door check strap popping - any fix?
 

metal check strap on driver's door is popping every time I get in or out. Is there a way to fix this?

I am guessing this might be a common problem with age of the car. 1982 300SD. Looks like it may have come loose inside the firewall side.

Thanks. Haven't been on here in a long time. Moved to a new job and in a rural area. Dialup sucks. Satelite internet my only option for high speed. Hopefully will be hooked up soon. Hope everyone is doing great.

290k miles and the 300sd is still running strong

Do you have cracks in the door jam pillar area where the strap comes through?

You might consider replacing it. They do wear out.

Steve

Open her up and take a look. My '95 did this when I first bought it; I removed the door panel and the check had cracked. Put in a new one (very easy, removing the panel is the hard part) and pop was gone.

Fix it soon or you may come to a time when the door will not close.

Len

Or worse. Mine tore a hole in the sheet metal of the dorr and I had no idea until the situation caused a broken window.:(

If it's the strap replace it. If it's the mount on the door frame/body I ran some screws in mine about a year ago and it still is ok. There is a backing plate inside the door frame that you can snug up with some screws. Try moving the door back and forth while looking at this area to see if the original welds are popping.

Call or email:

Phil 1-888-333-4642 - philip@peachparts.com 9AM-6PM ET
Roy 1-800-970-7027 - roy@peachparts.com NOON-9PM ET

You are looking at a $20ish part. Replace it before you door is stuck open at 12am on a Friday night with a -15 windchill. Don't ask how I know.

If you need to replace it, use the early 123 style. It is a MUCH better built unit and they are interchangible.

Good luck,

same problem - see photo
 

willrev, does your's look like this? I'm having the same problem you describe on my 82 300SD. It looks like the outer two weld spots (A) have broken, leaving only the inner two (B) to hold the backing plate. Note stress cracks in the paint (C) where the door pillar sheet metal is flexing. If I put my fingers on the hinge at (D) when I move the door, I can feel the 'pop' pretty strongly, although it feels like it's coming from the hinge itself rather than something inside the pillar.

Phil, looking at this photo, where exactly would you recommend putting screws? If I put them right at (A), the heads will hit the weatherstripping when closed.

pjc

If you look closely at the picture you can see where the 4 spot welds are. I would say run in screws inside of the line of welds. When I did this on mine I had the kick panel off and I could just put my finger in to touch the back of the backing plate. I always thought if it gives me anymore trouble I will put in a machine screw and nut to hold it as that would be even more secure.

Yeah, I was just reading that thread over this weekend. Twas lucky you were at home when it happened :).

Lots of interesting bits of info and member history in those old threads.

It wasn't him, it was me, I was stuck in my driveway at 2am dremeling off my door check with an outside temp of about 6F. Not the most fun thing to be doing...and I am still waiting for my new check to come....I ordered it saturday....thank you for the sympathies though. :)

buy two
 

Replace the check strap to be done with the issue. Buy two to have an extra for when (Not If) the next time one of them begins to fail. My experience is the driver's door fails first followed soon by the strap on the right rear passenger door. If they have not been cared for properly (at least occasionally lubed) the least used doors are particularly susceptible to failing when metals are frozen.

Oh, you do know that too much lithium grease just wears those things out. The book indicates lube at every 15k...:book:

My old check strap's grease had turned into a hard, gum-like substance that certainly had no lubricant value. It felt absolutely horrible opening my door when the temperature got under 40 degrees.

I lubed up the new one and stuck it in and unfortunately opening the door is still notchy and not totally smooth but much improved.