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So, I finally decided it was time and I spent all day, changed the timing belt, replaced the ground wires w/ thicker gauge wires, cleaned under the hood just did some overall maintenance on my car...

I had did it all on my new service ramps which I thought were cool. No jacks, just drive on up, sweet.

Well after I was all done and started it up and drove down I realized my driver door does not close the way it should, it sits too low to align with th U shaped latch, you have to lift and close. I must have slightly warped my frame or door or something .

Any quick fixes?

I tried to unscrew the U latch, but that was no avail, those screws are on there amazingly tight. I ended up stripping one using all the might I had with the biggest screw driver... All of the bolts that connect the hinge to the door/frame look fine... I'm at a loss of what I can do and the fact that I can't close my own door right pisses me off.


'93 Honda Civic EX, 2 Dr Coupe

 
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It sounds like your door hinges may be worn and need to be replaced. A quick test is ,with the door opened, grab the bottom right corner of the door firmly and try to lift up on it. Obviously you need to do this from the outside of the car. If you feel the door "moving" up and down replace the door hinges. If no play is evident, your hinges may just need to be adjusted. A good body shop man can help you out with this.

Hope this helps, let me know if you need any other info, and tell me if this works for ya.

peace,B

 
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I don't think your ramps did this. I have used ramps a good number of times to change my oil and my door has no problems closing.

Are there gaps between the top of the door and the roof?

I'm guessing you weren't hanging from the doors so go with what civicninitwo said.

 
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Well it was fine just before I used the ramps and as soon as I rolled the car back off of them and went to go close the door it didn't close right :P.

But when you lift on the other end of the door you got about 1/4 inch of play at most, just barely enough to lift and get it to close on the U shaped hook. I don't think it was much different before.

I got a few responses at honda-tech and had a suggestion to VERY CAREFULLY use a 2x4 and a jack and see if you can bend the door upward that 1/4 of an inch...

I've been really busy and tbh its f*cking COLD in my garage right now, so I'll have to try to play around with it tomorrow.

 
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It just doesn't feel right to me. The doors out of whack from driving it up onto ramps??? blows my mind.

Take pictures.

 
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If it were my beloved civic, 2x4's or lumber period would never be near my car. What they are suggesting is that you bend the door back to "form". How do you know that the door is bent. You can actually make the problem worse because you will bend the hinges,causing more play. Do yourself a favor and don't f*** your entire door up. It's like credit once you f*** it up you ruin it.

You said you did the hinge test. One fourth of an inch is A LOT when you are talking about "play" in the hinges. The play in the hinges indicates that the door is sagging on the actual hinges. Therefore it is not in correct alignment with the striker (the u-shaped latch) The striker itself could be misaligned. Look very closely at the striker. There are alignment marks that will help you tell if it is off. These marks are on the stiker and on the door frame,they are small so look closely. If they are squared up with the marks, all is well for the striker leave it alone.

Most commonly the hinges just wear down from everyday usage. They have a small amount of adjustment allowed from there mounting points. I strongly urge you to make good friends with a trustworthy individual
(hard 2 find,no sh** ) that is profficent in the art of auto body repair. A good body man can have the problem fixed very easily, and have you on your way quickly. Yes this may not be the free way out, but if you take a 2x4 and a jack to it, there is a very high chance that you will be looking for a trustworthy body man to repair/replace your door. Do the math.


I own 2 eg hatches ,3 ef hatches ,3 crx's, one integra GSR,& one prelude S Edition. Believe me, I do anything that is within the realm of my abilities to save a little cash. But there are 2 things I let the pros handle. Body work and Motor building. The rest I can do on my own. I am letting you know from experience on this, and hope that you'll learn from my mistakes.

Best of luck to ya,and post a follow up thread.

Anyone wanna buy a car?
peace,B

 
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Well I took some pics, sorry been hella busy.


You can see where it hits on the upper part there..


After a long drive at night in the pouring down rain, i didnt expect so much damn dirt in there :-/


And to be honest I don't know any "friend" that I could take it to unfortunately, its either try and find something to have me fix it or find a shop thats willing...

 
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Oh and here is the ramp


(You can also see the rim I ruined a few days after I had it put on... 50 mph in to broken cement/pothole... Hit so hard it broke the sidewall on the tire and bent the lip on the rim )

 
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ummm...well....I own the exact same wheel ramps, and I promise they wouldn't cause it. Sorry to hear about your rim. Bummer.

You didn't by chance jump the wheel ramps going 50mph,and hang out the window dukes of hazzard style did ya? cause that will definetly bend the door hinges,as well as the rims.

just kiddin.

It really looks like that your hinges need adjustment or just repaced.
I would talk to some local mechanics and find out who's a good body repair man. It's a really simple task,for the experienced to fix. Unfortunately it isn't a project I would recommend, because of the obvious damage you can cause to what you prize most.

You can try to get some hinges from the junk yard for maybe 10-20 bucks. But try and go to a "you pull it" yard. That way you can be certain that you are getting good ones. Do the lifting up on the door test and try to find a set with a little less play in them.

But I would at least let a couple different auto body men just look at it,before you go to the trouble of tracking down new hinges. A good body man can tell you from the same door test if you should go ahead and replace them. Much less headache. All you have to do is ask them to check and see if you need new hinges. Any decent body man will do this for free. Just takes time.

Let me know how it goes.
peace,B