door don't stay open

[luc]

door don\'t stay open

I had this problem on the driver side since I bought the car.

If I park on a level surface,(forget about a slight upward angle)
Thee door will not stay open if there is the slightest amount of wind/air
I looked at the part that is supposed to keep the door open and beside the fact that it is a cheaply made part,there is no way to adjust it.

Anyone with the same problem?

Luc.00GTS

 

[Dixter]

Re: door don\'t stay open

Like all have said above.... you need to replace the door hinge...

They cost around $190 from the dealer and I hope you have the
proper tools to do it or its another $150 ~ $200 to have a dealer
install it, if its not under waranty.

If you do it yourself its not too hard but will take you several
hours unless you just luck out on the alignment sooner.

here is a good thread and some good directions on how to do
it yourself. Don't forget to grease the cam face so it will
not break the spring plate on both doors....
http://vca1.viperclub.org/ubb/Forum14/HTML/008307.html

Enjoy

 

[Dixter]

Re: door don\'t stay open

Woops... almost forgot... as a great aid in helping with
this situation.

If you do decide to replace the hinge yourself...

Take masking tape and place several pieces across the door and
where it meets the body of the car ( 6 inch strips are fine )

Put them on all around the door and overlap the tape to the body.

Now take a razor blade and cut the tape at the door/body joint.

This will now give you a perfect reference where to re-position
the door when you begin the alignment part of replacing the hinge.

All you do is match up the tape now. The other part of the alignment is that the door will also move towards and away from
the car. With your hand you should run it across the door and
the forward panel to feel the alignment. Remember this alignmnet
as you will have to duplicate the alignment when it is completed.

 

[luc]

Re: door don\'t stay open

Thanks guys, but neither the hinge nor the spring plate are broken or cracked.

It seems that the problem has to do with the spring plate being more of a plate than a spring.
If I compare it to the passenger side,the plate is a lot more curved on the "good" side.

The car is still under warranty but I'm not sure that fixing it will not create bigger problems ( scratched paint,etc).

Thanks.

Luc.00GTS