Door is very hard to close??

[orlowted]

Have been enjoying the car these past few weeks, but the passenger door is very hard to close. It was not like this before...but seems to be getting worse. I have to really SLAM it to get it to stick? Any thought on a quick fix? I have a show in a few days and am afraid the door will not stay shut. I put 80 pounds of thrust behind it and it will stick, just does not seem right???
TJ

[Elvis]

I'm kind of a novice at this stuff so I hesitate to reply to some of these posts but I had a similar problem a while ago. I put a few shots of WD40 on the latching mechanism and it has been working just fine ever since. Hope this helps. E.

[orlowted]

Surely can't hurt - I will give it a try...

[stangbuilder66]

What is it doing if you just give it a regular push? Does it go to close and just bounce back open or does it latch...but not "shut" latch? Hard to explain what I mean. You know how you can close the door where it won't open, but it isn't shut all the way. Is it doing that? If it is then perhaps the locking part on the door is slightly loose and over time has started moving out of whack so it doesn't close poperly. Give the WD40 a try, maybe it is gunking up and that will eat it away. If it does, shoot it with some silicone afterwards or you will corode right up. If it latches but doesn't shut all the way you are out of alignment, just need to fiddle with the latch on the door or the post on the car, make sure both are tight.

On a side note, I am not sure what your post looks like (the part that is on the car side of the door latch) but some (maybe all) have a plastic sleeve on them. I have had those just wear out and fall off, and when that happens you have to replace the post or else the door doesn't shut well. Good news is it is easy and cheap

[orlowted]

Well - I know exactly what you mean - the door bounced back at me - does not latch at all until I really slam it - I mean REALLY slam it. If I just give it an average push - just bounces back and does not latch. I will test the latch tonight, but I recall the post being all steel.

[Kisner]

I had the same identical problem and it turned out to be the rod going from my door handle to the latch. You'll have to remove the inside door panel, unclip the rod from the latch, and either loosen or tighten it. You do this by turning the swivel on the rod either clockwise or counterclockwise. I had to play with mine quite a while (trial and error), but finally got it adjusted just right. I also sprayed the heck out of the latch while I was in there with WD-40 and now the door shuts perfect every time.

[orlowted]

That could very well be the problem since I just installed the new door handles, locks and rods a few weeks ago. Thanks for the tip. I will give that a try this weekend.