Rear Door

mezuk04 · Post by **mezuk04** » 13 Dec 2005, 14:43

Noticed slightly over a week ago that the rear passenger side door wont open, no amount of locking and locking and pulling and pushing would open it. Next day all was fine so didnt worry too much (well its a Citroen thing). Now the door stayed shut for about a week and suddenly on the way for lunch today it was "a jar" so closed it when i got pack to the office car park. Open and shut it several times just incase as its a 35 mile trip on the A1 home this afternoon.

Have a slight phobia of doors ever since the Temptation drivers door decided to pop open when going home in the 'dark'

last year so i began driving while trying to battle holding the door shut, while signalling towards the hard shoulder, while switching on the hazards while changing down gears

Would it be a case of door card off (how many times did i have to do that on the zx

i'll never know, unfortuantly the quality looks a bit better so i dont want to break bits as i tend to have a habit of doing) and just spraying some WD-40 while fingering some grease in where i can or is it more to do with the lock/catch itself? or the lock motor?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Also any suggestions as to why i like these Citroens so much even though they do seem to fall apart

fastandfurryous · Post by **fastandfurryous** » 13 Dec 2005, 20:00

You should worry little if a door pops open at speed. While it will open a couple of inches, to open any further against the airflow is practically impossible (try it on a quiet road some time)

It sounds like the lock mechanism is just jammed up. This can happen through lack of use, or often where a well-meaning previous owner has lubricated the lock mechanism with waxoyl. This works fine for a year or three, and then when the waxoyl finally dries out and goes hard, the lock becomes siezed. Plenty of 3-in-1 or wd-squirty, and cycle the lock plenty of times until it becomes easy to operate.

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 13 Dec 2005, 20:30

mezuk, you don't say which of your cars this is ? But I assume the Xantia ?

I had a similar thing happen with mine, when I went to buy it I could NOT open the rear right door! We checked the latches, pulled, pushed, prodded, did everything we could without being violent with it in front of the seller and it wouldn't budge.

Later when he wasn't looking I gave it a good SHOVE from inside and it opened! So what was it ? Unbelievably the problem was that the door seal rubber had gone sticky in the heat, coupled together with the door never being opened for long periods of time sitting on the car yard, and it was sticking the door shut.

A week after I bought it I went to open the door on a hot day, and again it was stuck and I had to give it a good yank. Since then I regularly open that rear door to put gear in when I go to work and I've had no more problems with it sticking.

Hard to believe the rubber could make it seem like the door was jammed but it did....perhaps worth trying some kind of appropriate cleaner on the contacting door rubbers to remove any possible stickiness ?

Regards,
Simon

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 13 Dec 2005, 21:53

Door rubbers do of course have an enormous contact area so when pulled the stress is very low per unit area because there is so much of it.

I have this trouble with my BX in frost and keep meaning to do something about it like rubbing silicon lubricant along its length. An alternative might be wax polish which I don't think attacks rubber.

mezuk04 · Post by **mezuk04** » 14 Dec 2005, 00:17

Right so when the next time the door is opened at home i shall lube the rubber (dont think thats the first time ive said that

) and take the card off and spray the lock with wd40

Clogzz · Post by **Clogzz** » 14 Dec 2005, 12:23

Heat and frost causing it ?
How very strange.

On mine, all door seals always stick after rain.
It's never too bad because all 4 doors are used most days.

mezuk04 · Post by **mezuk04** » 14 Dec 2005, 12:54

its got to be the lock itself...all the doors have had new grease 'fingered' into all the catches and into all the hinges and brackets.

Ive dealt with the temptation door (drivers) from sticking but this was when last year it was severely cold and frosty and snowy (and you had to pull hard) but the weather is no where near what it was last year and i do think its the catch as it wont even open on average temperature days

Clogzz · Post by **Clogzz** » 14 Dec 2005, 13:10

Isn't the door sagging ?
A common stunt on the Estates is for the top door hinge weld to let go, causing the door to sag.
Does it help to lift the door when opening ?

mezuk04 · Post by **mezuk04** » 14 Dec 2005, 13:15

Its just a hatchback!

Aware however of the failure with the Estates.

Cant say ive noticed it sagging to be honest at all!
Saying that all the Citroen doors ive seen never seem to be perfectly aligned anyway

But sagging i dont think so, will have a quick look before i go home

mezuk04 · Post by **mezuk04** » 14 Dec 2005, 16:38

Right my comrades,

pulled up at home and the door opened.

I tried locking the car (fob) with it still open, now normally it will lock and then unlock as it senses a door open.

Guess what, thats right

it doesnt sense that this door is open and therefore locks all doors tight, and the door makes a mumbling noise most likened to a mythical beast off Harry Potter.

So is it the motor?

Clogzz · Post by **Clogzz** » 15 Dec 2005, 11:24

mezuk04 wrote:a mumbling noise most likened to a mythical beast of Harry Potter.
So is it the motor?

It's the lock mechanism that's running slowly.
I think that there's a worm gear on the motor spindle.
From experiences with videos and DVD players, if there's a plastic worm gear on the metal motor spindle, the plastic will split in time, and slow the mechanism.
One of my rear doors is starting to get noisy like that.
The rear hatch did it years ago, and I squirted WD40 into it, and it's been good since.

mezuk04 · Post by **mezuk04** » 15 Dec 2005, 11:52

So is a door card off jobby then, and just let rip with the spray can

Clogzz · Post by **Clogzz** » 15 Dec 2005, 12:51

Looks like it, unfortunately.
Since the motor makes noise, it's got voltage, but there is the chance that a wire in the flexible into the door is on the way out, or making bad contact.
A fiddle and prod in that area may pay off.

mezuk04 · Post by **mezuk04** » 15 Dec 2005, 13:17

A fiddle and a prod you say.....well I have more than enough experience in that so looks as if it should be a breeze

Clogzz · Post by **Clogzz** » 15 Dec 2005, 15:00

mezuk04 wrote:should be a breeze

Panting to read the findings.