Do your doors ever open spontaniously?

Yup. My passenger door to be specific. It didn't bother my wife nearly as much as the bruising on her left shoulder.

In my case the door had been used as a brace by someone getting in or out and simply bent it down about 1/2". This is easy to check by simply closing the door partly and seeing where the end lines up. It is also confirmed by you having to lift a bit to get it to latch or slam it several times to get it in there.

The fix is very cave man and no one likes it.

1. get a floor jack and a small section of 2"x4"
2. put the 2x4 on the jack and slide it under the minimally opened door (don't put the 2x4 on the door edge but rather under it on the flat part of door)
3. jack that sucker up until the bend is about 1/2" above even
4. relax and test
5. do it again because you were afraid to go full in on step 3

 

Common occurrence with a GTS. These are NOT stiff cars.

Dave

 

Its happened on my passenger door a couple of times. A liberal dose of WD40 into the latch mechanism has cured it & I would try that first before you go bending things! Its probably just a bit sticky & not latching properly.

 

That scares the hell out of me! I adjust the latch that's attached to the frame.

This is my most common fix. It works most of the time.

 

I've never had that problem - good to know that it COULD happen and how to address it.




PDG

 

NEVER had it happen.

Just lucky I guess.

 

You only need someone to lean on an open door once. Doesn't take much really.

Weight of door, long lever arm, weight of person leaning... combine with not the greatest door pillar strength.

 

The method above works very well. It is just nerve racking. Things you never want to watch: Sausage being made, and having your car worked on in a body shop.

EVERYBODY that rides in my car is told to NEVER use the door as a crutch for getting out.

"If you can't lever your self out on one foot, swing both legs out and use your hands on the door sill to push yourself up and out." It isn't as studly, but it gets them out.

Doug

 

I have the opposite problem, my passenger door is difficult to open or close, and I don't think it's hardly been used ever. Good to know of yet another potential problem though. +1 to checking the latch first though, on my driver's side I had to spend a very long time readjusting it until the lock would consistently work, as the latch was only half catching.

 

I had that when I first bought it, back in '99-'00.

I flushed the latch mechanism with lock cleaner then inserted graphite lube, and then readjusted the latch striker, and the problem went away.
I was surprised how easy it is to adjust the latch striker.

It came back after six or seven years, but a little latch cleaning cleared it up.

From the time I had that issue, I got in the habit of locking the doors before starting off.

 

I've had this problem as well. The latch mechanism does eventually wear to the point that the fit tolerances become too great to keep the door closed. After trying WD40 and graphite lube w/ only temporary success, I had the latch replaced and the door now stays closed.

 

Tiger,

With a clean mechanism and properly aligned doors there is no problem.

As you know I autocross the heck out of my car ... can you imagine me telling a passenger "um these cars flex a lot, so please hold the door closed during this left hander ... I got my door on the right hander".

My door jamb had been cracked from someone jacking the door up. Same person probably stripped out the allen head bolts that held the hinges on the door jamb too. Then that same person probably told the PO that the doors always have problems because of body flex ....

Anyway it's definitely one of those projects that can creep. When I took the time to properly align my doors, which required an additional .03" shim in between the hinge and jamb to make the gap equal between front and back of the door, and removed the mechanism for cleaning and lubrication, they closed and latched like a brand new car. When I first bought my car the doors opened and closed horribly ... kinda had to slam them. Now I close them with one finger, and if they don't latch all the way and bounce back, I can just give them a shove and they latch ... don't have to open them all the way ... really good feeling. I don't remember what I'm pointing at in the pic.

I think a car like a 308 deserves a proper door alignment ... jacking the doors is for American iron .

Cheers,

Sean
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Be sure to look for metal on metal evidence on the top of the striker/receiver in the door jamb ... the pin sticking out of the part in the pic above should go into the receiver on the door and be the only part touching until the latch actually engages ... should be no evidence of rubbing on the top of the receiver on the door which usually starts because the door is sagging.

 

Thanks for this information!
This was my first job on my newly bought 308 QV 84 and it worked out great.

 

Resurrection of an old thread I know but here's my take on it: I've had my passenger side door pop open but I don't think it has that much to do with body flex or alignment. For one thing it doesn't pop "open" completely, it just pops out to the safety catch position so it's the latch mechanism that is at fault. Secondly, it will never do it if the door is locked. Also I've noticed that you only have to touch the outer handle on that door to get it to open whereas on the drivers side there is a bit of free play in the handle before it begins to actuate the latch. So I think it's an adjustment issue with the latch mechanism but I haven't gotten around to doing anything about it since locking the door seems to work for now.

Anyway, the reason I'm posting this is because I think one should thoroughly assess the situation prior to employing a 2x4 and a floor jack. Just sayin...

 

Never occurred on my 328 but I have always pushed down on the car body at the door sill to get out of the car rather than pushing down on the door. Been doing it that way for 30 years.

 

That is common. Or they just rebond when you close them. My 308 did it and I just lubricated the ketch and voila! My friend came here with his 308 and complain about that same problem and I solved it within minutes with a spray can. He was stonned. Lubrication of the door mecanism is part of the maintenance

 

"... jacking the doors is for American iron"

Funny, never heard of doing such a thing on an American car - we always just shimmed the door hinges to adjust horizontal alignment - as per factory service manuals.

It was here on the Ferrari site that I first heard of anyone who "bent" a door with a jack in an attempt to make it "fit". Though more likely what was bent with the jack was the metal at the hinge-mounting point on the door or the door frame (or both). FWIW, auto door hinge shims are made for exactly that purpose -door alignment - and, if no original-type shims are available for a 3x8, they can be easily made in a couple of minutes with some scrap sheet metal. Bending the door assembly to fit (whichever part actually bends) will just make the downward mis-alignment reappear more quickly than it did originally.

 

I never had that problem in a Ferrari. I had it with in my former old Lambo (the driver's scissor door) and I saw it in a very old Lancia owned by a friend. Usually happens if the door locking mechanism is weared. It can be reduced with WD 40 and something like that, but when it happens for the first time, I would recommend to replace the mechanism or fix it in the proper way (that is not just oiling and cleaning).

Edit:

It could be a door disaligment too: I just wanted to say that it's a big safety problem that cannot be solved just oiling and clenaning. You must learn why it happened.

ciao