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Rattling Door Latch

goathearder

goathearder

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Hey All,
I took the top off my blazer for the first time last night and its awesome! I can't believe I hadn't done it before!

In doing that, it has actually exposed some things that I didn't notice before, the most annoying of which is that my doors are rattling like crazy.

I did some quick investigation and it looks like the door latch may be loose. Basically, from what I can tell, the door latch hits the stiker on the body just fine and moves into the locked position however when it gets to that locked position, there is a good 10 to 15 degrees of rotational movement in the latch. IE the latch is locking, but not locking solid. This rotational movement is allowing the door to move in and out a bit and causing the rattling.

Does anyone know if that latch can be adjusted to be more solid and take that play out of it? If it can, how do you do it?

Thanks,
John
 
I think you are talking about some slack in your latch (on the door) and the striker (on the jam). You could try adjusting the striker "inward" to see if it tightens it up better. You take a "star type" socket to loosen it up just a bit, move it, and then re-tighten it. Be sure not to loosen it all the way or the nut behind will fall to the bottom....big problem then!

If its inside the door, have you taken that apart to see if there are any loose bolts or hinge arms?
 
I definitely have a little bit of slack in the striker itself and I am going to put a new one on tonight but I am specifically concerned about that latch on the door itself, the piece that grabs the striker.

When I move that latch into the closed position, it has play that I wouldn't expect it to have, allowing the door to move inward and outward a bit. Even if the striker was 100% slack free, that play would still exist. I haven't taken the latch itself out yet cause it looks like a bit of a pain and I don't really want to take it out unless there is a way to adjust how much play it has.

I might have to just take it out though.
 
Ok, let me add this. In comparing to a co-workers newer model car, it appears his latch has the same kind of movement, although not even close to as much so maybe that movement if meant to be in there.

On his car, there are stops along the perimeter of the door that keep it tight and the blazer has no such stop so I am thinking that could be part of the reason. If I could add some stops of some sort to the door, I might be good.
 
I think there is some rubber bump stops in a few locations....don't remember where specifically. I think one up high and one down low.

Even though your striker is worn, try sucking it in a bit and see if that takes up some of the slack. If you replace the striker, I do think that the plate behind will drop and you won't be able to install the new one. Do some research on this before unscrewing it all the way out. Chilton's manual perhaps??
 
Same issue with mine. I don't think the movement is in/out though. I can close the door and push and pull like crazy and get no movement. I think the rattling movement is up/down, like when you go over bumps.

I have not found a fix for it as of yet. And I am pretty sure the nut inside the B pillar is a caged nut and should stay in place if you remove the striker.
 
At first I thought it was up and down movement too but I was wrong. I opened the door and I can't get any movement in the vertical direction. When closed, I can't pull outward on it but I can push it inward a good half inch and when I left go, it moves back out and that is what appears to be making the rattling noise.

I am thinking if I can get some stoppers in there to prevent it from being able to move inward, that might clear up the issue.
 
The nut is caged. There should be a little plastic sleeve that fits over your striker. They get wore out and or disappear over time. If your door is not aligned well, a new one won't last very long either. Try padding it up with electrical tape, makes a good "temporary fix".
 
Just as an update, I got this taken care of. It was a combination of a new striker and a few pieces of rubber to take care of the slack when closed and now I have no more rattle.

Thanks for all the input guys!
 
I saw this and that's cool you got it fixed!

FYI though. A lot of the time the striker bolt gets moved inward. The door latch usually has 2 teeth that catch, and what can happen is only the first tooth gets caught, and then you have play in the door. A lot of people think that moving the striker inward more will help, however, the door is not safe at this point only caught on one tooth.

If you experience a loose door try moving the striker out first. Make sure that both teeth on the door latch are actually engaging by closing the door slowly.

If you think about it, it makes sense... the striker gets beat inward all the time, every time you close the door. Once that outer tooth is no longer getting caught, it's like you didn't close the door hard enough & get that bit of play in it.

Clay
 
Yea, I was catching both teeth and still had the play in it which was making me uber frustrated, hahahahaha. Its so much better now with the slack taken up.

I honestly think I could use a new latch at some point to get rid of the play it had but for now it seems good.
 
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