Slam Latch Issue

[Roper46]

There are three slam latches on the basement/storage doors on my 5er. Two on one side & one on the convienence center door.

The latch on the convienence center door will lock and will not pull up. However, when it is locked you can just pull on the locked latch and the door will open. I just finished swapping out this entire latch assembly including the strike plate with the assembly that works perfectly on the other side. And this swapped assembly does the same thing on the convienence center door.

But the assembly that was originally on the convience center door now works perfectly on the other side.

Any thoughts on a cause or a fix or both for this?

[LHaven]

Without seeing the door, my first guess would be that the striker plate is set too far outside, or the door isn't large enough to fill the gap (possibly warped).

[Poppy]

I had a slam latch that acted the same way and I asked several people how to fix it. I got no satisfactory answer.
I ended up putting a pair of vice grips on one side of the catch and giving it a soft blow with a rubber mallet. Mode the grips to the other side and repeated the process. Now it works good for me.
Don’t hit it too hard because that aluminum will fracture.

[Ken / Claudia]

I think the testing of the different latches showed you the gap is to large on the compartment that opens when locked. Make a shim, place under the metal piece that the door latch locks to. Thus raising that piece to engage the latch more. Bending as mentioned might work just as well.
I keep door shims around to use for problems like that.

[Roper46]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Currently on the maiden voyage with the 5er in Savannh Ga. Been visiting family and my mom stayed a couple nights with me.

Will try the suggestions for the latch next week when I return home. Thanks again.