

 

Just because the latch is new is not a sure thing that it is working like it suppose to.

 

typically when power locks don't work you need to first try and clean / grease the hell out of all the rods and moving pieces of the system.
i recently replaced my lock actuators because the locks weren't working unless you pressed the button a million times in a row. replacing the actuators didn't fix the problem. i then used white lithium grease on all the moving parts where the rods attach to the latch. i needed to spray multiple times and then work the rods back and forth to really get the grease into all the nooks and crannies. eventually i got everything fixed so now the doors lock and unlock with one press of the button.

 

I am getting old. My 83 is all manual and never had electric locks. Sorry, but at least you know your hinges are ok.

 

When closing tbe door I dont feel like a hump or any kind of jump when hitting the striker, leading me to believe I dont have a sag issue. I do however have to push quite hard. Heres a picture of the latch and striker with the door cracked. At this point im thinking I may have a bad new latch, but I dont see any alternative latches listed. Also I did clean the old latch pretty well and even let it soak in degreaser but the power locks still wouldnt work, but they do with the new latch.

 

From your picture it looks like the striker bolt is to low.

 

I suppose I could try grinding a slot upward to see if it fixes it. Gotta wait for my hand to heal alittle first.

 

Looking at this, it seems to me, too, that the bolt is sitting too low.
And also too far outward, as those marks in the latch show... BUT... that may be because you don't have door seals.
If the power door locks work fine, the mechanics of the lock are also fine, so you may want to try adjusting the latch mechanism as far as the 3 mounting bolts allow and then, if still necessary, adjust the bolt itself, but there's not all too much play available at that end.
I've seen people extending the bolt with shims and widening the bolt hole to get more play, but would recommend that only as last resort.

 

Im not sure how its supposedto be but on mine the 3 mounting bolts and the holes in the door all have a tapered part so im under the impression that only the strikers adjustable. Ive already widened the adjustment on the striker so I suppose it wont hurt to raise it some just to see if it sorts it out.

 

you shouldn't have to grind it. You can loosen the striker a bit and move it upward

 

I would also suggest you buy the field service manual for the year of car you have. It covers everything. Almost.

 

On my car the adjustment hole was the size of the striker and had no room for adjustment without grinding.

 

Was your car ever in a crash.

 

Clean title and the previous owner didnt disclose anything, but there is a few spots where it looks like the paint might have been resprayed.

 

It looks like NCC2569s fix might be the answer for you. Keep us updated.

 

Im gonna update this for those who are curious. So no matter what I did adjustment wise nothing made a difference without the door sticking out way past the body line and the window not sealing. I found a thread about using the dorman 940-103 latch from so other model and figured id give it a go. With the new latch installed I still had to adjust my striker outward but now it lines up and works pretty nice.

 

Well thanks for the update. Where did you get the first latch at?

 

The first latch was from A-premium off amazon.

 

More and more parts out there are nothing but junk. Buyer must beware.