PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post

Squiggle Dog · #5 12-22-2012, 04:16 PM

One key observation is that good door mechanisms have plastic buffers on the contact points where they hit the door strikers. These decrease noise and wear. They were worn off on my old mechanisms. I would get good ones from wrecking yards while they are still out there as it doesn't appear old mechanisms can be rebuilt without expensive equipment and tooling. If I had the money I would buy up the NOS ones on eBay to have as spares.

The original striker is on the left and the replacement striker is on the right. Notice the deep grooves in the aluminum body from the steel parts digging in since the plastic buffers had worn off. This can cause door rattle. Always reuse the old shims exactly as they came off unless you can see that the cone on the mechanism doesn't line up with the striker hole horizontally.

When removing the striker hex key screws, I hammer the 5mm bit into them with a sledge hammer a few times and use downward pressure while turning. However, 3 of them still ended up rounding off in the passenger side rear, forcing me to use drastic measures. Not one of the drill bits I have were any good (they wouldn't even drill through aluminum!) so I ended up having to carefully use a rotary tool and cutting disc to slice up the old striker and screw heads.

When fitting the new strikers in place, try to put them in as near the original position as possible (with original shims), then tighten the screws with just enough pressure that the striker doesn't move. Then, shut the door. While holding the door, pull back on the door handle, then pull the door open. Tighten up the striker then shut the door. The door should be lined up perfectly. If necessary, adjust the striker in or out so the door is flush with the body when shut, or up or down so that the door mechanism doesn't hit the striker in the wrong place. The cone of the mechanism should aim directly into the hole in the striker. I like to lubricate the area where the parts contact each other to minimize noise and wear.

The doors now open and shut quietly and with little force--almost like new. While I was at it, I replaced or rebuilt and lubricated the door check mechanisms in three of the doors since I had already put a new one in the driver side door. It seems all of them either had broken housings or bent wheel pins. I already lubricated the door hinges, so the doors work like new and I am very happy. I installed my new door check seals on them, too--which apparently are now no longer available.

I decided I would reconnect the vacuum to the door locks to see what would happen. My ignition key works with all of the locks except for the doors. One of the keys on the keyring fits the driver side door, but not the passenger side, however the lock didn't make the plunger in the door move due to the shaft on the door handle being broken. I was able to push out the pin in the passenger side door handle with a nail and swap out the shaft onto the driver side door handle (had to reverse the position of the shaft). This made the driver side door lock with the key.

When I locked the driver door, it made the other doors lock as well. I lubricated the trunk latch and fuel door pin, and this made those locks work too. Now I can finally lock my driver door with a key, and it makes the other three doors, trunk, and fuel door lock at the same time. I am so happy to be able to lock my car.