gio64

iTrader: (1)

I have been cleaning my car zealously lately and I have come to realize that the driver's side door does not close flush with the car body.

The door actually sticks out of the car a bit less than 1mm, right in the area where the body goes from horizontal (sort of), bends and goes down (sort of) vertical, but on the vertical area, which means the door doesn't tuck into the car enough.
It is incredibly minimal, but it is bothering the **** out of me.

I have searched the forum and I have also looked at the FSM.
It says to loosen up the two torx screws that hold up the latch on the door jamb and adjust the latch either vertically or horizontally, depending on what type of adjustment is needed.
I tried to do that, but the holes in which the screws sink are round and tapered in, so when you tighten up the latch, it centres itself, making it impossible to move it in any direction.
I attempted to wedge a tiny piece of metal in the tapered hole on the inside, to force the latch to be pushed towards the inside, but the screws don't go in enough and the door won't close.

PLEASE NOTE: I have measured the door gaps and they are all perfectly spec'd. They all measure exactly 4mm and 6mm as specified in the FSM.

I have looked at the door and it looks like it is perfectly flush in relation to the car body everywhere else.

I have looked at whether or not the actual door scrapes anywhere, but it's all nice and clean.

Finally, I attempted to loosen the screws on the locking mechanism to see if I could push that towards the outside of the car, but it won't budge.

Any suggestions?
Thank you for your input and help.

CrimsonPride

iTrader: (11)

Do you think it could be a hinge issue. I bring this up not because I know but because I think most of us have some minor amount of hinge sagging making the driver door a bit harder to close. But the passenger door usually closes easily since it gets opened less.

Could it be a hinge issue that is just showing up the most in the end of the door because that is the fartherest from the hinge and therefore showing the most deviation.

Not sure, but I'd be interested in the answer to this too.

gio64

iTrader: (1)

Hi, thanks for the interest and the suggestion. Like I stated in the first post, I had searched and I did read that there might be a problem with the way the hinges are at this point of the car's life.
It is indeed easier to close the other door, but I should not say by a long shot. I feel that most of the resistance comes from the actual air being compressed into the car.
Having said that, I am not discarding your suggestion.

Personally, I have to give it some thought. I checked the gaps, they are all perfect, so my first thought is that if the gaps are fine, there is no problem with the hinge sagging, or the gaps would be uneven.
I verified the gaps in each of the locations indicated in the FSM and they do comply. The one that could be a bit iffy is the horizontal line (underside of the door).
Having said that, there is no sign of scuffing of the scuff plate (I have CF ones, they are clear coated, so you can imagine that any touching would have scored it). The weather stripping seems to all be perfectly fine, great shape, no deformations, nothing.

Also, if the door was sagging, I would imagine there would be some scraping of the upper side of the door locking mechanism on the door side and if I paid close attention to the door closing I would at least feel a bit of a bump when the door hits the latch on the frame and moves up to realign. But there is nothing of that sort.

Furthermore, it seems to me that if the door was sagged this would not cause it to stick out 1 mm (actually less than that).
I tried to push as hard as I could on the door without denting it to see if it can be at least pushed into compliance momentarily, but it is dead fixed when it is shut, it has reached the end of the travel and it won't go anywhere.

The only thing I can think is that perhaps the top part (around the window) goes in too much, (the door is therefore rotated slightly counter-clocwise if you were to look at it shut from the front of the car), so it prevents the door to tuck in further.

Having said that, this should consequentially cause the bottom edge of the door to be further out from where it is.
I have noticed that the lower end of the door is actually in from the bottom part of the frame just under it, by design, as this is perfectly identical on both sides of the car.
This would mean that the little bit that the door tucks in at the bottom in relation to the frame, would either not be there or be visibly different from the other side.
But -made save another check- it seems not to be so...

I am still puzzled by the fact that the FSM instructs to adjust the fixed latch on the frame either horizontally or vertically to adjust the gaps if they are out of spec, but -by design, as stated prior- this is impossible.

On the latch itself it does say something like "use U shim".
Granted that I have no clue what that is, I would imagine that it is a semi circular (or something like that) conical washer that should be placed in the tapered hole onto the side of the hole itself to cause the latch to move. But as far as I can tell, there is no way to do that, because the hole matches the underside of the screw head so closely that the screw wouldn't go back down flush with the mounting plate if one would do that.

I am still welcoming suggestions.
Giovanni

CrimsonPride

iTrader: (11)

It is strange that so much of it lines up so well yet the problem is still there. It seems like one of those vexing type of things. Hope you can get if figured out.

MartinCYM

I have the same problem with my driver's side door too and it also bugs the **** outta be. Grr.

I've found that if I put two layers of duct tape on the outer section of the striker plate that it pulls my door in fully - but it makes the door a little bit harder to close.

I also tried adjusting the hinges but that didn't help either.

Oh well.. I hope you find a solution for yours.

gio64

iTrader: (1)

I'd like to at least give that a shot...
So you mean wrap tape on the outer part of the "square rod" bolted on the frame?

MartinCYM

yep, that's what I mean.

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

A little bit less than 1mm? I think that's within the margin of tolerance.

series6bat

yes my passanger door has always done the same. Good luck with it..It also bugs me

gio64

iTrader: (1)

That might be true, but it is not within my patience tolerance...
I believe 1mm or so is tolerance related to the size of the gaps. I don't think it refers to the door sticking out of the car's surface, so to speak.

gio64

iTrader: (1)

I am going to try to cut 1/3 of the washer that sits between the frame latch and the frame. That should allow me to "push" the latch towards the inside of the car and also bring the bolt flush so that the door closes.

I thought that another option would be that the front of the door sits too close to the car and therefore it causes the rear to stick out as it prevents the door from closing completely.
Having said that, the door sits perfectly on the front side and perfectly flush. So, unless somebody has played with the fender (and the gap with the hood as well as the bumper cover are perfect) that is impossible.

I'll post the results.

series6bat

Sounds good.Look foward to seeing ur conclusion

c0rbin9

iTrader: (2)

Thread revival... was this ever solved? I'm looking at an FD that has the same issue.

c0rbin9

iTrader: (2)

Looks like this: