I had to replace mine as well. I still need to do the rear doors. But having done that, the doors close nicely and much easier.

Did you clean where the old striker was? If not, use a grease pencil around the border of the dirt pattern. That will get you in the ball park.

I did have one bolt round out. Took a drill and a Snap-on set screw extractor to get it out. Winmutt sent me the two he had left over. I'm holding on to the other one as a just in case back up.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

I was at the yard today combing over a euro 300 and noticed it had a very new MB driver side striker. I pulled it off and installed it on my car, perfect. I dont know why the repop one never worked but the MB one is golden. I had forgotten there are shims behind these, I am wondering if the repop one needs different shim sizes. Im not going to touch it though to experiment, it is smooth and effortless now.

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1982 300CD Turbo (Otis, "ups & downs") parts for sale
2003 TJ with Hemi (to go anywhere, quickly) sold
2001 Excursion Powerstroke (to go dependably)
1970 Mustang 428SCJ (to go fast)
1962 Corvette LS1 (to go in style)
2001 Schwinn Grape Krate 10spd (if all else fails)

Is there a special tool to unscrew the striker? I tried both my alan wrenches. I don't want to strip the interior of those screws. Advice?

Use an impact driver to shock the bolt loose. First make sure the bolt head is clean and then give it a whack. Something like this should be what you are looking for - http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=37530. I used my impact gun but totally rounded one out before figuring that you just have to pulse it in very short bursts and it will loosen up. A lot of work with a hammer and cold chisel got the rounded one out.

Good tool, I use it when swapping seat rails.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

I rounded one out. Then was told to apply a little heat. The only torch that I have is for plumbing, Worked like a charm.

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83 300SD Dark Silver Dark brown inside

That is incorrect. There are five parts that come off when you remove the striker from the door: the allen bolts, the metal shim(s), the rubber insert with a female section, the metal frame and the "tongue". There are two version of the tongue- the early yellow verisons, and the later black version. There are two black versions that mate with two versions of the rubber inserts. The main reason the door does not close properly is the tongue is disintegrated. One rubber insert has a groove the tongue mates with and one does not. You CAN replace just the tongue- pull a striker from a junkyard and check it. I had a thread dealing with just this and with full pics. I erased most of my threads, including this one when a moderator came down on me for calling out a BS claim by a newbie one instead of telling the newbie to back off. The forum suffered. I hope it was a lessoned learned. I used to pull the good tongues for members that needed them, but now rarely.
-W

Worked like a charm, now my door closes all the way when I look at it funny. Its a beautiful thing. No slamming my door either.

Thanks again.

sometimes something as simple a little grease does wonders.
I use to have trouble with the 85 when we first bought it. had to slam the drivers door. tried adjusting the striker, even replaced the door latch. I was at this indy I use to use, and the guy used a small brush with some grease and lubed the latch. worked wonders.

later on I replaced the striker from the L/R door at PNP. usually the rear doors don`t get the use as much as the fronts. and like new.

slamming the doors will eventually break something inside the door, or the
door will start developing cracks from the constant pounding. my drivers door has cracks where the window regulator bolts on, over to one of the factory holes punched in. had to beef it up with a piece of metal.

these doors should close like a ...............Mercedes, thunk!!!!

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works