Back door stuck closed /aerial leak / whistling hydr system

[deian]

Hi,

Sorry for the 3 in 1 post, felt it to be better doing it this way than to look selfish starting 3 threads one after another. Here goes:

1. As the title suggests, my drivers side back door is stuck close, both from the inside and out, it unlocks ok, well the 'thing' pops up.

Only clue I have to the problem is that it's ok if I park at angle (upwards towards a hill).

I haven't checked the child lock, could this be half way open/close, or is there something more obvious some you lot have come across.

2. On top of this, I noticed with the recent rain that I have a leak. I don't have a sunroof, so my first guess is the aerial in the top. The water enters the car through the drivers sun visor hinge (the left/centre one).

This would probably explain why I get a bad signal on my FM radio.

Is it easily fixed, I don't want to yank the aerial base off only to find out that the seal gets worse, or I've bent the body work more in that area. I don't think it's coming from the windscreens top seal.

3. I have a concern Whenever I steer to the left and brake at the same time i hear a whistling coming from (i think) the hydraulic system. I know I need an accumulator sphere (risking it a bit I know), I also need the two centre and an anti-sink (the ride is bad, but it's not bouncy, only sometimes, so I presume centrer ones to sort the ride out), but my concern is the whistling. It will whistle if I put medium pressure on the brakes coming down hill for a while. Not too bad if i slam the brakes for a short time. And weight will make the ride a bit weird, not bouncy as such, but the back felt wavy, but not bouncy. Plus my mum asked me the other day if my tyres need air in them (not like her to make such a technical comment). Maybe air in the system is a contributing factor? Could the pump be sucking air in. I totally have no idea which pipe is which, maybe if someone could help me label them I could diagnose something.

Thanks in advance.

[deian]

Bump

[Mandrake]

3. I have a concern Whenever I steer to the left and brake at the same time i hear a whistling coming from (i think) the hydraulic system. I know I need an accumulator sphere (risking it a bit I know), I also need the two centre and an anti-sink (the ride is bad, but it's not bouncy, only sometimes, so I presume centrer ones to sort the ride out), but my concern is the whistling. It will whistle if I put medium pressure on the brakes coming down hill for a while. Not too bad if i slam the brakes for a short time. And weight will make the ride a bit weird, not bouncy as such, but the back felt wavy, but not bouncy. Plus my mum asked me the other day if my tyres need air in them (not like her to make such a technical comment). Maybe air in the system is a contributing factor? Could the pump be sucking air in. I totally have no idea which pipe is which, maybe if someone could help me label them I could diagnose something.

I think the reason nobody replied yet is you have a big confusing mishmash of symptoms in one post

What I will say though is it can be normal for the steering to hiss on a left turn - mine does it. It's not loud but because the car is so quiet at around town speeds you notice it. It's definately not a whistle though, its a hiss.

Not sure what to suggest about your myrid other symptoms as we don't know what steps you've already taken with the car so far...(for example have you checked/replaced any of the spheres ?) weird ride could be a result of someone fitting the wrong spheres for example.

Regards,
Simon

[AndersDK]

Hi Dei -

I agree with Simon.
Get the spheres in question replaced, before any more complaints on the hydraulics and suspension.
I'm sure then that things will calm down to any true problems, not shadows of known problems

Do I read your description correctly : the rear drivers side door will only open when car parked downhill ?
If that is true you better hoist the rear of car on to some serious jacks/post and do the doorlocks before it completely blanks off any admission.
That means stripping the door and unscrewing the lock mechanism for a possible replacement. A blanked off door is about one of the most annoying jobs on a car, and you defo wants to be sure things are working when all bits are re-assembled. I'm not completely sure, but I might even prefer a clutch job for a door lock job

You should find a plug in the ceiling lining. Either that or the sun visors post plate is the access to the antenna foot from inside.
What you will find is a tin-protector blanking out radio interference on the antenna foot bottom connection.
This is like a very small tin cup that mostly will bend out of shape whatever you try to do. Anyway it must be removed to access the 10mm nut holding the cable to the antenna foot.
Be prepared that a washer and possibly a plastic spacer may fall down on removal of the nut. Once the nut is off, the antenna & foot assembly can be wiggled up from the roof.
Clean the area around the exposed hole(s), apply a smear of antirust.
Then fill the insides of the antenna foot with sealant.

Refitting is a rev....
Finish the job cleaning off excess antirust and sealant from around the antenna foot.

Even if you didnt find any trace of water ingress from the antenna foot, you will need to seal it off on re-assembly, NOT to impose a new problem this way

[deian]

Thank you guys, the door is my biggest worry, you'd prefer a clutch job... goodness gracious can it be that bad?

I've checked the strut spheres and they are the correct ones, as for the other 4, i haven't checked the numbers on them yet. But my next mission is to replace the 4 'non-strut' spheres.

Anyway, lesson learnt, no 3 in 1 posts next time. Appreciate the replies.

Thanks

[jeremy]

Has the back door been bent/replaced/fiddled with at some stage?

If so I wonder if its an alignment problem - which resolves itself when the body twists slightly due to being parked nose upwards.

It was common on 60's cars like Rover 3 Litres etc that if you jacked them up on one corner (under the sill not the back bumper) the adjacent door wouldn't open. Modern shells are much better designed and built but there's still some movement there and modern catches are rather stronger.

If it is that its worth having a good look around underneath in case there's some rot.

[deian]

Good point Jeremy, I shall have a look. Thanks