Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: Christian on 29 January 2009, 19:12:15
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The last week or so my Drivers door as been clanking like hell, its very stiff to operate door and somtimes feels like its imposible to close.
Is there anything i can do to this, tried Copper grease no joy, i want to disconect it for the moment until i buy another, i cant leave it for another few days as it feels like its pullung the door apart inside!
What can i do for the time being?
Thanks for the help in advance.
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spray some thinner lubricant into the mechanism that the check strap slides into, also if its clunking that means the plastic bush round the bolt holding it to the post is fubar'd
a few pence from vaux :y
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Nope the bolt and bush its self is absolutally fine and has no movement, its all coming from internally, do think its the grease that as not worked its way inside?
Ile spray some UB 40 into it then and work it.
But man does it sound bad, a nice looking car sounds so rough when the door opens!
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you can change the mechanism, but it means you have to take off the door panel, the 2x 10mm bolts are accessed from outside the door, but the metal plate that they screw into falls down inbetween the skins of the door if you dont hold it from the inside (hence the need to take panel off)
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Yea i did look at that , its easy enough i spose but ile try lubing it for the moment.
Will try it tomo at work!
Does seem to bad tho for a bit of Lube, but ile see. :)
Just one day it did this!
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If it's already jamming I would change the strap mechanism and fit the reinforcing kit while you're at it before it does any more damage to the bracket inside the door.
Kevin
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Whats Reinforcing kit is this mate? :)
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I think if it's jamming the damage has already been done. It'll be jamming against the remnants of the front skin of the door. My passenger door started like that, and had already ripped the door where the strap bolts to it. Both my front doors have been
bodged repaired with a reinforcing plate on either side of the front skin of the doors.
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Where does it stem from tho (this problem)
Because it never used to do it then all of a sudden one day i opened the door and Clack!
Tbh im a bit scared of fully opening the door incase i cant close it again (unless i undo from A pillar)
Looked like tghe part of the door has " slightly" cracked like half a mm so unsure!
If i disconected it for now ( A pillar side) and Forced it in , would it be ok for time being or would it cause collision faults ?
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The whole cause is the little white bush .. it might look ok but if it's worn it stops the strap rotating (swinging) as it moves in and out, this puts stress on the rollers which leads to stress on the supporting metal which acts like a Rolf Harris Wobble Board ... thus the noise .. and every noise is another death knell to the metal .... called metal fatigue.
For the 2 minutes an 20 p cost .. change the bush, and as said .. go for the reinforcing plates ..
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1152902108
:)
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Sorry - I thought the following had already been posted.
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1152902108
Not sure of the sequence of events but the bushes at the connection to the door pillar wear quickly. Maybe they sieze and put more load on the rest of the check strap?
On the other hand, on the one strap that I have changed the roller on the end of the spring that runs along the strap internally had broken up. This may have caused it to jam.
The internal bracket is also prone to splitting hence the reinforcement kit but personally I think this is a consequence of the strap jamming rather than the root cause.
I have found the strap mounting screws (into the door) work loose and cause it to "clunk" too.
Finally, the brackets on the door pillars pull away where they have been spot welded to the door. All in all the whole mechanism is very feeble for what is a heavy door.
Kevin
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Trouble is ( no problem with money now) is that on ebay the strap is like 40 quid, is this a normal price?
Thanks for the help so far!
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Trouble is ( no problem with money now) is that on ebay the strap is like 40 quid, is this a normal price?
Thanks for the help so far!
Have a peep in the parts for sale section and see if any of the regular breakers can sort out a strap for you
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Trouble is ( no problem with money now) is that on ebay the strap is like 40 quid, is this a normal price?
Thanks for the help so far!
Have a peep in the parts for sale section and see if any of the regular breakers can sort out a strap for you
Ah Ah good point !
