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Suggestions on fixing some door issues


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Back in 2003 or 2004, the driver door of my Pathfinder was hit by some red pickup truck. Of course, I was only like... 11 or 12 or something at that point, so I don't remember the specifics. The insurance company covered it and replaced the driver door with a supposed new one. However, there is a dent at the lower corner where it strikes the door switch:

 

th_DSC09263.jpg

 

There was a rubber bumper there, but I removed it along with the door switch. The misaligned rubber bumper caused damage to the door switch cover and eventually obliterated the door switch, leading to much annoyance. I'm guessing my only option is to use some Bondo to get this thing smooth, and glue the rubber bumper back on and hope it's good enough for the door switch? Of course I'm probably not going to bother painting it or anything, I just want the f'in door switch to work. I've never used Bondo but I'm sure I can find a friend who has.

 

Another thing: my driver door has become misaligned. It's a noticeable drop and when I close the door, I can see and feel the door shifting upwards to close properly. I'm assuming the door hinges are failing or something. Would this guide apply to my R50?

Edited by Towncivilian
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It may be that it just needs to be realigned because the hinges where they mount to the body have sagged. This is not too uncommon when a door is removed/replaced as yours was. The weight of the door over a few months after replacement causes the hinges to sag some.

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To tell if its the pins, open the door and try to lift it up and down. If it moves at all, the pins/bushings are worn out.

 

 

I should have mentioned that too :)

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Drilled a hole and tried popping the metal back into shape using an Allen key and some pliers, didn't work. Sanded to bare metal and Bondo-ing tomorrow.

 

Door has a few cm of vertical play. What do I need to replace?

 

Also, the window shudders about halfway when going down. Anybody know a possible cause? Going up is fine. I'll try to get a video to help illustrate the problem. I didn't have this issue about 6 months ago.

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Drilled a hole and tried popping the metal back into shape using an Allen key and some pliers, didn't work. Sanded to bare metal and Bondo-ing tomorrow.

 

Door has a few cm of vertical play. What do I need to replace?

 

Also, the window shudders about halfway when going down. Anybody know a possible cause? Going up is fine. I'll try to get a video to help illustrate the problem. I didn't have this issue about 6 months ago.

Hinge pins and bushings.

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Do you know the part numbers? All I see on Courtesy Parts is the hinge assemblies themselves. Are the pins/bushings not sold individually?

 

I lubed the window tracks with a lot of silicone spray and it seemed to almost eliminate the shuddering for a couple up/down cycles, but it returns shortly afterwards. It still seems a little lessened, but not completely gone. I'm assuming something is misaligned?

Edited by Towncivilian
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Do you know the part numbers? All I see on Courtesy Parts is the hinge assemblies themselves. Are the pins/bushings not sold individually?

 

I lubed the window tracks with a lot of silicone spray and it seemed to almost eliminate the shuddering for a couple up/down cycles, but it returns shortly afterwards. It still seems a little lessened, but not completely gone. I'm assuming something is misaligned?

I don't know the part #s but I do know they are a common thing to be replaced and most parts stores should have them.

 

 

Anybody have any suggestions on what to look at inside the door?

When that happened on my passenger door it turned out to be a worn window regulator but I would pull the door panel and check for loose parts first :aok:

 

Hope this helps.

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There were no loose parts last time I had the door panel off a few weeks ago, but I didn't examine anything window-related closely. Besides checking for loose parts, anything else I should look for specifically? Perhaps lubricate the window regulator directly?

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You could try lubing all of the moving parts in there, but I don't know if it would help. On mine it was so bad that you could move the window side to side and up and down a bit. It wasn't that hard to change but it's nice to have a second set of hands. What I would do is take the panel off and reconnect the switch, then roll the window up and down and you might be able to see what the issue is.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I removed my driver door panel and sprayed some white lithium grease on the window regulator and tracks to stop it from shuddering and jumping when going down. Seems to have worked, hope it lasts for a while before I need to do it again. I should probably do it periodically for all the windows to ensure they keep working smoothly.

 

Still haven't gotten around to Bondo'ing the dent but I'll get around to it.

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