Subject line sound like a novel... LOL

Now on to the facts:

My doors rattle a bit more than I’d like them to. I check to see if they have an up/down play and they don’t. After researching I read that the door striker bolt might be the culprit.

I examined my doors striker bolts and they look good to me, yes a bit worn but evenly worn. Which now poses the question will new striker bolts end the rattle on my doors.

Please feel free and chime in on what you did to your doors to make them feel like new.

When you say "rattle" i'm thinking of all the little things in the door that rattle. Like the lock rods and latch rods. They were all in plastic keepers originally and had "anti ratlle" sleeves on them, but time looses them somehow. If your actual door is bouncing around I would start with hinge pins and cleaning and greasing the latch make sure its closing all the way.

quote Originally posted by Mike Gonzalez: When you say "rattle" i'm thinking of all the little things in the door that rattle. Like the lock rods and latch rods. They were all in plastic keepers originally and had "anti ratlle" sleeves on them, but time looses them somehow. If your actual door is bouncing around I would start with hinge pins and cleaning and greasing the latch make sure its closing all the way.

Ok bouncing is a good term, however when I open the door and try to move it, it feels solid no play in the hinges. When I go over a bump in the road I can see the door bounce which then makes a rattle sound I'm guessing because of the window. When the window is up it still bounces "rattle" but a lot less.

I was looking for perhaps someone that had the same problem and changed the striker bolt to see if that fixes the problem.

Thank you for help it is appreciated.

If your strikers look okay, how does the latch look ? Could be the latch is all wallered out and cant get a hold of the striker tightly. Plus I think the latches had a layer of plastic on them originally that falls off after a while making it loose.

Mike Gonzalez

Never thought of that. Do you know of any place that sells new latches?

I'll check the Fiero Store, but I don't believe I've seen them there but I could be wrong.

Maybe the dealer, the used the same latch in several cars, so it might still be something produced.

The loudest rattles in the doors are likely coming from the power lock plungers (if you have them), door lock rods (as already mentioned) and the plastic sleeve on the forward window track. One way to find out is to remove the inner door panel and expose this stuff. the best way is to remove the inner door panel and the door skin and start eliminating noises one by one.

If you hear rattles when going over bumps, it sounds like you need to replace the plastic bushings in your door hinges. this requires a special tool to remove and replace the heavy spring in the hinge. As an alternative, you can get rebuilt hinges from the Fiero Store.

Here is a thread with pics: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...090219-2-080920.html


Here is a YouTube video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnV8Gg-L7a4

If the "claw" part of your latch is not grabbing tight enough, you can replace the stock striker with a ford door striker bolt that is slightly larger in diameter. You can find these in an auto parts store in the HELP / Motormite section, part # 38421. You might need to remove the plastic from the ford striker.

[This message has been edited by PaulJK (edited 03-07-2009).]

quote Originally posted by PaulJK: If you hear rattles when going over bumps, it sounds like you need to replace the plastic bushings in your door hinges. this requires a special tool to remove and replace the heavy spring in the hinge. As an alternative, you can get rebuilt hinges from the Fiero Store.

All good advice. Only difference is that the ones I have done had brass bushings not plastic

I agree with Paul on the Ford striker bolt from Help/Motormite.
My 86GT driver's side door rattled like you wouldnt believe!!

Funny thing is, my door did not rattle until I replaced the hinge pins with Rodney's kit.
I replaced the hinge pins only because the door would sag and consequently would "clunk"
every time you closed the door. So basically I traded one problem for another.
Well, that is until someone on the forum told me about the Ford striker bolt.

Oh and yes, you do not need the plastic bushing that comes with the Ford striker bolt.

Kit

Popular theory is the the striker bolt head does not really wear too much, but the mating rubber in the door latch shrinks or wears. This provides clearance between the striker bolt head and the latch allowing the door to jiggle going down bumpy roads. If true I am sure it doesn't help your door hinge bushings either.

[This message has been edited by sjmaye (edited 03-08-2009).]

I was researching the same recently and came to the conclusion the latch assembly that catches the striker needs replacing. There is a piece of rubber in there that the striker rests on that gets old and worn and doesn't keep the striker snug anymore. Maybe the rubber piece can be replaced somehow. Jazzman posted some good pics one time of it one time. It would be nice to find a latch assembly from another gm car that wil fit. I've checked, and the Fiero ones are long discontinued. I know there are a few vette ones that are available still, but aren't an interchange for the Fiero one, maybe beretta, or we can mod another to fit. They seem to be extremely similar according to pics. Anyone know the differences? I believe the Fiero changed latch assemblies in 87 too.

I looked at doing the replacement thing. I don't even know if the piece is available anymore. It is too easy to just replace the striker bolt.

[This message has been edited by sjmaye (edited 03-09-2009).]

The Ford striker bolt idea sound good to me. I'm going to try that first and I'll post results when I have them.

To everyone that posted thanks.

