328 Doors "creaking"

My doors made "creaking" sounds whenever they were opened or closed. Initially it appeared that the hinge pins were the culprit so I greased them with a grease gun thru the grease zuriks on the hinge pins.
Greasing the pins did not solve the problem and there was a vibration on the door spring "link” (See Tav 114 part 44) corresponding to the creaking sound.
I took the door jamb apart and tried to clean and grease the spring/roller mechanism from the door side of the jamb. This did not work.
I found there is a large rubber plug on the rear side of the inner, front wheel well that allows access to the mechanism. (see Tav 107, part 31 of the 328 parts manual).

To get at the plug you need to jack the car up in the front to provide some room around the tire. The wheel does not need to be off the ground or come-off. You can jack one side-up to work on both sides of the car.

Remove the screws and the gravel guard (Tav 104 part 23). This is the plate that is between the front tires and the door jamb.

After the gravel guard is removed you will see the rubber plug (see Tav 107, part 31). The plugs were hard to remove--just have to grab and work it loose by hand. Remove the plug and you will see the back of the spring mechanism.

To clean the mechanism, I sprayed a bunch of brake parts cleaner on it and it cleaned right-up. Not sure where all of the cleaner went, but it did not run on the ground or smell inside of the car? After it dried-off, I worked spray lithium grease from an aerosol can into the mechanism.

That solved 99% of the creaking
The whole job (both sides) would take about an hour to do.
For me, those mechanisms will be greased on a regular basis because if one gets worn-out it would be very difficult to replace.

Mark
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login