locked inside..can't get out

[greenRNtrav.]

my 79 argosy's door closes just fine from the outside, just a gentle knug engages the door closed. from the inside however, i cannot pull in the door hard enough to get that "click". i'm pulling on the screen door handle, but it won't be long until that fails, and i'm running out of superglue to fix the interior latch that keeps breaking from my attempts to pull the door closed. then the other night i used the pliers to pull the door closed, and "voila" locked inside. i had to get someones attention to open the door from the outside. at first i thought maybe it was a leveling question, as i've seen that posted widely as the culprit, but the fact that the door closes fine from the outside, makes me think it's something else. any suggestions would be appreciated

[Lumatic]

Is this a new problem?

Maybe add a handle on the inside to get a little more pull.

Photos, especially of the latch, would help.

[markdoane]

When you close it from the outside, are you pushing on the door panel, or on the latch assembly itself?

[greenRNtrav.]

i am pushing on the latch assembly itself...does that mean something?

[markdoane]

Only that the skin on the outside of the door is flexing when you push on it. I don't think addding a handle on the inside would help as it would only be pulling on the inside skin.

If you could add a pull knob that is mounted on the latch itself it might give you enough pull. Try taking one of the screws out that holds the latch together and replace with a longer screw with a drilled through knob.

[greenRNtrav.]

thanks mark, that's a pretty ingenious idea, i'll try that. then let you know