Creaking front doors?

[Caustic]

ok - so I'm finished.

Results: Pretty good. The door no longer makes that awful popping noise. But it isn't perfect - and I think I know why.

The bolt I purchased had a shank which was long enough to act as the pin for the check arm. However, it is slightly tapered whereby the area closer to the threads is just a little narrower than that of the area by the head. As a result: The head area is nice and snug with virtually no play - but there is still a bit of play on the other end of the "pin". This is resulting in a slight noise still - though it is 80% muffled from what it used to be. My suggestion - if anyone attempts this fix - is to not completely drill out both sides. Drill out the side of the head side of the bracket, and let the bit carry right through to the other side.... but don't drill out the other side 100%. Just keep shaving off until the bolt (pin) will fit snugly on the other side as well.

I am confident if I did this again I could achieve nearly perfect results. It would also take me a lot shorter time now that I know what I'm doing. I'd say that armed with this information, one should be able to do this fix in about half an hour. The bolt and nut (I used a nylon nut to ensure it stayed in place) cost me about $1.00.

 

[Aron in Toronto]

OK Caustic’s post reminded me that I was planning following up with a door checker replacement DIY.

I was quoted ~$275 to replace the checker at my Mazda dealership including parts, labor and tax. Plus I need to arrange rides to drop off and pick up my car from the dealership. The part alone cost $23.00, so I figured why not attempt a DIY.

I’ve seen the price for this part on line for less and the dealership closest to my house wanted almost double for it, so it pays to call around if you have multiple dealerships nearby or time to wait for parts ordered online. It took me about 45 minutes to complete this job not including picking up the parts.

I picked up a replacement door checker (part # TDY2-58-270) at the dealership parts counter. On a side note, It had to be ordered as it wasn’t in stock and there are several revised part numbers for the checker but the parts manager didn’t know what the revisions were, what was the most current part number is , or even what part # would be arriving.


1. The first step is to disconnect the battery. You will need to reprogram your radio presets and possibly seat memory settings.

2. Next remove the interior door panel. To do this the black triangular plastic interior trim cover near the mirror is removed by pulling out and slightly up. It should pop off with your fingers only, no tools needed.

3. Then the silver horizontal armrest trim (garnish) is removed. To do this I started with a plastic putty knife, but found that I could just use my fingers to carefully pry the panel off, starting end furthest from the hinge. Once started, the strip will continue to “un-snap” with gentle pulling pressure. Make sure not to bend it back or it may crack. With the silver trim strip removed you will find 2 bolts that anchor the armrest/door panel to the door, which will need to be removed.

4. The door release lever also needs to be detached from the door panel and left to hang loose. To do this, remove the small plastic cover to expose a philips screw. Remove the screw and gently pry the lever assembly out with your fingers. I could not get the lever assembly out at this point but was able to later once the door panel was loose and I had access to the back side.

5. Now the door panel is removed. The panel is held in place with clips along the sides and bottom and the rubber/felt window scraper sits in a channel at the top. I started by unclipping the clips nearest to the mirror using my plastic putty knife. Once the clips at the sides and bottom are loose the door panel can be removed by raising it and releasing the window scraper from it groove in the door. At this point you will need to support the panel and unplug the wiring harness from the window/mirror/door lock switches and the small courtesy light. Be careful when unplugging the harness at the connectors have catches on them to prevent them from accidentally coming loose and the plastic may be brittle. At this point I was also able to remove the door lever assembly.

6. Now the door speaker gets removed to gain access to the back of the door checker. The speaker may be different, depending on which audio system your CX9 has (standard Vs. Bose), but both can be taken out by removing 4 phillips screws. Once the screws are removed the speaker can be pulled out (it may be held in with a foam gasket) and the speaker wire harness unclipped. Make a mental note of the recess in the door panel for the wiring as you will need to make sure the wire fits back in this groove during reassembly.

7. With the speaker out of the way the bolt/nuts holding the checker can be removed and the old checker pulled out through the speaker opening.

New checker install is straight forward at this point as it is simply a reversal of the removal. Before you button everything up, reconnect the battery and check that all the switches are functioning. If not go back and make sure all the wire harness connections are seated properly and that none of the wires are pinched.

Below is a photo with the new checker next to the old broken piece. You can see the missing black PLASTIC triangle at the end of the checker. I never did find this piece inside my door and don’t know why it is constructed out of plastic in the first place.

Thanks to helbigtw, who sent me a ton of info in the checker and PDF with instructions for the repair.

 

[ceric]

Thanks for the detailed post w/ photos.
A big thumb-up from me.

 

[tonyrocks]

My driver side door creaks while I'm driving...especially accelerating or stopping. Sounds like it is coming from where the door locks? Any ideas?

 

[ceric]

Tony,
your case is probably diff. My guess is something turned loose inside the door panel.
If you take the panel off, you probably can see what is causing it.

 

[fife78]

I've noticed the creaking when opening and closing, so I will try lubing the checker and hinges. If that doesn't work, I can replace the checker thanks to the DIY above.

And, recently I have noticed a creaking sound very similar to the door checker creak just like Tony mentions. I notice is when stopping and accelerating from a stop light. The noise comes from the door lock area. I don't think it is something loose inside the door panel. I would expect that to make a rattle and the noise I'm hearing is not a rattle...more of a low creak. Think un-lubed door hinge. Any ideas?

 

[jb1239]

Any quick fix for this without removing the inside door panel and replacing the checker?

 

[Caustic]

Any quick fix for this without removing the inside door panel and replacing the checker?

Re-read this page. I put two posts on how I fixed mine without taking off the panel and replacing the checker.

 

[jb1239]

Right. I read your two posts but they are not descriptive enough to enable someone to try this on their own. For example, what does "drilled out the pin that holds the checker to the door frame" entail? Drill with what? What size bit? Where did you purchase the replacement bolt? What size is it? Etc...

 

[Caustic]

I admit that I didn't provide details right down to the size of bolt, etc - but the process is there - you just need to figure out the sizing on your own. It may vary depending on how wallowed out the checker arm is on your particular vehicle.

As far as drilling out the pin that holds the checker to the door frame - you just need to look at yours to see what I'm talking about. There is a pin with flattened ends which acts as the pivot on the body of the vehicle. It cannot be unscrewed or detached, so you need to drill one of the ends off so it can come out. Then look at the hole on the checker arm, and the hole the pin used to sit in inside the bracket against the body to determine the size of bit you'd need to use. Obviously, whatever bolt you put in has to match the bit size you used. Any extra play will cause the exact same issue to occur that you're experiencing now.

It's worth a try if you intend on replacing the checker anyway. If you manage to royally mess it up replacing the whole checker system is an option.