I can't remember what size it is. I finally went to Ace hardware and got a great quality set with all the sizes I ever needed for the Fiero. All for about $30.

That's a good price I would say, however I'm only going to use it once so the least I can spend would be in my favor. I appreciate you trying.

If no one remembers it not a big deal. I'm going over to Pepboys tomorrow and I'll see if they have the part and then I'll measure the torx. I'll post my findings.

Hopefully it will help others later on which have the same problem.

I'm chiming in a little late but when I redid the hinge pins on my 85 (I had the inside trim off and the inner door panel off too), with the window down and the door shut I could look in through the open window and see the weatherstrip around the door was not in contact with the door in several spots.

When I looked closer I found the thin metal lip the weatherstrip is mounted on must have bent in after years of the door closing.

I used a rubber mallet to tap on the inside of the metal lip/weatherstrip until it bent back and put the weatherstrip in contact with the door all the way around.

Doing that really made the door feel more solid when it was closed.

Steve

Steve thanks for you input...I'll take a look at that tomorrow as well.

Really, the rattle is gone!? That will save a lot of work removing the latch assemblies. Probably cheaper too. I'm gonna have to try that. Thanks!

quote Originally posted by PaulJK: If the "claw" part of your latch is not grabbing tight enough, you can replace the stock striker with a ford door striker bolt that is slightly larger in diameter. You can find these in an auto parts store in the HELP / Motormite section, part # 38421. You might need to remove the plastic from the ford striker.

I am not sure the claw has much to do with the rattles or jiggles I am referring to . I tried adjusting the striker bolt at first. Pulling the door tighter in to the door seal. Did not help me. After looking closer at how the latch seemed to work. As I see it if the door is not sealing or moving toward or away from the seal causing rattles the striker bolt adjustment could help this. In my case the door seemed fine except going over bumped. Then I got the jiggles rattles.

As I looked at the latch with rubber piece I could see they intended for the HEAD of the striker bolt to rest on the rubber piece in the latch assembly. In my case I saw no wear. The only thing I could think was the rubber piece had worn or shrunk over time creating clearance between the striker bolt head and the rubber seat. I tried to adjust up and down. Then I saw it was not just about having the striker bolt head rest on the rubber, but it was the clearance on the top and bottom of the striker bolt.

That clearance must be closed up on both sides. Adjusting the striker bolt up and down only addressed one side or the other. The Ford striker bolt head is slightly larger than the OEM Fiero striker bolt head. This way it closes up that clearance on top and bottom. The only thing to add is the Ford striker ead in my case was a hair too big. I had to turn down the head slightly to provide a firm slip fit at the head entered the striker latch.

The "claw" part of the latch is supposed to have a plastic covering to help with the rattles. That wears out over time.

quote Originally posted by jaskispyder: The "claw" part of the latch is supposed to have a plastic covering to help with the rattles. That wears out over time.

You may be correct, but none of my Fieros came with a splastic cover on the striker bolts . They were all painted steel. The Ford striker bolt mentioned here does have a plastic sleeve on the body of the bolt, but must be removed in order to work on a Fiero.

quote Originally posted by sjmaye: You may be correct, but none of my Fieros came with a splastic cover on the striker bolts . They were all painted steel. The Ford striker bolt mentioned here does have a plastic sleeve on the body of the bolt, but must be removed in order to work on a Fiero.

sjmaye is correct, the plastic sleeve must be removed (very easy to remove) after that say hello to your new doors.

I just did this fix on my 88 yesterday to see if it would help and OMG! what a big improvement.
16 bucks well spent. nice find

and FYI the stock striker takes a T47 and the new Ford one uses a T45 torks bit to install them
D.

[This message has been edited by whodeanie (edited 08-28-2009).]

This is what I found on my driver side door.
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/F.../HTML/102062.html#p0

I had put the Ford bolt on my passenger side but after I found this on my drivers side I took it back out.
The above fixed my drivers side but what I found on the pass. side was a bit different.

There where two items that needed to be fixed on the pass. side.
1. The metal ramp had slowly bent down as I explained in the above link. I pulled it back up straight and tack welded the end so that it would stay straight. This took most of the rattle out.
2. The head of the strike bolt was not anywhere near the center of the rubber but closer to the rear of the door. It just was catching the rubber inside the strike. I added another large washer like the one already on the bolt which moved the head right to the center of the strike rubber.

Doing these two things completely solved my rattle problems. I just got back from a 1600+ mile trip to Colorado and never had one rattle of the doors.

my drivers door rattles and i mentioned it to bubujuju. he went out and opened my door and lifted it. it had a great deal of motion. said my hinge pins are toast and that i need to replace them. pass side is fine tho.

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If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem
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screw paying those bastards. im not going to become rich by paying for things.....

While this is true, the hinge just supports the door when it is open. When closed the strick completely supports that end of the door.
Guess a loose hinge could allow the hinge end to bounce up and down a little but not much.