How-To: Fix a Broken Door Check (save $30-40)

[01rtgurl]

I replaced my door check on the 01 around 80k I want to say.... and I can't remember exactly but it was definitely around $30-40 from the dealer.

My sister's 02 with 40k had the same thing happen. When you open your door after this thing breaks, it pops a few times as the plastic sleeve inside is now moving when it shouldn't be.

Here are pics of my old broken one, you can see metal at the end in between the bracket, you shouldn't be able to see that, there is supposed to be plastic around there. When this breaks, it allows it to move around.





The fix.

What you can do is this:
-Close the door so it is not fully extended, but allows you enough room to get a drill in there, and drill a hole THROUGH the door check and the plastic inside the door check. Then you put a pop rivet through it to keep the 2 pieces together (that were originally together, but now that it is broken they are free to move separately), and then use a hammer to flatten the pop rivet so it does not interefere with anything.

Pictures of the process:

There is actually a small divot in the check, this is where you are going to drill through. TO MAKE SURE THAT THE PLASTIC PIECE IS INSIDE OF THIS PART, DO NOT HAVE THE DOOR FULLY EXTENDED WHEN DOING THIS.




(the drill is slightly off in this pic due to holding the camera and trying to represent drilling lol)

After drilling the hole, put a pop rivet in. I do not have pictures of this, as I was taking pics of the door check on the other side (not broken lol). After putting the pop rivet in, use 2 hammers and flatten the rivet.



Finished product (my old broken one, now fixed, and now I have a spare!):

[occasional demons]

Cool write up! Mine has made the popping sound for some time, but never really gave it much thought. The spring loaded part inside of mine is also binding some, but I will give this a try!

[01rtgurl]

Cool write up! Mine has made the popping sound for some time, but never really gave it much thought. The spring loaded part inside of mine is also binding some, but I will give this a try!

Thanks and yeah, mine did it for a while too. I think the door check breaking *might* be caused by the bolts getting loose that hold it on somehow allowing more movement (maybe?). I noticed my bolts were loose but I didn't get to tighten them right away and then next thing I knew the check was broken

[occasional demons]

Pfft!, I checked it yesterday and now it's quiet and working normal. I guess slapping it upside the head with a full size Ford van will cure that sh*t!

[Danteneon]

Nice job

I had replaced both my fronts, but I'm already seeing signs of failure I will have to give that a try!

[BlackRoseRacing]

Glad you posted this, I don't want to buy another door check for my door, I may give this a try

[01rtgurl]

No prob guys. No issues with mine yet

[darthroush]

I went and bought a rivet gun with rivets today. Hope this works, tired of the light coming on and off while opening the door. Going outside now...

[occasional demons]

It won't fix that.

The switch is in the actual latching mechanism at the other end of the door. Either the latch is malfunctioning electrically, or the wire for the lights/chime is grounding out.

But the good news is, you now have more tools!
The bad news is you still need to replace the door latch, or find the short. I don't think a broken wire will do it. The connector could be removed from the latch, but you will not have a door ajar signal, or interior lights when that door is opened. There may be other problems caused by it, but that's all I can think of ATM.

Edit: After rereading: A broken wire would cause it to fail while the door is moving, and the light is flickering on/off. The break would be near where the hinges are.
Jeeps are good for that problem. Mine only seems to be the speaker wires, everything else seems fine, knock on wood.

[darthroush]

Yeah, it didn't fix it. I don't think anything is shorting because the other 3 doors work fine. Just the driver door. Certain positions while opening the door will cause "DOOR" to show up on the cluster and the light will flicker on, then go off as the door continues to open...if that makes any sense. Brakes first tomorrow, then the door.

[occasional demons]

Most likely a broken wire then.

[darthroush]

Yeah, I guess it's not that important for $40 right now. At least I know it needs to be replaced.

[srtgtr34]

Mine is shot on the drivers side, it creeks every time I open the door. some brake lube helped fix the problem for now but, I need a new one, this mod will not due. Since mine is missing a chunk out of it.

[Maddog]

This is a good fix. I had the same problem in my 1gn, so I got some door checks from the salvage yard that were not broken. They were free, if I recall...

[occasional demons]

I re hosted the pics on Imgur.

Just in case the PB fix stops working, or someone doesn't have the extension on their browser.

Below is quoted from the first post with re hosted pics:

.

I replaced my door check on the 01 around 80k I want to say.... and I can't remember exactly but it was definitely around $30-40 from the dealer.

My sister's 02 with 40k had the same thing happen. When you open your door after this thing breaks, it pops a few times as the plastic sleeve inside is now moving when it shouldn't be.

Here are pics of my old broken one, you can see metal at the end in between the bracket, you shouldn't be able to see that, there is supposed to be plastic around there. When this breaks, it allows it to move around.





The fix.

What you can do is this:
-Close the door so it is not fully extended, but allows you enough room to get a drill in there, and drill a hole THROUGH the door check and the plastic inside the door check. Then you put a pop rivet through it to keep the 2 pieces together (that were originally together, but now that it is broken they are free to move separately), and then use a hammer to flatten the pop rivet so it does not interefere with anything.

Pictures of the process:

There is actually a small divot in the check, this is where you are going to drill through. TO MAKE SURE THAT THE PLASTIC PIECE IS INSIDE OF THIS PART, DO NOT HAVE THE DOOR FULLY EXTENDED WHEN DOING THIS.




(the drill is slightly off in this pic due to holding the camera and trying to represent drilling lol)

After drilling the hole, put a pop rivet in. I do not have pictures of this, as I was taking pics of the door check on the other side (not broken lol). After putting the pop rivet in, use 2 hammers and flatten the rivet.



Finished product (my old broken one, now fixed, and now I have a spare!):

[BlackRoseRacing]

ill be damned if I could remember where I read about this in the past....
I did this on my drivers door many years ago for the same issue!
Thanks for reposting this as many others probably have never heard of this fix

[jonnymopar]

Wish I knew about this before mine tore itself to shreds.

However, in the process, I did learn that the checks are physically interchangeable left to right. The only difference is the direction in which the rivets are installed (fear of falling out I guess). It was a lot easier to find a good passenger's side front check than a driver's side!

[occasional demons]

Wish I knew about this before mine tore itself to shreds.

However, in the process, I did learn that the checks are physically interchangeable left to right.

It's the same for 1st gen's. I think you can even use the rear door checks on the front, at least with 1st gen's. Been too long since I've really looked at my '01.