Door Won't Close - 420 SEL

[Hans47]

Hello, long story short, I opened my rear right passenger door this afternoon to about the 1/3 open rest point and the hinge made a dull creaking/groaning sound. It will not close - pretty much locked in place. I know I cannot close it without certainly breaking the hinge and probably damaging the body too. Also, the front passenger door was open and I don't dare close it because it will crush the frozen rear door.

If possible could someone please diagnose the problem and explain a possible solution? I'm not that mechanically inclined so I might have to have the car towed but not too sure how I will 1.) get the car out of the garage with doors open and 2.) keep the doors stationary while towing the car (can I even tow it with both doors open on a flatbed?). Thank you much. I appreciate it.

[Johnhef]

The culprit is the door check strap. In between the two hinges on the door is the door check. look at the part of the door that faces front when its closed and above and below the strap you will see two 10mm bolts. Remove them and see if the door will let you close it- there is a third bolt behind the door panel, but sometimes you get lucky and it may have fallen out already. If not, thentry working the door back and forth a little to see if you can close it- it may take quite a bit of force and sound horrible but you may be able to "break" the door check so one of the ball bearings falls out and will let you close the door.