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The one I did was on another member's car but I'm sure he said it was not that expensive. :o
Kevin
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The whole cause is the little white bush .. it might look ok but if it's worn it stops the strap rotating (swinging) as it moves in and out, this puts stress on the rollers which leads to stress on the supporting metal which acts like a Rolf Harris Wobble Board ... thus the noise .. and every noise is another death knell to the metal .... called metal fatigue.
For the 2 minutes an 20 p cost .. change the bush, and as said .. go for the reinforcing plates ..
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1152902108
:)
:-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ Can't say for my driver's door - it was goosed when I bought the car, but the passenger door's bush was fine, and the door around the check strap still failed. Cost cutting is why I think the doors fail, Senators never had the nylon bush but never suffered from failed doors or check straps.
I needed a new check strap aswell as reinforcing plates on my driver's door - it was sat in bits at the bottom of the door when I removed the trim.
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So........
Check list!
New checkstrap and Braces?
Oh and also touch up paint just to cover half a mm of crack?
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Mine went years ago the strap/bushes/mechanism where all well lubbed the bracket in the door just ripped out, I can see pieces of the bracket sandwiched between the two bolts just hanging in the hole where they once were.
It doesn't look an easy repair for someone that’s not got access to a welder as a new plate needs to be fitted.
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The repair plates are sandwiched either side of the existing door panel, pulled together with slightly oversize bolts. Might take a bit of shaping to ensure the outer (A pillar) plate fits correctly into the preform of the door, but easily achievable and without door removal or welding... :y
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Am in process of buying a strap before it gets to that stage.
If in doubt i will Slap a post up here :D
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Remember there is a recognised VX repair that involves a pair of preshaped plates and a couple of screws, no welding required...
Must search and find a thread/pics,... :o
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The repair plates are sandwiched either side of the existing door panel, pulled together with slightly oversize bolts. Might take a bit of shaping to ensure the outer (A pillar) plate fits correctly into the preform of the door, but easily achievable and without door removal or welding... :y
On mine the whole lot has gone :o the holes where the plate as you say screws through/to is on the end of the check strap just ripped right out.
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A quick google...
some people have noticed that when closing and opening the front door on an omega (especially the driver's door as it gets more use) that there is a kind of cracking noise.
A "fix" for this is documented on the omega owners' group on yahoo - but I tried this and it did NOT fix the problem. Worth doing though, as it will stop the internal bracket tearing which isn't good!
What did fix the problem though, is also replacing the plastic bushes that fit between the check strap and the big bolt that fixes it to the bracket on the 'A' pillar, as shown below:
http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/8067/dscf02743vr.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Parts required
4 x 9195961 (repair plate)
4 x 13104167 (torx headed screws)
2 x 90462823 (plastic bushes)
total cost for these from Vx (retail) is £5.90
Procedure
First off, the repair plates I bought (helpfully) had a nice sticky label on each one with the part number. Ideally use proper label remover to get them off as you need to paint the brackets to prevent rust. I found that the Maplin label remover (part no. N63AN, £2.99 per can) does a very good job.
You also need to cut down at least two of the brackets - cut off the top 8mm or so and round off the corners, turn 180 degrees and repeat. The info I've read differs - one source says do both brackets for each door, the Vx field rememedy info says to do just the outer one. I'd already done both anyway ... once this is done, paint the brackets to prevent rust.
So for each door you will have two brackets, two screws and one plastic bush. The brackets and screws should be similar to this:
http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/8730/dscf02736ap.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
before installation, the door check strap fitting to the door looks like this:
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/8665/dscf0280a8hj.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Start by removing the door card (see Haynes manual page 11.8 if needed), then the front speaker. Note that removal of the plastic sheet is NOT needed for this job - so no problems if you've got side airbags fitted.
The hardest part I found was removing the door locking knob - the Haynes manual makes it look so easy to remove the clip - but it's best done with a sharp knife initially to make a suitable gap as it's a tight fit otherwise. If it's been removed before then it shouldn't be a problem.
to remove the check strap itself, use an 8mm socket - alternating between the top and bottom bolts. When they are out, remove the pin in the 'A' pillar bracket. This will require two 10mm spanners initially - after a few turns the nut on the bottom can be undone by hand - then remove the pin.
