who4ever

Hi. I have a 2000 SE with 205K (bless its little heart). I have noticed that the drivers door droops just a little bit when opened. When I close the door, it has to move up about a quarter of an inch to lock in place. When the door is opened, I can jiggle the door a little bit up and down. The hinge does not move, but the metal dowel that goes through the hinge and the door hinge moves a little. My guess is the hole that the dowel goes through is worn. I have a friend who used to be a body shop owner, and he told me that if I remove the front, left fender, I should be able to access the bolts that hold the hinge to the body and if I loosened them, then had someone lift the door and then retightened them, it would fix the problem. Never took off a fender before but he says it wasn't the biggest of deals. Does this sound right to you? How would You fix the problem? Thanks. Dave

soflamax

I too have this wonderful problem on my 2000 SE. The door droops far enough down I have to keep an eye on the door gasket, it pops the clips out of the holes from time to time. Sits fine when closed though.

tosheto

iTrader: (5)

Your hinges are worn out. You have to replace the hinges or put some washers to push the door up.

ac max 92

iTrader: (13)

+1

ManualMaxima

iTrader: (10)

Washers worked for me over 2 years ago, still swinging true.

Harquebus

Same here I think. Both driver's and passenger's take a good slam to close so it seems to suggest they've sagged.

Isn't this a matter of loosening the bolts on the striker and adjusting it to better mate with the latch in the door? All tolerances between body panels surrounding the door look okay as otherwise you wouldn't know the doors had sagged.

ac max 92

iTrader: (13)

With the door open grab the end of the door and lift up and down. If the door has play and is able to move up and down the bushings in the hinge pin are worn. You can't just replace the bushings they come as a whole assembly with the hinges. To buy time what some people do and it works is remove the door hinge bolts and place washers behind the lower part of the hinges where they bolt to the frame. Adjusting the striker won't fix the problem. If it's not too bad and you don't mind slamming your doors and you can live with it then that's a matter of choice but it's not a very difficult fix. It does help to have a helper support the door while you do it otherwise you need to use a jack under the door and balance it yourself.

Prophecy99

iTrader: (1)

common problem, search

colt149

iTrader: (1)

Two ways to fix this:
Permanent fix : replace the lower door hinge without the removal of fender: use this special wrench if you can get one (S6159 12mm S wrench by snap on)

Temporary : open the driver side door place a 2x4 wood under the door and use a jack to level the door. Loosen the 12 mm bolt ( lower hinge only) door side. Use a flat washer that will fit a 12 mm bolt cut it to become like letter C. Insert those cut C washer on the loosen two 12 mm bolt then tighten it. Depending on the severity mine needs only one C washer on each lower bolt.

Chris8428

Good thread for a common problem, I just wanted to add one more option. I took a plastic container and cut two square shims, one to slide behind each bolt one the bottom hinge of the door. The door now closes perfectly.