Dropping driver door

pauldewar · Post by **pauldewar** » 15 Jun 2005, 04:09

Hi Out there.........
I have a 95 Xantia hatch and the driver's door has started to drop so that it strikes the door latch on the central pillar, and so has to be lifted to engage the latch. It seems the upper hinge where it is welded to the door has failed. Is this a common problem and is there any known remedy other than rewelding[?]
Many thanks.........

mezuk04 · Post by **mezuk04** » 15 Jun 2005, 04:36

Had this problem on my zx....unfortuantly i only found out it was a problem when the door unlatched itself while i was on the a1 on the fast lane in the dark (in novemeber/decemeber) it was difficult holding onto the door while driving and moving onto the hard shoulder while putting the hazards on....though we could see that the welding had kinda failed in a sense where the door hinges onto the pillar...wilkobob added a few welds and we fitted a new lock catch....£5 from the scrappie and havent had any problems...so before you think that theres a bit problem with the pillar....replace the catch (in the door) and possibly a bit of welding on the pillar...if wilkobob see's this he maybe able to give a bit more information

Whitecrook · Post by **Whitecrook** » 15 Jun 2005, 05:55

my xantia has this problem aswell, i have to lift and close the door by the plastic trim along the middle of the door to close it.
Wobbly hinge as far as i can see, just gonna leave it for now not worried too much all the other doors are fine.

Post by **RichardW** » 15 Jun 2005, 12:57

It's a well known fault on the estate as the doors were often not welded on properly (weld didn't make full penetration to the heavy member behind the thin panel). Much rarer on a hatch - usually due to corrosion following accident repair. Very common on a BX though!Welding it on a Xantia is thought to be difficult due to the risk of setting fire to stuff in the pillar. There's a post on here somewhere about repairing it by bolting it back to the pillar though - try a search.

pauldewar · Post by **pauldewar** » 16 Jun 2005, 02:21

Many thanks for the info...I have read about the Estate problem but mine is different...but assuming I have to reweld the hinge to the door...I have a few questions
is it a 1 or 2 man job to remove the door
how easy or dificult is it to remove the door pins...and put them back
does all the internal panelling and wiring have to be removed
Any response with this matter much appreciated....

THELABMAN · Post by **THELABMAN** » 16 Jun 2005, 02:54

Hi,
I had similar problem with my Xantia just repaired, the hinge had actually broken away from the door, and was starting drop it went from annoying to totally knackerd in 3 days, I eneded up having to get in the car by the passenger door.
Unfortunately not being mechanically minded in any shape or form I had to get the car reapired at a body shop at a cost of £120, apparently it had failed before at some time and they had a fair amount of work to do, but with great care and attention on there part it came back good as new with no damge to the paint work on the door(my one big worry was ending up having to repaint the door as well)and new top and bottom hinge pins fitted.
Hope you get yours done soon.

pauldewar · Post by **pauldewar** » 18 Jun 2005, 15:40

Hi all....
Many thanks for the help and advice. Took the car along to my local village garage. The guy is an ex-Citroen mechanic and tells me that this was a weakness with early Xantias but is fixable by rewelding the hinge.
Will let you know how it goes............

pauldewar · Post by **pauldewar** » 29 Jun 2005, 03:11

Just to close this one...The upper door hinge has be rewelded and works like a dream...........