Passenger door rattles badly, can't find the problem

[LouSalazar]

My passenger rattles very badly, it sounds like it could fly open at any moment. However, it shuts securely and can't be pushed open from the inside. I bought a pair of door bumpers to replace the two that had fallen out from each door. It actually seemed to make the problem worse. The weatherstripping is all there and looks okay. Is my latch in bad shape? Any ideas?

[MikeW]

It's not clear to me from your description if the entire door moves since you say it shuts securely. When the door is shut can you move it by hand? I'd just sit in the passenger seat and try to move the door with the pull strap. If it doesn't move it could well be that something inside the door is rattling, not the door itself.

[beandip]

There is supposed to be a felt channel in the window channel that extends down below the sill. If the felt is missing the glass will rattle like mad. Also there is a rubber block the glass is supposed to rest on when the window is down. There is a roller that is spring loaded that holds the glass from rattling and they can fail. Check these out. Gary

[EScanlon]

There's also a bit of rubber wrapped around the latch mechanism itself. Without this piece of rubber, the door latch ends up being metal against metal. Many times this will fall off and that 3/32" worth of space will allow the door to rattle with every vibration of the car.

Check the latch, specifically the part on the door that rotates when it strikes the catch on the door frame. If it's bare metal, then the rubber has fallen off.

The simple fix is to buy a new lock mechanism. However, that can be spendy and time consuming to find.

The inexpensive fix is to afix a new piece of rubber to that latch. It can be done, but it takes a bit of experimentation.

HTH

E

[jmortensen]

It could be the glass is loose in the frame. When the window is loose the glass can wobble back and forth and slap against the inside of the door. Especially loud when you close the door. If you pull the window there are maybe 8 or 10 bolts that go through the bottom of the glass and attach it to the frame. You can't tighten them too much for obvious reasons, so loctite them and then carefully tighten them as much as you feel you can without cracking the window glass. I did this and had several Z owners comment that my doors closed like a "Swiss bank vault". Of course they loosened up after a couple years because I wasn't smart enough to think of loctite at the time.

[BuDavid]

There's also a bit of rubber wrapped around the latch mechanism itself. Without this piece of rubber, the door latch ends up being metal against metal. Many times this will fall off and that 3/32" worth of space will allow the door to rattle with every vibration of the car.

Check the latch, specifically the part on the door that rotates when it strikes the catch on the door frame. If it's bare metal, then the rubber has fallen off.

The simple fix is to buy a new lock mechanism. However, that can be spendy and time consuming to find.

The inexpensive fix is to afix a new piece of rubber to that latch. It can be done, but it takes a bit of experimentation.

HTH

E

+1

I had this in my Z, I cured it with an insulation tape wrapped several times, could be solved mmore proffessionally also..

good luck.

[2-4-T-Z-MAN]

If the door itself turns out to be secure at the latch, there are many movable parts inside the door.

The window regulator could be loose where secured to the door frame.

The pivot points of the regulator could be worn and allowing rattles.

There is a nylon roller that helps guide the window and also applies pressure to keep the window in place. That could be gone.

Old cars are fun, they rattle, and as their preservers we will forever be tinkering to maintain them. Have fun and let know what you find.

[240ZX]

A couple of spots to check, that I discovered to be rattle problems on my 70. The door release handle and or the concave black plastic bezel just behind it. Both of them, passenger side, were doing the rattle deal until I finally figiured where exactly the noise was coming from.....sometimes hard to figure out while driving solo. Just a thought anyway!

Tom