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SW Door frustrations

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1K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  DashingD90 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey guys,
Couldn't get my passenger side door to shut last night and had to drive home with my seatbelt threaded through the interior door handle to keep it closed. Feels like there are no obstructions at any point until the latch mechanism meets the striker then "THUD". The door just bounces off and will not even attempt to latch. I tried getting it to close the nice way pressing the release button on the outside handle and guiding it slowly to the striker plate before attempting to push it on. No luck. Tried the caveman way slamming it harder a few times with no luck either. Did a search and found a few write ups from people with door closing issues in cold weather when the rubber door seals harden. I live in Hawaii and the resistance definitely feels like it's coming from the point where latch meets the striker plate. Another write up said to blast away any grease build up that may be restricting the spring inside the latch mechanism. Tried that this morning and still no luck. The latch mechanism seems to have smooth action and looks clean. The door looks to be aligned as well. When I guide the door slowly to shut it, the latch mechanism seems to line up with the striker plate. It looks the same as the other door which works just fine. Have any of you had any experience with this? Any advice is greatly appreciated! :icon_peace:


Edit: Sorry guys forgot to mention, this is a 1997 D90 LE
 
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#3 ·
First you can move the striker plate outwards and see what it takes to get it to latch. If you still have acceptable door alignment and sealing, then roll with it. Also, isn't there a little piece of plastic around the bar on the striker, I don't recall right now but some vehicles have them. If this wore out and came off then everything gets sloppy.
 
#4 ·
Hey JimC,
Thanks for your suggestion! I did check the plastic sleeve and it seemed alright. Ended up having a couple friends look at it. First step was to remove the striker to see if the door panel would line up flush with the body to rule out an obstruction there. As expected, everything seemed to line up perfectly. Looking at the striker though, they noticed that an area of the metal was beginning to burr on one side on a place that the latch is not meant to contact. Added a pair of washers to shim it out a bit further and not it works perfectly fine! I can't imagine how or what decided to shrink suddenly to cause the issue in the first place.
 
#5 ·
Was there one of these between the door striker and the body? It might be that it just barely fit for the longest time and then your door hinge pins began to wear and the door gradually shifted rearwards. You can add another MWC3148 which is probably better than a couple washers. And if your hinges are nasty, get a set of the new-style one painted up and install them for fresh door action and no rust bleeds.
 

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