A customer in Staines-upon-Thames called because the front door was becoming extremely difficult to lock.
The door would still close, but only just, and the locking action had become hard work.
I removed the multipoint mechanism from the door and then discovered I did not have the correct bit with me to open the gearbox security screws.
Being only a few minutes from home, I took the mechanism back to the workshop so I could inspect it properly.
As soon as the gearbox cover came off, the fault was obvious.
Rather than replacing the complete gearbox, I had a matching donor unit from an identical model that had previously failed in a different way.
I explained the option to the customer and he chose the repair.
I transferred the usable component, rebuilt the gearbox and refitted the mechanism to the door.
The multipoint system was working again, although I was clear that with a repaired older gearbox there was no sensible way to predict exactly how long the repair would last.
