Alright, took the pinto for a 40 mile round trip today. I came upon one award winning upstate NY bumpy holy road. Needless to say,(after already knowing the door weatherstripping needs replacing(windy and whisltes) and knowing the door is slighly loose) I came to the realization that my door seams looser then I thought. The wifes door is solid. Hood seems solid. Gate seams solid. But my door wiggles and jiggles up and down. I can open the door, then pull it up some. I have searched the forum and googled to how to adjust these doors. I am finding nothing. Is there a way to adjust them, or is it because the hinges may be worn out? But.......... Any help guys? We have a long ride next month to do and I would like to do it in the pinto as the gas would be at least half the price(and so wouldnt garage parking) then driving the van. But a noisy whislting wiggling jiggling door on a two hour ride might be too much on my noise level sensory and my axiety!! LOL. Thanks.
need to replace the hing pins can bee found at the local parts store in the help section some people use the gm ones as they are a bit larger and fix the warren out holes
may also be the striker bolt it also can be found there
You are correct ,the hinges might be worn,but you can adjust the door striker to take up some of the slack. The best investment you can make is buying a Haynes repair book for the car. In the mean time ,gentely loosen the strike with a proper sized torx wrench and move it up a little at a time until the door is lined up.
Well, I have the chiltons manual. They show two different styles of striker. But, does not look like mine? Mine seams to have three star bit screws around it, about 1/2 away or so. It looks like I cant adjust it? Unless, I am just not understanding the striker set up as compaired to the manual. I can say, when it is pulled in some from the inside, the whislting stops. Thats why I was wondering about the adjustment first. Maybe I should take a pic tomorrow of it so someone can maybe help me out a tad more. I have a great memory for things. But to learn it first is the key! LOL.
If you can pull the door up after opening it the hinge pin bushings are wore. They are easy and inexpinsive to replace. As for the whislting , I bought my car new , and it did it then and still does it.
I do not have the same manuals so just to get on the same word basis, the latch is mounted in the door and is retained by three phillips screws and is not adjustable. The striker is mounted on the stationary jam and looks like this: http://www.dormanproducts.com/p-2146-38421.aspx?pymmeid=715805 (http://www.dormanproducts.com/p-2146-38421.aspx?pymmeid=715805) . This striker can be adjusted (moved around on the jam some) by loosening it and sliding it. Behind the jam, the striker screws in to a threaded plate that has clips to loosely hold it in place while allowing it to slide some for adjustments. If the door jam has been repainted, the paint will break when the striker is moved. If your striker is retained by three screws, I would try the same procedure to see if it works.
A common problem I have had with the striker is the plastic cylinder around the striker shaft gets brittle, breaks, and falls off. This leaves the door latch riding on the small inner steel shaft of the striker causing a looser adjustment and metal to metal rattling noise. If this is your situation, a temporary fix is to wrap the bare striker shaft with tape. The permanent solution is to replace it. It is a common part on the generic parts board at the parts store. Hope this of help.
Ah, thank you Jerry. That is the beast. 8) I can see three torq screws neer it, so thought it might have a plate in the back and not adjustable. You are also correct that the plastic piece is missing on my door. :'( I never thought of that! :tgif: LOL. Thanks a ton! ;D
I ordered one today from the local shop.Should be in tomorrow. So stay tuned. Wasnt too bad, $13 for it.
Got the part today. :D Went an took the old one off. Went to put the new one on and the threaded plate fell down inside. :( Took the inner panel apart and fished it out. Got the new striker on. Went to put the inner panel back on and broke off a inch of the corner! There are no smileys here for the way I feel. Just lets say, a tad pissed after letting off some steam. There was nothing wrong qwith the inner panel and now it is missing a corner. Pissed may be a light term! But..... on the good note, door works great. No more jiggly. Maybe tomorrow I will see if it helped the whislting or not?
good to hear you got the door fixed bummer about the panel