Steve M
Enthusiast
Squeaky, creaky door hinges?
This is a fairly common issue with Gen 3/4/5 Vipers...I've certainly noted it from time to time with my own, but I never really took the time to figure out why. I had tried spraying the part of the hinge I could see with the door open, but it never seemed to fix the issue. Thanks to someone else’s post a while ago, I finally caught a clue bird that I wasn't seeing the part of the hinge that was causing the issue.
In order to access the rest of the hinge, all you have to do is remove the triangular shaped body panel just in front of the door and you'll really be able to see what's going on in there. Removing the body panel is simple: you will only need a T-20 Torx bit to remove the three screws that hold it in place. Once the screws are out, tilt the top of the panel towards you, and then pull the bottom part of the panel kind of up and towards the back of the car. The next three pictures showing it apart should help you understand how it fits:
Where the 3 screws go:
The bottom of the panel showing the three slots that fit with the tabs on the black plastic side sill vent panel:
Insert Tab A into Slot B (and forgive how dirty my car is):
So now what? Well, here's the culprit (door closed):
And a better shot up close (door closed):
So what is it? It's essentially a leaf spring...once you open and close the door with the panel off, you'll see exactly how it works. Mine still had some grease on it, but as you can tell, it is metal on metal contact. It wasn't always that way, but over time, the coating just wears off, and that's what you have left. The picture makes it look far worse than it is - the little chunks you see are actually just the coating peeling off (not metal shards), and it really wasn't all that rusty, but the flash certainly made it look that way.
Here's what it looks like with the door partially opened:
And with the door fully opened:
As I said, just play with it a bit and you'll see how it all works...it ain't rocket science.
You just have to give it a good lube job. If yours is as dry as my sense of humor, it's gonna grind and squeak on you.
I used Lucas Red n Tacky for the leaf spring, and sprayed some PTFE (Teflon) dry lube on the hinge pins for good measure:
All in all, it took me about 5 minutes per side to clean everything and relube it. Works like a charm now, and it seems to hold up quite well. I'm sure white lithium grease would also work well...I just wanted something that wouldn't wash away easily, and that particular Lucas grease has very good water resistance. Being lithium based, it is also compatible with pretty much any grease out there, so you don't have to worry about any adverse reactions if you end up using a different kind of grease in the future. And yes, thanks to the power of the internet, I’ve learned that not all greases are compatible with each other.
I realize this is probably a pretty dumb post for most, but I never really took the time to investigate why the problem even occurs. Hopefully this will help someone else out too, especially newer owners. There's nothing worse than your car sounding like a clapped out hoopty when you go to open and close the door.
This is a fairly common issue with Gen 3/4/5 Vipers...I've certainly noted it from time to time with my own, but I never really took the time to figure out why. I had tried spraying the part of the hinge I could see with the door open, but it never seemed to fix the issue. Thanks to someone else’s post a while ago, I finally caught a clue bird that I wasn't seeing the part of the hinge that was causing the issue.
In order to access the rest of the hinge, all you have to do is remove the triangular shaped body panel just in front of the door and you'll really be able to see what's going on in there. Removing the body panel is simple: you will only need a T-20 Torx bit to remove the three screws that hold it in place. Once the screws are out, tilt the top of the panel towards you, and then pull the bottom part of the panel kind of up and towards the back of the car. The next three pictures showing it apart should help you understand how it fits:
Where the 3 screws go:
You must be registered for see images attach
The bottom of the panel showing the three slots that fit with the tabs on the black plastic side sill vent panel:
You must be registered for see images attach
Insert Tab A into Slot B (and forgive how dirty my car is):
You must be registered for see images attach
So now what? Well, here's the culprit (door closed):
You must be registered for see images attach
And a better shot up close (door closed):
You must be registered for see images attach
So what is it? It's essentially a leaf spring...once you open and close the door with the panel off, you'll see exactly how it works. Mine still had some grease on it, but as you can tell, it is metal on metal contact. It wasn't always that way, but over time, the coating just wears off, and that's what you have left. The picture makes it look far worse than it is - the little chunks you see are actually just the coating peeling off (not metal shards), and it really wasn't all that rusty, but the flash certainly made it look that way.
Here's what it looks like with the door partially opened:
You must be registered for see images attach
And with the door fully opened:
You must be registered for see images attach
As I said, just play with it a bit and you'll see how it all works...it ain't rocket science.
You just have to give it a good lube job. If yours is as dry as my sense of humor, it's gonna grind and squeak on you.
I used Lucas Red n Tacky for the leaf spring, and sprayed some PTFE (Teflon) dry lube on the hinge pins for good measure:
You must be registered for see images attach
All in all, it took me about 5 minutes per side to clean everything and relube it. Works like a charm now, and it seems to hold up quite well. I'm sure white lithium grease would also work well...I just wanted something that wouldn't wash away easily, and that particular Lucas grease has very good water resistance. Being lithium based, it is also compatible with pretty much any grease out there, so you don't have to worry about any adverse reactions if you end up using a different kind of grease in the future. And yes, thanks to the power of the internet, I’ve learned that not all greases are compatible with each other.
I realize this is probably a pretty dumb post for most, but I never really took the time to investigate why the problem even occurs. Hopefully this will help someone else out too, especially newer owners. There's nothing worse than your car sounding like a clapped out hoopty when you go to open and close the door.
