When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
100% agree with John that the hinge pins are probably worn.
About if the latch rubs on the striker, if I recall correctly the manual says they are supposed to, but only a very slight amount. Maybe a 1/16 of an inch or so if even that. It seems with the slight rub the door lifts just a little bit to latch it in place if I recall correctly.
Where are these hinge pins located?
I got lines on the car paint job and they line up but when I close the door there's a bit of a gap on the right it might be from the striker not aligned properly.
Tomorrow I would post some pictures.
Is there a lot of movement when you open the door up and down. Does the door drop much once it is off the striker ..? If it's little you might get away with just a hinge adjustment..
Is there a lot of movement when you open the door up and down. Does the door drop much once it is off the striker ..? If it's little you might get away with just a hinge adjustment..
All above is good info. The three striker bolts can up adjusted up, down and left, right. So drop it a bit. Put some white lithium grease on the contact parts.
As John Panelford has said above, I have found that the shiny chrome reproduction striker plates wear out faster than the original striker plates. NOS striker plates can be found cheaply on eBay.
They are inside the door pillar. Held into the pillar by three bolts on each hinge. 2 on the outside hinge flange and one deep inside in the middle.
If one of the hinge pins are worn or broken you will have a good amount of play with the door open and pulling up on the bottom back corner. If that is the case you might not ever get the door to line up correctly with nice consistent 5/32" all around gaps. It's hard enough to align when the hinges are good. ( Some say they were never that precise from the factory.)
If you ever do have to pull off the door to work on the hinges and you like the gaps the door already has, do yourself a big favor and drill some 1/8" position reference holes in the upper and lower leafs where they bolt inside the door pockets and the upper and lower flanges on the pillar. Using a couple of ice picks or awls it will make things much easier to get the alignment back to normal again.
I don't know if it's vesible but the driver side is sticking out little bit, maybe because the passenger side the spring and plastic is missing from the door striker and you really need to slam it hard in order for it to shut close.
