H2

The driver's door on my S4 definitely needs an adjustment. As the door closes...the door lock mechanism hits the round "thingie" attached to the body door frame (technical term of the day), very, very slightly lifts up (1/32nd of an inch?)...then closes. Closes snug and easily. However, when I go to open the door...the weight of the door appears to be resting on the round "thingie" and I have to lift up and "drag" the door off of the round "thingie" by pulling hard on the door handle. This is not as it should be.

Either the door has sagged slightly at the hinge area and needs to be adjusted up...or the round "thingie" needs to be lowered, or? If anyone has ever experienced this, I'd be interested in which method of adjustment I should try first? Thank you very much.

Harvey

Jim bailey - 928 International

how does it open from the inside ?

Marcquito

I am not sure how they changed the internals of the doors from my model to yours; but I'll tell you my door fix on my '84 S...

I thought the door was sagging myself, so I spent a day to adjust it and came to realize that it wasn't. My fix was the inside of the door where the door handle mechanism/spring thing is. When I took my door panel off and removed most of the assembly on the inside... I saw a hairline crack where the handle/spring are together. I opened the handle from the outside and watched it... and bingo... the door handle was relying on one side of the spring to open the door.

I ended up having to call a dealer and ordering the inside spring mechanism for the handle.

Also, the only reason I had my door all apart is my locks were giving me trouble, too.

H2

The door opens find from the inside...only you have to push on it. Lifting up on the handle and pulling the door open from the outside takes a bit of moxie. An inspection of the door locking mechanism shows that it's obvious that the top of the locking slot is dragging on the top of the round lock piece that it engages with. I think friction is probably the problem. Either the door is sagging, the lock mechanism is situated too low, or the round lock piece is too high. I just have to move one of them...not sure which is most commonly at fault.

Thanks,

Harvey

heinrich

your frame is bent

heinrich

take Vitamin B

Andrew Schauer

Harvey-
If the door fits into the opening evenly on all sides, then I would move the portion in the frame. If that doesn't give you enough adjustment, try the latch portion mounted to the door.
If the door doesn't fit evenly in the frame, then the hinges must be out of whack.

Bill Ball

Replies 2 and 3 are related. Opening fine from the inside but not from the outside points to a problem with the pot metal piece that joins the outer handle to the rest of the door latch mechanism. The inner opener uses a cable that bypasses the pot metal piece. That's what Jim was getting at with the question. I think Marquito found a fracture in that part. Often it will hold on for a while until it lets go completely.

If that's not it, then the frame is bent and the car is junk. H'man will come pick it up and take it off your hands.

Shark Attack

I had this EXACT same thing when my 79 was bent. now that its fixed the door works fine. mine actually got worse in hot weather.

H2

Perhaps a little of truth in all that. I have it unevenly set up on frames. Straightened it up, shot some silicon into the lock mechanism and all is well now. I couldn't believe somthing like that could be the cause.

It was in a small wreck and nose panel replaced but it didn't damage anthing else so a bent frame would be unusual.

Harvey

Bill Ball

I was kidding about the bent frame, but, who knows?

918-S

Check for worn hinges. Grab your door on the bottom when it's about half open and try to lift it up and let it sag back down. Have someone sit in the car and watch for movement in the hinges. You could need a set of pins and or bushings or replacement hinges. They do wear out.

Bill Ball

I still think, as Jim was implying, if it opens OK using the inside handle but is harder to open with the outside handle, it cannot be a bent frame, misaligned/loose hinges or misaligned striker to latch. Did I miss something?

69gaugeman

yes he said he still had to push to open the door

Jim bailey - 928 International

There is a bit of flex when the car is not sitting on it's wheels just a fact of life. Although rather ridged the unibody still has some give. 928s have NO FRAME it is like an eggshell or exo-skeleton ...