Passenger Side Door Won't Close

[HelpINeedAnAdult!]

I live up in Altoona, located in Pennslyvania in the mountains. We got a decent amount of snow and its currently 20 degrees. My passenger side door will not close fully.

I go to close it and it simply 'bounces' and remains open. Help? I believe it has something to do with the catch but from what I can tell the catch looks to be fine. I need help!

I have a 1990 Lexus LS 400

[jcrome04]

Hmm.. Maybe push out on the claws with a screwdriver or something while pulling on the door handle? Maybe for some reason they latched but didn't catch properly.

[NewGuy19]

I ran into the same problem a few weeks ago after a snow/rain storm. I'd shut the door and it would just bounce back open. I took the door panel off and it turned out one of the rods running to the outside part of the door handle had gotten stuck in the open position, so it wouldn't enable the latch to work properly. I just let it warm up a bit and it works good as new now. Here's a link to Lexls tutorial on taking the panel off, http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/body/fdoorpanel.html Hopefully that helps a little.

[TA in KC]

I live up in Altoona, located in Pennslyvania in the mountains. We got a decent amount of snow and its currently 20 degrees. My passenger side door will not close fully.

I go to close it and it simply 'bounces' and remains open. Help? I believe it has something to do with the catch but from what I can tell the catch looks to be fine. I need help!

I have a 1990 Lexus LS 400

Here in Kansas City we are getting similar weather. I have had the exact same problem before on my 1992. When the weather gets better, probably this spring, I will open up the door panel and fix the problem. In the mean time, I just wait for the temperature to warm up some. After that the door closes fine. I have just learned not to open it in cold weather like this.

[OmarG]

my 93 passenger front door does this in cold wet weather. the problem is the door lock(door latch) gets stuck with the cold weather. i just greased it up with some wd-40, now its perfect.

[TA in KC]

my 93 passenger front door does this in cold wet weather. the problem is the door lock(door latch) gets stuck with the cold weather. i just greased it up with some wd-40, now its perfect.

WD-40 is probably not the best thing to use on those parts. It has been my experience that it works for a little while, and then wears off quickly. Being a solvent, WD-40 seems to take off whatever lubricant was on the part before it was applied.

When I fix my door, I will probably use silicon grease, instead of conventional oil-based ones, due to the amount of rubber seals/gaskets that are in the door.

[eatingupblacktop]

I live up in Altoona, located in Pennslyvania in the mountains. We got a decent amount of snow and its currently 20 degrees. My passenger side door will not close fully.

I go to close it and it simply 'bounces' and remains open. Help? I believe it has something to do with the catch but from what I can tell the catch looks to be fine. I need help!

I have a 1990 Lexus LS 400

Do you lube everything regularly? Sounds like there some moisture in there that has frozen. Lube will prevent water from attaching itself to the metal parts of latches, locks, springs, hinges, handles etc., where it can freeze and prevent proper operation.

[TA in KC]

Do you lube everything regularly? Sounds like there some moisture in there that has frozen. Lube will prevent water from attaching itself to the metal parts of latches, locks, springs, hinges, handles etc., where it can freeze and prevent proper operation.

Is this question being asked to me, or the original poster?

[OmarG]

my 93 passenger front door does this in cold wet weather. the problem is the door lock(door latch) gets stuck with the cold weather. i just greased it up with some wd-40, now its perfect.

WD-40 is probably not the best thing to use on those parts. It has been my experience that it works for a little while, and then wears off quickly. Being a solvent, WD-40 seems to take off whatever lubricant was on the part before it was applied.

When I fix my door, I will probably use silicon grease, instead of conventional oil-based ones, due to the amount of rubber seals/gaskets that are in the door.

i'm sure you are right. i just did a quick fix because its way too cold to take my door panel off and truly grease it up.

[90LS400Lexus]

With the frigid temps that sometimes occur in North Dakota (20 to 30 below zero), I imagine that cars do some very strange things/sounds. I do not know what keeps windows from shattering in temps that cold. <_<

I ran into the same problem a few weeks ago after a snow/rain storm. I'd shut the door and it would just bounce back open. I took the door panel off and it turned out one of the rods running to the outside part of the door handle had gotten stuck in the open position, so it wouldn't enable the latch to work properly. I just let it warm up a bit and it works good as new now. Here's a link to Lexls tutorial on taking the panel off, http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/body/fdoorpanel.html Hopefully that helps a little.

[eatingupblacktop]

With the frigid temps that sometimes occur in North Dakota (20 to 30 below zero), I imagine that cars do some very strange things/sounds. I do not know what keeps windows from shattering in temps that cold. <_<

Couple of incidents come to mind. One winter when I was still in college north of the city, there was a huge blizzard during the day....came to the car at the end of the day....couldn't start the old mazda.....opened the hood to check on things and what did I find?.....about 6 INCHES OF SNOW sitting on top of the engine. The wind was so strong, it blew in the snow throught the front and underneath somehow. Dusted off the snow, blew out the cables and was able to start it.

Another time went skiing up north. It was -27C one night. Next moring get in the Volvo to drive over to the hills.....the dash had about a dozen cracks throughout. When I started the car, another half dozen appeared immediately. That's when the Volvo became my winter beater.

[intellivised]

Going to revive an old thread: This *just* happened to me. I disassembled the door per the instructions on the link above and... I'm not sure what I did. I jiggled it. Like a broken toilet. I got the door apart, futzed with the assembly by yanking on it and by just messing with it I got it working again, no problems. Well I had a problem. I left my dome light on a week ago and haven't really driven much since. 30 minutes of no engine and radio and dome lights while I was getting the door off drained it just enough to keep me from turning over. I got a jump and did a lap around town so I can get to work in the AM. I'll replace the battery before I go out of town next.

I think my cable/door issue was cause by two factors:

- I've been playing the role of DD for my band and my friends a lot lately. The party crew hasn't been gentle on the door.

- The weather. It's been unseasonably warm... and then Monday we had a blizzard. Snowy Range ski resort is boasting 36" of new snow. It's almost April!

I guess this most is mostly Thanks! and a quick follow up...

...anything I can do to keep this from happening in the future? I only half reassembled the door; just in case I need to get back in on Saturday I have that option. Like some silicone?

Also: I, for the life of me, could not get the door light wires to clip back in. I gave up, it's bed time. Any tricks?

Also also and unrelated: I got my solenoid flushed/taken care of. Steers like a champ, lines stopped sweating.