skweek

[tom's dad]

Got a very embarrasing squeek when opening the drivers door. Have tried WD 40 and a silicone spray to no effect. Can anyone advise the construction and location of the door hinges. Or has anyone cured this type of problem. Advise for remedy would be greatly appreciated.

[griffter]

tom's dad said:

Got a very embarrasing squeek when opening the drivers door. Have tried WD 40 and a silicone spray to no effect. Can anyone advise the construction and location of the door hinges. Or has anyone cured this type of problem. Advise for remedy would be greatly appreciated.

The door 'hinges' are bolts through two poly bushes, top and bottom. The bolt heads are only accessible from inside the door void. If yours are squeaking it's probably because the bolt is turning in the nut on the hinge plate, rather than the bush rotating around the (stationary) bolt. If you open the door and look at the top hinge you can see the end of the bolt where it protrudes from the nut welded to the hinge plate (the one fixed to the car body. Move the door a bit and see if the bolt moves. Do the same for the bottom bolt too. If either moves, then you need to get the door panel off and tighten the bolts (17mm from memory). Thing is, over time, they inevitably slacken off again. The last thing you want to do is lubricate the bolt as this will encourage it to move. In extreme cases the bolt can work so loose that one day, when opening the door, it fall right off!

[fastandcurious]

My driver's door squeaks as well. It can carry on squeaking if lubricating it might make the door fall off. Imagine the embarrassment of that happening at the Griff Growl!

[tom's dad]

Thanks for the detailed description and you are right - the bolt is turning with the door.
I will be taking the panel off this weekend. I really cant bear the skweek any longer.

[Ballistic Banana]

tom's dad said:

Thanks for the detailed description and you are right - the bolt is turning with the door.
I will be taking the panel off this weekend. I really cant bear the skweek any longer.

You can get to the 17mm bolt through the speaker hole Tom, alot easier than taking the door panel off

BB

[griffter]

Ballistic Banana said:

tom's dad said:

Thanks for the detailed description and you are right - the bolt is turning with the door.
I will be taking the panel off this weekend. I really cant bear the skweek any longer.

You can get to the 17mm bolt through the speaker hole Tom, alot easier than taking the door panel off

BB

That's true. The bottom bolt is less accessible though and requires all sorts of extensions etc to get around the window frame.

[tom's dad]

Ive tightened the bolt and the head now protrudes about 8mm thro the nut, another 3 mm. And still it squeeks. Im a bit nervous of damaging something, other than my wrist, if I continue to wind the bolt up. I assume I cant squash the bush? From inside the dor I can see the bolt head, some shims, what I imagine is the bush protruding from the door fibreglass. Should I be seeing the bush or should it be recessed into the door. the bottom bolt head is not rotating. The other door has a bolt protruding about 7mm and it moves but doesnt sqeek. Help!!!

[Ballistic Banana]

tom's dad said:

Ive tightened the bolt and the head now protrudes about 8mm thro the nut, another 3 mm. And still it squeeks. Im a bit nervous of damaging something, other than my wrist, if I continue to wind the bolt up. I assume I cant squash the bush? From inside the dor I can see the bolt head, some shims, what I imagine is the bush protruding from the door fibreglass. Should I be seeing the bush or should it be recessed into the door. the bottom bolt head is not rotating. The other door has a bolt protruding about 7mm and it moves but doesnt sqeek. Help!!!

On mine the passenger side bolt protudes by a lot more(a good 15mm) than the drivers side so I would take it as "it should be the same as the other" I needed just one short extension to reach the bolt and done up till tight and all seemed ok after that. I know the hinges can be a bit of a nightmare to get everything to aline properly, fortuneatly for me I havent had to anything to mine except tighten that one bolt. Hopefully some will be along to help you further...How about some oil/grease on the Hinge area? ( iguess you may have tried that already

BB