This is my first winter with my 2002 4Runner. So far so good, until this morning when it was -30 degrees outside.

When I opened the passenger side rear door to get my ice scraper, and then tried to close it, the door latch wouldn't catch. The door just would not stay closed. When I opened the drivers side rear door, the same thing happened.

I could get the doors to at least stay closed if i locked the door and closed it, but the latches still weren't engaging properly. The dash light for an open door would not shut off, and when driving, I could hear the wind noise from the doors not being closed properly.

Looking at the latch mechanism on the doors, there seems to be a fair bit of grease on there. I am guessing that the combination of grease and the cold weather has gummed things up a bit.

Any ideas on how to rectify this situation? I am thinking of cleaning and regreasing the back door latches when it warms up a bit, but am not sure of what to use to clean the old grease from the latches (WD-40?) and what to use to regrease them (white lithium grease?).

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Sometimes just greasing them back up helps out in the interim but with all the old crappy grease on there it is much better to wipe it clean first, spray it clean if you can and then apply fresh grease. I usually use white grease.

 

Could also be moisture in them, spray with WD-40 and relube with a small amount of grease.

 

Thanks guys