W124 Door Alignment

[lino]

My doors on my W124 coupe don't close too smooth. You have to slam the doors for them to close or push the door softly and when it is half-closed push up to close all the way. Seems like the door is sagging on the door handle side, not by the hinges. The cracks all around the door seem to line up properly. Could it be a simple door adjustment/alignment or do I need hinges or door check straps?

[d2bernhard]

My new check straps made a HUGE difference in closing!

[leighton0h]

I don't know too much about what you could do for this problem, but I do remember my dad telling me when I got my 300CE an hour after he got his 560SEC that these coupes have a real tendency to do that, I am guessing the hinges just bend a little bit because of the weight. I am in no way knowledgable enough to tell you what to do but I would guess just go with new hinges...

[nglitz]

If it's like other cars I've worked on, the hinge pins wear. This causes the top hinge to "spread out" a little, causing the door to sag at the latch end. I'll take a wag that any 2 door will have longer, heavier doors thus more leverage on the hinge pins and more wear.

Cures:

1. new hinge
2. new hinge pin or bushing (typical GM)
3. if it's the pin and not the bushing, just rotate the pin in the hinge so that new, unworn surfaces come into play. You may need to pull the pin to rotate it.
4. possibly, just move the hinge (door alignment) to take up the wear. Once it's started though, the wear will continue.

HTH,

[lino]

Anyone know the part numbers and/or prices on the hinges, pins and bushings?

[pberku]

Try closing the door with a window open. See if that makes a difference. If it does, than your car may be too air tight. Not a bad thing.

Phil

[lino]

Originally Posted by pberku

Try closing the door with a window open. See if that makes a difference. If it does, than your car may be too air tight. Not a bad thing.

Phil

I just tried that and it didn't work...thanks for the suggestion though.

[haasman]

Make sure the latches are clean and not full of dirt and old lube.

A MBZ friend told me about cleaning and re-lubing them.

I was doubtful but did it and it made quite a big difference and several cars.

Also check how the latches meet the store jam striker plate.

Haasman

[lino]

Originally Posted by haasman

Make sure the latches are clean and not full of dirt and old lube.

A MBZ friend told me about cleaning and re-lubing them.

I was doubtful but did it and it made quite a big difference and several cars.

Also check how the latches meet the store jam striker plate.

Haasman

What kind of lube does your friend recommend?

[haasman]

He suggested to use WD40 to clean and lube if you do not take the lock mechanism out of the door. I did that and then used a silicone paste and forced it into the latch in the door.

Haasman

[89-300ce]

Do the following with the windows down. Your first step would be in aligning the door height to the body by adjusting the hinges at the door. You will have to loosen the piece at the back of the door that the latch closes on to while you do this. Next adjust how far the door goes into the body at the latch. Your doors should now close easily with the windows down. Raise the windows to see if they still close properly. The tilt of the glass is adjusted by two set screws that you access by removing the lower cladding of the doors. They are behind two rubber plugs. If there is too much tilt in at the top your doors will be hard to close, if there is too little you will have wind whistles at speed. There is also some minimal adjustment available to the amount the window rises out of the doors by adjusting the clamps at the glass itself. You have to remove the door panels for this.

Jorg

[lino]

I'm going to post some pics of my car and maybe if you don't mind you can explain what you mean using these pics to make it easier for me to understand:

[89-300ce]

Items 1 & 3 are the hinges. Loosening the bolts on the body allows the front of the door to move in/out and up/down in relation to the front fender. The bolts on the door part of the hinges adjust the angle of the door and allow you to raise or lower the back of the door ( by the striker plate ) up or down. They also allow the door to move forward and backward in relation to the body so be carefull. Picture 2 is what I would call the striker plate. It must be loosened while you are making adjustments at the hinges. It controls how far the back of the door moves into the body. Set it after you have set the hinges. Allow the properly aligned door to move the loosened striker plate up/down as needed and then adjust the in/out to suit the body. Sorry it's hard to explain. It's best to have two people when you do this and take your time. Be careful you don't move your door too far forward as it can jamb against the fender when it swings open. After your door is set properly you can adjust your windows.

After all is done your door should close nicely but because of the tension required to seal the glass against the weatherstriping they won't close quite as effortless as a car with 'B' pillars.

Jorg

PS. I used the finger of a latex glove in the socket to cushion the bolt heads at the hinges because I didn't want to chip the paint on the bolt heads.

[lino]

Originally Posted by 89-300ce

Items 1 & 3 are the hinges. Loosening the bolts on the body allows the front of the door to move in/out and up/down in relation to the front fender. The bolts on the door part of the hinges adjust the angle of the door and allow you to raise or lower the back of the door ( by the striker plate ) up or down. They also allow the door to move forward and backward in relation to the body so be carefull. Picture 2 is what I would call the striker plate. It must be loosened while you are making adjustments at the hinges. It controls how far the back of the door moves into the body. Set it after you have set the hinges. Allow the properly aligned door to move the loosened striker plate up/down as needed and then adjust the in/out to suit the body. Sorry it's hard to explain. It's best to have two people when you do this and take your time. Be careful you don't move your door too far forward as it can jamb against the fender when it swings open. After your door is set properly you can adjust your windows.

After all is done your door should close nicely but because of the tension required to seal the glass against the weatherstriping they won't close quite as effortless as a car with 'B' pillars.

Jorg



PS. I used the finger of a latex glove in the socket to cushion the bolt heads at the hinges because I didn't want to chip the paint on the bolt heads.

It makes total sense. Your description is crystal clear. Thank You so much!
I am going to do this with the help of someone else. I feel more comfortable that way...better to be safe than sorry.

Originally Posted by 89-300ce

PS. I used the finger of a latex glove in the socket to cushion the bolt heads at the hinges because I didn't want to chip the paint on the bolt heads.

That was going to be my next question . You thought of everything!

[Bigpete123]

Okay, sorry to bring an old thread back to life, but I must express how much I love this forum.

I search for "sagging doors" for my 300ce, and I find this easily. This is EXACTLY what I need! Thank you mercedesshop!!!

Peter