Door Carrier Failure

[jgold47]

Replaced carrier about a month ago using URO part. Has anyone had this part fail this quickly? Wife says the door isn't opening from the outside again.
Its barely been driven since I installed.


Its 8f outside so I wont go check till it warms up.

Before I tear into the door in the driveway in the cold was currious if I should order a new part or if its likely just the cable that popped out of its holder again?


The last time I drove it I had the car washed (first time since installling the part), so is there something that water could have caused?


thanks

[tmv]

URO parts are garbage (knock-off cheap parts with no QC whatsoever)
GL

[djkovacs]

I replaced one about a year ago with no problems yet. From what i remember, the cable shouldnt really pop out, i think the replacement came with one anyways, and this is in cold Canada. Pop the handle off and have a look is your best bet. With the handle off, you can see if the carrier is broken. For me, the handle would not return all the way because the carrier was cracked, maybe check that too

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by jgold47

The last time I drove it I had the car washed (first time since installling the part), so is there something that water could have caused?


thanks

I'd bet that if the URO carrier is still good, it may not last for too long, their parts have all been garbage that I've seen.

However, if you just had the car washed and its 8 degrees, maybe your handle might be frozen a bit? pop off the double cap on the inner edge of the door and spray some teflon or WD40 in there to keep the handle from freezing shut. I use Dupont Multipurpose lube with teflon from Lowes on all my moving parts.


If its not from the car wash, yes there is a chance the cheaper part failed already.

[jgold47]

I went outside to check it out. definately wouldnt open, but I jiggled it and it opened just fine a few times in a row. Hopefully it holds up, and thats the end of it. I think I will try it again in the spring with the OEM part. I actually got the Uro from Amazon as it was the quickest way to get the part.

[Elvis 3.0]

with the cold dip in the northeast (arctic blast closer to where you are) i would say it is definitely worth your time to pull the caps off inside the door and use a teflon lube, coolant, or plain old frozen lock spray. i just finished talking to my wife regarding the known frozen lock problem on bmw's and the very next day- there they go! so a pair of needle nose pliers, a precision flat head, and about twenty minutes of patience ( those suckers are on tight) sprayed the hell out of the inside of the handle. no problems.

I think that locks will either freeze stuck open, or freeze stuck close depending. so it is definitely possible that your wife experience the latter. I just kept the plugs off in the event I needed to re-spray later in the winter. A quick note if it isn't obvious, the plugs have a permanent outer seam that is seated flat against the door, and you should see the inner seam of the plug. that is where you will pry and tug for an excessive amount of time in order to free them.

[Koody]

yeah the small caps are a b*tch to remove but do it anyways. Be carefull not to scratch the paint like i did... You wil hate yourself every time you open the door ...

[jgold47]

Originally Posted by Elvis 3.0

with the cold dip in the northeast (arctic blast closer to where you are) i would say it is definitely worth your time to pull the caps off inside the door and use a teflon lube, coolant, or plain old frozen lock spray. i just finished talking to my wife regarding the known frozen lock problem on bmw's and the very next day- there they go! so a pair of needle nose pliers, a precision flat head, and about twenty minutes of patience ( those suckers are on tight) sprayed the hell out of the inside of the handle. no problems.

I think that locks will either freeze stuck open, or freeze stuck close depending. so it is definitely possible that your wife experience the latter. I just kept the plugs off in the event I needed to re-spray later in the winter. A quick note if it isn't obvious, the plugs have a permanent outer seam that is seated flat against the door, and you should see the inner seam of the plug. that is where you will pry and tug for an excessive amount of time in order to free them.

when you spray, what are you trying to spray? the actual carrier or the lock?

this definitely wasn't the lock as the car could be opened from the inside.


I used a pick tool, stuck it in the middle of the cap, and wedged it up. I will replace with a new cap next time (its not really that noticeable, but bothers me).

[Elvis 3.0]

Where and What you spray is up for debate and not to be flip with the answer. That is, there is much differing opinion on whether it is the lock itself, the cable itself, combination of the two, or incidental to one another.

Therefore i.m.o. you are really trying to prevent the lock itself from freezing up as well as lubricate its parts. If you were to get the door removed again to access the carrier, there is an old thread that I feel gets often over looked that says to put lube in a latex glove and bind around the cable so it will act as preventative maintenance. It's kind of the chicken and egg argument in dealing with the carrier v. lock. Everyone is going to have a different experience and solution.

But for me, when the lock froze open I just used frozen lock spray, pointed the straw into the handle area through the door handle cap ( kept the caps off), sprayed liberally all around the lock/handle inside and have not had the problem since last week.

Here is the old post from way back which I think is pretty valid info if you pull the door apart and probably pretty good preventative maintenance regarding lubing the carrier cable-

http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x5/...k-problem.html

and here is a thread regarding spray/lube the door handles ( there was also one earlier this month with basically the same info)

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...sy-remedy.html

hope that helps

[davintosh]

jgold47: Is it the driver's side or passenger side that's acting up? If the driver's side, I'd definitely steer clear of using Uro. The other doors see far less action, so it may be ok there. And it's definitely worth the time to keep the garage a little warmer after a wash in cold weather to make sure things dry out properly. If that's not possible, letting the car run for a while with the doors cracked a bit and the heat/defrost on high can help. It's hard to keep cars clean in the frozen tundra!