Potential damage to door

[911]

Hi all, 

Took the 911 out for a nice long drive this morning with my 8 year old. 

Only realised after 1 hour of driving over speedbumps and windy roads that she didn't close the door properly.

The door had caught the safety, but not latched and sealed fully. Unfortunately I didn't even hear any different wind noise and only realised when I stopped to put in some fuel. Can some damage be done because of this, or am I being paranoid? 

[NBTBRV8]

It will be fine, no damage will be done.

[911]

5 hours ago, NBTBRV8 said:

It will be fine, no damage will be done.

Thanks for the reply. Wasn't sure. Had a door saggy door on my previous 911. 

[rminc]

I'm not sure if the tounge on the door allows up and down play when engaged on the safety latch. Someone else might know. 

When safety is engaged you only have about 10mm of play between open and closed position, so I'd say there's more risk of damaging the tounge or the striker plate itself if anything. 

 

[NBTBRV8]

16 hours ago, wangan said:

Thanks for the reply. Wasn't sure. Had a door saggy door on my previous 911. 

That would be from hinge wear rather than damage.

[rminc]

4 hours ago, NBTBRV8 said:

That would be from hinge wear rather than damage.

I think the door tounge has 3 settings, open, safety and closed. If the doors sitting on the safety latch (not fully closed) and you're going over bumps etc, couldn't that cause the pin or hinges move? 

I guess it depends on how much play there is in the door when the safety latch is on and sitting on the pin. I think it would be fine though as NBTBRV8 said though. 

[NBTBRV8]

Only and hours worth of wobbling wouldn't wear a hinge out, bear in mind it can only move the amount of slop around the door latch pin.  Being the passenger side door hinge it would be tighter than the driver's side and could take more abuse anyway.

The simple test is, has the door dropped now?  Does the latch and the pin line up really well and if not the wear on the door latch would have really fresh shiny wear on it.

[Merv]

To check - look at the gap between the bottom of the door and the sill.  Is it even all the way along? Second, open the door 30cm or so and gently lift the rear bottom edge of the door and you will feel if there is any movement in the hinges.  They, and the pin through the hinge mounts, can wear over the years. There are replacement kits available.  You can adjust somewhat at the striker end where it locks, but sagging hinges will need fixing properly.

[911]

2 hours ago, Merv said:

To check - look at the gap between the bottom of the door and the sill.  Is it even all the way along? Second, open the door 30cm or so and gently lift the rear bottom edge of the door and you will feel if there is any movement in the hinges.  They, and the pin through the hinge mounts, can wear over the years. There are replacement kits available.  You can adjust somewhat at the striker end where it locks, but sagging hinges will need fixing properly.

When the door is latched the line wouldn't matter would it, because it's sitting on the pin, which would level it out. You'd have to see if you could see a drop in the door while it's not latched, which I think would be impossible to look at while the doors open. 

I guess I could hold the door handle open and try and listen (because I can't see) what part of the tounge hits the pin? 

Which part of the tounge is meant to contact the pint first. 1 or 2. I've marked up a pic. 

[rminc]

13 hours ago, wangan said:

When the door is latched the line wouldn't matter would it, because it's sitting on the pin, which would level it out. You'd have to see if you could see a drop in the door while it's not latched, which I think would be impossible to look at while the doors open. 

I guess I could hold the door handle open and try and listen (because I can't see) what part of the tounge hits the pin? 

Which part of the tounge is meant to contact the pint first. 1 or 2. I've marked up a pic. 

I'd think it would have to be 2, otherwise you'd have alot of resistance closing your doors. Should slide and contact right one the end of line 2. I don't know if you'd be able to hear or see this though to be honest? Someone else might know. 

[Merv]

Did you say what year model your car is?  The bottom gap is still a useful indication, if there is an overall problem .

Get a little tube of Bearing Blue (used to identify contact points) at Autobarn or similar and put some on the pin. Close the door slowly and it will leave a blue mark where it first strikes the locking mechanism/latch. The locking parts are often adjusted over the years to compensate for sagging hinges and that can cause strain and wear in the latch area as well. The door lifting process described should give you an indication of the hinges and their functioning. You would feel the movement.  Hinges can be replaced, repaired or even adjusted with shims. This is not for the faint hearted and best left alone if you are not sure, as there are many directions that door hinges can be moved.  However you may not have a problem at all.  There are lots of threads on the Pelican BB on this issue.

[911]

3 minutes ago, Merv said:

Did you say what year model your car is?  The bottom gap is still a useful indication, if there is an overall problem .

Get a little tube of Bearing Blue (used to identify contact points) at Autobarn or similar and put some on the pin. Close the door slowly and it will leave a mark where it first strikes the locking mechanism/latch. The locking parts are often adjusted over the years to compensate for sagging hinges and that can cause wear in the latch area as well. The door lifting process described should give you an indication of the hinges and their functioning.  Hinges can be replaced, repaired or even adjusted with shims. This is not for the faint hearted and best left alone if you are not sure, as there are many directions that door hinges can be moved.   However you may not have a problem at all.

The car is an 88' model. 

Here is a pic with the door closed. I think it looks fine, but I would imagine that you wouldn't see any slack in this pic, unless the striker plate had dropped. If the hinges or pins had issues, the door would still lift itself up as it closes to sit on the stiker pin in the correct position. You'd have to look at the door while it's not latched which would be difficult I'd think. 

[Merv]

Same year/model as my car. The gaps, vertical and horizontal look fine and seems flush with the rear body panel.  However, the only real check is to open the door slightly, lift and feel for any movement in the hinge.  I suspect you won't feel any. Last, if the door closes/locks and opens easily (sometimes if you have fitted new door seals there can be extra difficulty for a while) the latching mechanism is working well, i.e., lubricated well inside the door and adjusted correctly.