Door 'opens' while driving

[dtavres]

I just picked up my car on Friday 1/8, after a couple of months at DMC CA, and drove it this weekend.

Four times while driving, the driver door 'opened'. By 'opened', I mean that it unlatched. It didn't actually fully open - I couldn't push it open - but it had clearly unlatched so I could hear the road noise and feel the air around the door.

After the first time it happened, I paid close attention to closing the door. To make sure it was completely closed, but it still happened.

Any thoughts / help?

[Bitsyncmaster]

Sounds like your latches may need adjustment or are faulty. I try to remember to lock the doors when I'm driving. Not sure if the lock would help or not.

[dtavres]

Sounds like your latches may need adjustment or are faulty. I try to remember to lock the doors when I'm driving. Not sure if the lock would help or not.

Wow... thanks for the quick reply!

I noticed the red 'Lock Doors' light on the center console, and I did lock both doors while inside (and saw that the light when out) - but now I can't recall if the door unlatched while it was locked. But I'll certainly pay attention going forward.

Thank you again for the help.

[mluder]

Do your striker pins have ends on them? By that I mean the flared part on the end.
39045

My driver's side door is slightly deformed and rather so that when it closes the flare wouldn't slide behind the latch. Rather than shim the pin with a washer (like you're supposed to) the previous owner cut the flare off. This would effectively allow the door latch to slide off the end of the pin when cornering or on bumps as the car flexed. I got a new pin, added a shim and it hasn't done it again.

Not saying this is your problem but it's something to look for.

If not - then your striker pins might need adjusting, sounds like your latches aren't fully engaging.

Cheers
Steve

[dtavres]

Do your striker pins have ends on them? By that I mean the flared part on the end.
39045


Thanks... This is the front one... can't find a quick pic of the back:
39046

[Michael]

Does this happen with the doors locked?

If not, until you get this sorted out, I would lock the doors before driving again.

If I were trying to diagnose this problem, I believe I would remove the panel and try to jar it lose by touching and moving the rods and release handles to see which one is affecting the latches. Bear in mind it could be the latches themselves or even the posts/striker pins.

[JohnZ]

There was a period in time when it happened to me too, the rear latch wouldn't stay closed. Therefore I adjusted the pin and with a couple of effort it worked and now the door stays perfectly close. You just have to do some calculations upon the position of the pin, and where it is most effective to slightly move it. I had to higher it to the maximum, for example.

[SS Spoiler]

My doors did it so often that I would hook the pull strap to the
emergency handle. Put new latches in, problem solved....

[dtavres]

Okay... short answer: user error.

Longer answer:
On one of my recent stops by DMC California, I mentioned to Danny and Cameron that the door seemed 'hard' to close, and I felt like I had to slam it pretty good to get it to close. I referenced the suggestion here about adjusting the pins. They said that was a possibility, but they hadn't noticed an issue while doing maintenance on 10515.

One of them asked me to get in the car and close the door... and they spotted it immediately. As a newbie owner, I ASSumed that the strap was to pull the door close enough to grab the handle. D'oh!

Now, for those future new owners who run across this thread, the answer is this. Don't close the door by the handle, use the strap and/or the armrest to close the door.

Since that moment, every time I close the door, it closes easily and solidly. AND, the door hasn't popped open once!

Thanks all!
Dave

[Michael]

What??? I have always used the strap to just get the door close enough to grab the handle(to keep wear on the strap down).

I think it would be pretty hard to use the strap to actually close the door, not enough leverage at the close. I have had my car for over 7 years and no issues at all. I think you still have a latch issue where one is harder to engage and the strap gives you more force on one end rather than using the armrest. Then again I have the early straps that are attached inside the door panel and not the ones that just loop over the handle.

Heck when my car is clean and I am outside the car, I will use the side mirror to close the door so I don't touch the stainless. Works no matter where I hold at.