My drivers door check strap is loose. It snaps and pops opening and closing. Does anyone know how to get at the body side of the strap to tighten the bolts. I can see it flop when I open or close the door, not in the door.

Hi,

remove the door panel and there you will find 2 bolts and a nut holding the check trap in. I assume that its really loose and needs tightening only.

Good luck,
Peter

Thanx, but the loose end is in the fender, not inside the door.

You need to look at the check strap that is used on your car to see how it fits on. Some of them only bolt to the door.

What often happens is that the spring inside breaks or the ball bearing falls out, causing the flopping sound you mention.

To replace it, you probably should look at the picture of the part than corresponds to your model, then decide whether it needs to be replaced or might be repaired (the latter is unlikely).

It's not all that expensive a piece: a functioning one taken from a junkyard might be just as good if you lubricate it well.

http://catalog.eautopartscatalog.com/mercedesshop/sophio/wizard.jsp?partner=mercedesshop&clientid=mercedesshop&baseurl=http://catalog.peachparts.com/&cookieid=1AG0X8B2X&year=1985&make=MB&model=300-DT-001&category=O&part=Door+Check

Good luck!

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1990 300D 2.5 Turbo sedan 171K (Rudolf)
1985 300D Turbo TD Wagon 219K (Remuda)

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If you need a good used door check strap, I can yank it out of the parts car and sell it to you for cheap.

he says its in the fender. if its in the fender the welds have broken.

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I don't have time at the moment to dig up the links, but a couple of solutions have been discussed in the past. These could be found using the search function.

First, there was a thread 2 or 3 months ago where someone suggested knocking the springs and ball bearings out of the door check strap. This is what I ended up doing with mine. It worked out pretty well. By doing this, the door is still prevented from opening too far, however the detent at half open and full open will be gone.

Secondly, there was a thread about a year ago where someone described how he cut a hole on the inside and re-welded the strap attachment bracket. That seemed like too much for me to attempt. After all, there's wires and vacuum lines in there.

Thirdly, somewhere along the line I remember somebody described wedging a shim between the strap and the attachment point. A simple if unellegant solution.

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tomm9298,

Could you share with us what model and year you are working on? Our mind reading skills are a little weak here at mshop.

Have a great day,

The saga continues.... The car is a 1984 300 D Turbodiesel sedan. The welds are broken inside the fender. After carefull consideration of the problem, I wedged a common blade screwdriver in the gap that resulted fr4om the broken welds. On the fender side of the door. I then promptly snapped the blade off between the fender and the check strap...... No more popping noises. Cheap fix.

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IF your car is similar to my 82 300SD, the mount for the strap is welded to the body, there are no bolts. Mine made that terrible popping/snapping noise until I welded it about a month ago. I held the door open so the part where the spotweld broke came almost bach to the body. Then I also welded a little gusset between the mount and the body on the side between the mount and inside of the car. So far, no more snap, crackle or pop.