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Joann, 1 st check the latch assy. for any visible damage, replace if bent or worn. Sounds like the lock mechanism is seizing up, You can try to spray with a thin oil WD (penetrent oil) etc. to free up including inside lock, to lube the small tumblers inside. You have to, if able, remove latch assembly and soak in oil over night if real bad.
The lock actuator may also be defective and links below will tell more about that.
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Sometimes the latch arm is bent causing the latch release not to clear the hook on the door. If the arm goes under the front it is probably bent. Carefully pull the arm back toward the locked position and try to bend it back a small amount and see if the door will open after moving the arm back to the open position. If that fails sometimes you can insert a bent coat hanger between the door and the latch hook and move the latch enough to unlock the door. I hope this helps
Open trunk and pull cable in left rear side trunk panel. This is an emergency release for the fuel door. You may have to pull gently out on fuel door while tugging at release cable several times. When the door opens oil latch solenoid tip and bend tab on door latch about 2mm towards hinge. The fuel door is flimsy and tends to get bent. Once it is bent it prevents the latch solenoid tip from releasing the door latch.
The short answer is yes, something could have bent when that gate was closed with the latch already closed. Look at the latch and make sure it wasn't jammed before you do a full replacement. If the latch is closed use a screw driver to open the latch while using the key to open the gate. Once you get the latch open try closing and locking the gate.
If this specific dryer has the door that opens forward (top to bottom as opposed to left to right, etc...) the common problem is that downward pressure on the door has bent it slightly. This happened on mine when one of my daughters would lean on the door while loading and/or unloading the dryer. If this is the case, then the door may pop open while running even though the latch looks good.
The best way to tell is just let the door rest naturally in the closed position. If it does not rest all the way closed, then the lower portion of the door & frame has been slightly bent as indicated above.
The door & frame has to be slightly bent/forced back out at the bottom. This can be accomplished with a large screwdriver or something similar such as a paint mixing paddle or basically anything that will fit between the bottom of the door (from the inside) and the dryer frame. Very slowly close the door with the paint paddle or large screw driver in place (again on the inside...not from the outside of the door). The goal is to just barely force the bottom of the door framing back out without warping it grossly.
Just take your time and be as gentle as possible & make small adjustments until the door will remain closed and latched.
The latch is really only required to keep the door secure while clothes are beating against the door interior. Proper alignment actually keeps the door closed.
When did this start happening,was it all of a sudden.what have you done differently..check that one of the baskets isnt stopping the door from closing all the way..or the door latch may just be broken..or somebody has sat on the door while open & its bent.
Hi,The hinges are important to the door closing properly. If they're bent or deformed, you probably need to replace them. Once bent, only rarely can they be straightened well enough. Also the latch on many dishwashers is adjustable. If your door is easy to close but difficult to latch, adjust the latch to let the door close more easily. If you can't see any way to adjust the latch, yours may be fixed in a certain position. Check for other reasons for the latching problem.
What you should do is spray the latch with pb blaster,556,or wd40.Shut the hood and after a couple of times it should work better also do a visual inspection of the latch and make sure nothing is bent.
make sure the latch isn't already in the closed position. next if you've already slammed the truck several times and haven't broke the latch yet, you may have bent the latch that's attached to the truck lid as the sheet metal in this area is very flimsy. using a flash light , slowly close lid while peering in to see if the latch is lining up. you should be able to tell if its bent and in which direction. i had this similar problem and i simply grabbed a hold of the latch and pulled it forward, bending it back into a position where it will line up and latch on bottom piece. ( the part attached to the body and not the truck)
If you used force to push it shut when it was stuck open, then you may have bent a hinge. Another possibility is that something fell into the hinge mechanism on one side and is jamming it.
On the other hand, if it was stuck shut, you could have a problem with the door latch.
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