Drivers door creaks opening/closing

[holler1]

It's hard to tell from your picture since the rubber boot covers up the check, but chances are the check itself is OK. You should be able to see that by pulling back the boot. In your photo the "check mount" is to the far right just below the electrical connector. The "check mount" is fastened to the car pillar and the metal cracks around it. A photo taken from an angle more left to right and with the boot pulled back would show the mount.

The real hinge does have a stop that will prevent the door from opening more than about 90 degrees (in my car anyway) and hopefully will prevent crunching the door against the pillar, but the check is what keeps it from opening too far and holds it in place when open. Without the check if the door is slammed opened hard it looks like it might break the hinge.

[valvster]

Here's all the info you need
http://au.geocities.com/ozbrick850/door-stay_fix.html
I followed this procedure (without the magnets though) and it worked a treat.
I only used 1 bolt and it has held for over a month. Drilled the spotweld out with a cordless drill easily then used a hi tensile bolt and washer to clamp the bodywork and bracket together. The lower weld was OK so I decided to leave it intact.
My local Volvo repairer sends these jobs of to the crash repairers who charge 350 Aussie dollars to fix....my cost $10 and 1.5hrs.
cheers....Valvster

[wheelsup]

OK so I got into the door today, I found my window track was bad, the bolt on the bottom that held it on wasn't tightened down and over time caused the metal to fatigue and break the bracket. It's $22 at the dealer, so I'm trying to epoxy it now and if that doesn't work I'll pick one up. While I was in there, I also found out why my door handle was loose and pulls away from the front, it's because instead of a plastic C-bracket it's held back by duct tape!

My door check was fine, I removed it and the door opens without noise. There is a small crack on the top weld causing the metal to creak.

I was T-boned about 4 years ago in the front quarter panel right where quarter panel and door meet and I believe the door was replaced (it looks unpainted inside while the pax side is painted). I'm thinking the weld failed (or was helped to fail) because of fatigue from that accident. In addition the window track failed because it wasn't tightened down enough. I placed a call to the body shop, the repair was guaranteed for life so I might be able to get all this fixed for free. Here's hoping!

If not I can repair the window track and get that to stop clunking, and hopefully repair the handle bracket, and I think I will leave the door check off for now. The two hinges on the door actually have some sort of stop on them built in so the door won't open all the way and damage anything if the check is out. I'll decide what to do about that later on, I might end up drilling it out if I can't get the repair done for free. I probably won't have it re-welded due to cost.

[larryh]

don't do it! leaving the check out is a bad idea! the first time you open the door on a downhill slope and forget to hold on to it, it'll swing out and rip the hinges off the pillar. And i hate to think about the damage you'll do to cars parked next to you in the parking lots.
c'mon man, it's only 31 bucks at FCP!

[wheelsup]

OK fair enough good point, no idea it would rip the hinges out. The $31 part isn't the issue it's the metal fatigue around the bracket on the door that is. That seems to be a pain to fix.

[valvster]

The spot weld failure is a common problem with these cars according to my local independant repairer, just from opening and closing the door. My car has not been in an accident and failed after 10 years/180,000Km...poor design and so is the check strap, never had one fail in any other car.
Now you have the check strap off look how easy it is to lift the door off, just 2 Torx fasteners in the middle of the hinge(don't remove them completely though).
Drill and bolt it, problem solvered....the bonus is the door does not need adjusting when you replace it.

cheers....Valvster

[holler1]

This is what happens to the weld around the check mount if you leave it too long (as I did).

[wheelsup]

Yeah that picture is why I took the door check off because I could see where it's going. With it off the metal won't fatigue any more and I have a hope of fixing it myself with drilling it possibly down the road.

Valvster good to hear you had excellent results. How long has it been repaired? And it's still holding up well? My fear was that it would fail even after I drilled it and then I'm stuck replacing the pillar.

I'm wondering has anyone put JB Weld on the interior around the check mount plate? Think that would hold it? I'm just worried about drilling out the welds, they still seem to be somewhat holding on (it flexes just a bit now). Plus I don't have a cheap spanner wrench or a way to bend it to put the nuts on thru the peep hole. Although I suppose if needed I could come up with them easily enough.

I saw someone used self tapping screws but that seems to be a ghetto fix that most likely won't hold up over any length of time.

[valvster]

It's been 5 weeks now since I bolted it up....no worries.
I suggest drilling out just the weld that is cracked, it's not doing anything anymore.
I have old arthritic fingers and managed to do it easily by taping the nut to the end of my middle finger. The thing about cheapo spanners is they bend easily, only needed to bend about 15 degrees.
I used a 1/4" bolt about 1/2" long Hi Tensile I got from the auto parts store(packet of 10 cost $4) with a 1/2'' washer under the bolt head, loctite on the threads.
Make sure you tie string to the other end of the spanner in case you drop it down into the front guard.
Once you've drilled the hole with just enough clearance put a socket spanner on the end of your cordless drill set on slow speed to turn the bolt as you position the nut. (You may need to pack the socket out with a spare nut)
Don't forget the washer under the bolt head.
Easypeasy....even easier with a few mates around and a couple of beers.
cheers....Valvster

[wheelsup]

Thanks for the encouragement valvster, I might attempt this fix over Turkey day celebrations . Good to hear it's still holding up.

For now I'm happy the door doesn't make any noise what so ever.