H-Ian

Right so I locked my keys in the trunk. CAA came and used some small pumping bag thingy and a plastic wedge to pry open the top part of the door to get a tool in there to unlock it. After driving back home on the highway and hearing the wind noise coming from that door I noticed that the door doesn't seal properly. It is sticking out a bit at the top window seal and at the top of the side pillar. Does anyone have any ideas how to correct this myself or do you think I take it to a body shop ($$$)?
Thanks.

westcali_playa

same problem

wallydude03

My driver side whistles too when i drive

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

you can try and bend the door a bit, but i doubt it would help. my window squeaks because of it (when rolling up/down). only thing you can do cheaply is adjust those rubber door stoppers so that the door sits closer to the car body.

jgg204

this same thing happened to me!!!
AAA came and used the tool to unlock my car, and now the top of the door is slightly sticking out. when i am driving and i hit a bump i can sear the door make a "smush" noise as the door shifts inwards and the seal smushes against the vehicle door frame. i can hear outside noises much more easily, and like i said the top portion of the door is slightly sticking out. however, thankfully it's NOT leaking water...just lots of sound and wind noise.

whenever i drive over 50mph you can hear wind noises and there is a slight pressure as a result of there not being a proper seal. from this pressure, my left ear begins to ache and it becomes quite an annoyance and i find myself having to pop my ear every so often on long drives. i really need to find a fix for this, but i don't have a good feeling about it b/c i saw that the weld that connects the top and bottom portions of the door is cracked and slightly shifted which could explain why it's sticking out slightly now. or maybe the top black plastic portion is warped from AAA's tool? how the heck can a weld crack though??? seems like Honda cut more corners on this Civic with these door welds.

it's extremely bothersome, and i will post pictures tomorrow of what i am talking about above

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

you can try to adjust the rubber door stoppers so the door closes tighter to the body. maybe try bending back the part that is sticking out, carefully.

jgg204

even if i extend the rubber stoppers, that won't get the top portion of the door closer to the body since the weld cracked and the top portion of the door is bent as a result. the bottom portion of the door is aligned perfect, it's the top portion that is "off". after carefully examining the door, that is my conclusion. however, after work today i will look closer at the tip of the door at the very top and see if the blast plastic strip can be bent at all. since this black plastic strip is externally attached to the vertical metal portion of the door, i doubt the plastic is the problem. i think the vertical metal portion of the door, due to the crack in the weld, is not aligned properly. i closely examined the weld in that location and i must say it is one of the most wimpy and poorly executed welds i have ever seen in all of my years of engineering. if Honda really Value-Engineered this vehicle this much to the point that they saved money by putting in shotty welds, i have officially lost all confidence in the company and will never buy one of their vehicles again. i know that is a blanket statement, but i just took a quick visit to CarComplaints.com and i noticed that their flagship Accord has been plagued with hundreds and hundreds of brake complaints for their newest gen Accords. heck, at this point i could have done a better weld job. i am uploading pictures in a few mins...

on a side note, i noticed another 7th generation Honda Civic parked a few spots down from me in the parking lot. just out of curiosity i walked over and took a look at his driver's side door. he has the SAME exact issue...where the top portion of the door is sticking out.

jgg204

here are the pictures of my door problem.

#1 : door gap
#2 : door gap zoomed in
#3 : apparent crack in weld
#4 : side-shot of weld, with the right portion of weld cracked

Hondaguy89

I had the same issue a while ago. All that had to be done was like gearbox said is simply bend it back into place carefully. The door seals great now.

jgg204

oh yeah? well that's reassuring! what exactly am i bending back into place? the black plastic strip? the rubber strip? or, am i bending back the entire top portion of the door? i tried to push the top portion of the door but it doesn't even shift at all (since i am pushing against metal).

Hondaguy89

Well, if it was bended outward in the past, then it can certainly be bent back in. With the door open put one hand at bottom of the window pillar for support (dont know the exact name) and grip the top of the pillar with the other hand and pulled. If still no success, try maybe putting your knee at the bottom for support and use both hands to pull. This is what I had to do, and the integrity of the door is still good and it shuts properly.

But be careful with it, dont want to bend it too far and too much bending could weaken it, so take your time!

Hondaguy89

If you look at the album I have up on my profile, you can pretty clearly see the issue I had with my passenger side door, however it is no longer like that.

jgg204

interesting! i will give it a shot after work today and be extra cautious not to bend it too much! if my door breaks off, i'll be sure to upload some pics hahah

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeah i bent my rear door metal back in no problem. it was sticking out past the body line from the factory so i carefully but firmly bent a good chunk of the metal. just go slowly and test what happens. if the aaa bent it out, you can bend it back in. you may need two people tho, one to hold the door from the inside while someone pushes the metal, or you could pull the metal in by standing inside.

jgg204

i took the advice and i went about bending it back. it worked!!! now the top of the door is properly angled and fits nicely in the vehicle's door frame. the middle section is ever ever so slightly outward when compared to the passenger side, but there is no wind noise and no pressure gradient that gives me an ear ache...so i am satisfied.

THANKS!!!

Hondaguy89

No problem dude, glad to pass along some good advice!

jgg204

what you guys suggested seems to work only in the short run. it eventually bends back and i have to re-bend it. it's quite annoying to tell you the truth, especially when i hit bumps in the road and i hear the "squish" of the door as the rubber seal contacts the vehicle door frame due to the play in the mate of the two.

just out of curiosity, i checked out a 2007 Honda Accord and the welds connecting the top and bottom portion of the door are very beefed up. in fact, the welds are so beefed up they look sloppy but at least they are there. my problem is with the driver's side door so i looked at the passenger side door and again the welds are almost non-existent. it looks as if it's only a coating of paint that's holding the 2 pieces together. completely unacceptable in my opinion.

if i had access to a welder, like i did back in college, i would bend it to the correct position and re-weld it together. unfortunately i don't have access to that anymore and i live in a small 800 sq-ft 1BR apartment without a garage to tinker around in

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

may want to see how much a local welding shop would charge.