91 Caprice door wont fully latch...

[columnshift]

1991 (or 90 I can never remember >_
About two weeks ago my drivers side door wanted to stop fully latching. Trying to close it it would go to the first click of semi closed, but not fully closed. I thought it might have to do with the cold or ice melting/freezing cycles getting down into the mechanism so didn't think much of it, sprayed a bunch of WD40 and wiggled the visible part of the latching mechanism in the door working it up and down (it was a bit stiff) but it would still fully close sometimes and not other times. Then last week it wont close fully at all anymore. Except it's not ice - temperatures have finally raised to above freezing fulltime with everything melting here, and the door STILL wont latch and I can't figure out why because I dont understand what is occurring or how it necessarily works. (and I really hope I dont have to tear the door open or something/it's just a bit of a hassle right now as i'm being run ragged and i'm not wanting to work out in the above freezing but still cold temps having come off a nasty lingering infection)

Is this something that involves wiggling the right part that's just sticky somehow or do I have to go tearing the door apart to get into deeper mechanism stuff or what is likely going on?

 

[Lubener]

Hinge(s) sagging?

 

[Warstud]

With the door open.....does it move when you lift up on the door ?

 

[01rangerxl]

As the above posters said, it's likely due to the door sagging.

You may be able to adjust the striker (the part on the pillar that the latch catches), but you will still need to fix the hinges eventually.

The driver's door sags on my Explorer and the latch was actually eating through the striker, to the point I was worried about it breaking. After replacing the striker to the same adjustment the door would not close without lifting up, so I adjusted the striker down and now it closes, but I'm going to have to replace the hinges or at least rebuild them at some point.

If your door is not sagging at all (doubt it), it's the latch itself, and you'll probably just have to replace it.

 

[clinebarger]

Take a screwdriver & manually check the latch for 2 locking detent's, Sagging doors F-up the Latch & Striker!

 

[Nick1994]

I know Chevy trucks of that era always had sagging doors and their hinge pins are replaceable. Not sure if they're replaceable on a Caprice.

 

[Warstud]

Also some strikers have nylon around them and when it breaks off....... the door wont shut properly. Maybe the nylon is still on the passenger door?

 

[Garak]

Yes, in my experience with the taxis, door sagging is the first thing to check. That happened very commonly in those vehicles and the generation previous. If it's not that, some door trim may have to come off to look deeper. Also, as Warstud recommends, make sure nothing is obviously amiss with the easily visible hardware.

 

[columnshift]

THANKS to the people who responded in this thread... people are correct, I was so fixated on the latching mechanism in the door that I didn't properly inspect the striker pin on the doorframe side... it was loose! It has two Torx bits that can loosen and tighten and allow the pin side to be moved up or down, and slightly side to side if necessary... simply positioning it properly (I forget whether that was up or down) and tightening it up, and bingo, the door closed and latched properly again!

FWIW the doors do NOT seem to be sagging, despite 30 years the car didn't see that excessive of use. The hinges creak (so do those on my pickup which barely saw any use with only 22k on it) but the doors don't sag, so this was just a loose striker pin on the door side instead of the hinge sagging - pulling up on the door shows no real movement, it's still solid (just creaky).

FWIW there wasnt any kind of nylon striker bit around the doors on either side - it's just metal.

 

[Garak]

Nice that they weren't sagging. If they are, you can use a very precise piece of equipment to remedy that - a 2 x 4 and pry it.

The striker pins occasionally needed adjusting on the taxis. Taxi doors, of course, took a beating being opened so many times a day, and people using them as assists to get themselves in and out of vehicles.