At this point you may want to use latex gloves (unless you like greasy hands) - reach inside the door through the speaker hole and remove the check strap. The mechanism should be covered in grease, you may want to re-grease the mechanism at this point for good measure.
Put one of the plates over the end of the mechanism and see if the screw holes in the plate line up with those on the check strap. If not you'll need to bend the check strap brackets slightly to match (both mine were slightly out).
The second reinforcement plate needs to sit between the door and the fixing bolts - I found the best way to do this is to get the check strap into its' approximate position, then pull it back, fit the plate and push it through again.
Fit the two new bolts through the inner and outer reinforcement plates and into the check strap - note that they have a T30 torx head and not standard 8mm hexagonal. On the driver's side, I had trouble getting the bolts in position - it turned out that there was a slight lip which the reinforcement plate needed to be sat on top of, otherwise it was about 1mm out. When complete it should look like this:
http://img391.imageshack.us/img391/9482/dscf02895nr.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
(I suppose a bit of paint over the screw heads wouldn't be a bad idea either )
Next comes the bushes. They fit on the end of the check straps, between the bolt and the strap, as below:
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/3609/dscf02860lt.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Push out the old, replace with the new. Ideally grease the pin before replacing - it may now not go right the way through without "assistance" due to the new bush, but there should be enough to fit the nut onto. Tighten up using the two 10mm spanners as per removal, which will pull the pin down through the bush.
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we have a comprehensive "how to" on our own site ... I posted the link earlier ...
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1152902108
:(
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Yea i got that cheers! :)
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we have a comprehensive "how to" on our own site ... I posted the link earlier ...
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1152902108
:(
sorry, never looked.... Forgot that one was there...
Google is your friend.... ;) ;D
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This is definitely one of those jobs that is best tackled sooner rather than later.
I would change the bushes anyway. For 20p and 5 minutes work, what could be easier?
I am not sure Christian that you need a new check strap, but it does sound like your door bracket is starting to tear, so you need to get the repair kit - two plates and two screws (purchase separately) per door (about a fiver all in as I recall)and get it installed quickly, otherwise the tear will get worse and more difficult to fix.
Note there is NO welding required for the repair kit, even if the door bracket has torn.
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Note there is NO welding required for the repair kit, even if the door bracket has torn.
This is interesting but I cant see (myself) how, as the bracket kit works by sandwiching the old door bracket between the new plates and using the same holes.
In my case all of the steel including the holes has been ripped out and is dangling on the end of the check strap lever arm, leaving a hole at least the size of the kit plates, so there is nothing to sandwich anything too it's all gone :o
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Note there is NO welding required for the repair kit, even if the door bracket has torn.
This is interesting but I cant see (myself) how, as the bracket kit works by sandwiching the old door bracket between the new plates and using the same holes.
In my case all of the steel including the holes has been ripped out and is dangling on the end of the check strap lever arm, leaving a hole at least the size of the kit plates, so there is nothing to sandwich anything too it's all gone :o
Are you sure the hole is that big? The plates are quite large..
But this illustrates why the problem is best dealt with quickly - although not much help in your case.
The repair kit 'sandwich' is
outer plate (from kit)
original bracket
inner plate (from kit)
check strap - into which the bolts screw
So even if the original bracket is quite badly torn, holes enlarged etc it doesn't matter, other than that you will need it approximately flat in order to get the bolts in.
The next solution (if it really is too late for the repair kit) is to get a replacement bracket (they can be bought from the stealers I think) and weld.
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I'll try and post a picture later, if you can imagine looking at the the bracket (as in the pictures posted) BOTH the bolts and the bracket steel has been pulled through. Leaving an oval shaped hole and is hanging on the end of the strap arm back inside the door.