Hello: First of all, I hate posting so much "need help" threads on FerrariChat. I know how much this stuff scares potential first-time owners (Mondial ones in particular). These really are GREAT cars, and are (in my experience) a joy to own, drive, and work on. If you are considering jumping into classic Ferrari ownership, don't get discouraged by all of the posts (including mine) on FerrariChat -- that's kind of one of the points of FerrariChat; to ask for help. If you read a lot of posts on FerrariChat it appears that our cars are all falling apart. They aren't! We just seldom go through the trouble of posting every single great drive we have in our cars. Heck, I get a thrill every time I open my garage door! Anyway, on to my problem... Since I purchased my '84 Mondial (Coupe) a year and a half ago the driver side door has made a "clunk" noise at each resistance point. I finally decided to look into it and, after taking my door panels off, I saw that one of the "ears" on the door stop was actually broken, allowing the door stop to pivot around whenever the door was opened or closed. "Easy fix" I said to myself as I ordered a new stop from Eurospares. Three days later (!) I received the new part from the UK. Installation went smoothly. I took the opportunity to replace the non-working power mirror switch ($12 shipped off of eBay!), did some spring cleaning, and buttoned everything up nicely. Then I closed the door. Clunk Clunk. If anything, louder than before. WTF? Taking the door panels back off I cannot, for the life of me, see what is wrong. (Of course I can't see that greatly. I'm thinking about buying a boroscope to get a better look.) My door isn't sagging and closes well. No misalignment issues that I see. Has anyone experienced this before? Does anyone have any suggestions? (Besides being careful to not get grease on the carpets or the driver seat -- unfortunately I already figured that one out.) Thanks. --Jeremy
I may be way off base, and I am sure you already checked this, but what the heck... Is the door panel itself loose from the door frame? There are a few small screws on the bottom of the door card and two on the front carpeted portion of the door card. I noticed a double clunking sound when I first got my car. It turns out that over the years those screws begin to work themselves loose and make the door sound awful when you are closing it. I tightened the screws, replaced some with oem style screws and washers and the doors now shut with one solid thud. Just a thought...
I have exactly the same problem on the driver's door on my 328. I shot a load of lub on the hinges and still ... clunk clunk. Like you, the door is otherwise fine with no alignment issues.
My drivers door has done this for years, I've tried all sorts of things to fix it, no joy. If you find out what it is I'd be mighty happy!
Thanks for the response. The door panels were loose when I bought the car and "rattled." Some PO installed a Sony stereo and, evidently, properly replacing all the screws in the door panels was just too much work... I bought new hardware at Lowes, as well as replaced the foam strips beneath the top door panel, and now everything is nice and tight. The sound is definitely coming from the door stop at the two restriction points.
My 308 driver's door made the same clunking sound. My mechanic Tim Stanford looked at it, and apparently a P.O. had replaced the pin that conected that little arm thingy ?Door Stop? (not the proper name for it) with a bolt and nut. He ordered a new pin. Cost $1.92.. My invoice says part # 65859300. No more clunking sound...
I think that's the issue with my car. I went out to the garage earlier this evening and very closely watched/listened to where the sound is coming from. It appears to be the door pin. Guess what? I also simply used a nut and bolt, as I destroyed my pin during removal. I'll look into ordering a new pin, but to test I'm heading back to Lowes/Home Depot tomorrow during lunch and see if I can find something that fits better. Thanks! --Jeremy
Uh, oh. Ricambi's web site says "call" instead of listing a price... By the way, Ricambi calls the door stop thingy a "Sop Tie Rod For Door" and the pin is a "Pin for tie-rod." (The part I replace is outlined in green in the screen capture, and the pin that I need to purchase is circled in red.) I mentioned in my original post that I also replaced the mirror switch. As many of you may be aware, the switch is a BMW part off of an old 5 series (which is why I was able to get it for $12 shipped). While Googling the door "clunk-clunk" issue I came across several BMW forum posts with the same issue. Some people even included photos of thier door stop. Guess what? Theirs (from a 3 series) looked exactly like the one I just replaced. I think that I'm going to measure the old one off of my car and see if it matches the BMW part's dimensions. Image Unavailable, Please Login
You can use those from FIAT also. Look at http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=209843 chapter 14... Guido
As suggested by Flvice, the issue was the door stop pin (circled in red in the diagram). I replaced the bolt with a better fitting bolt and the sound has all but gone away. The bolt is temporary until I find the correct part, or make something better. (I ended up going with a 6mm bolt. It really needs about a 7mm to be perfect.) I have a 1/4" pin that almost fits. I'm thinking I may take a grinder to the pin. I'm SO glad I don't have to take the door skins off. Now on to the next project! --Jeremy
