Interior door panel came loose...help!

[SA HEAT]

When the bottom/rear corner (where the carpet is) on the passenger door of my '97 GTS started rubbing when closing the door, I thought my hinges had sagged....after further inspection, I found that the interior door panel has come loose. Apparently, when the panel comes loose, it no longer follows the curve of the door and causes it to rub on the molding at the door jam. When you squeeze the panel to the door with the window down, the door panel will clear without rubbing...there's about a 1/2"+ gap between the panel and the door now. I can look inside the panel a little and can't see anything on the panel that would grab back on to the door other than a round yellow plastic piece on the panel side that doesn't look like it has anything on it that would connect it to the door.....does it sound like something broke off or am I missing something? Please don't tell me these door panels are glued to the door frame!....there is some black weather stripping material in there which peeled apart when the panel came loose, but it doesn't look like it could have held anything together.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[dave6666]

The tab you see in this pic either may have broken off or the screw has come out of the door. Look underneath. The fuzzy carpet will make it hard to see.

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Here's what it looks like when it has broken out of the door panel. Your door has probably been dragging which if this is the case, what may have caused it. It is easily repairable using 2 part epoxy.

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[SA HEAT]

Dave,

That part you showed is okay and screwed down tight.... the problem seems to be somewhere in the middle, about even with where the latch catches on the door pin. I'll try to post some pictures.

 

[SA HEAT]

Here are the photos showing the gap between the panel and the door....

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[dave6666]

See the tree fastener at the top of the pic? It comes loose from a mounting base and is easily replaceable.

If you take your panel apart and discover it wrong you can either get them at the link below or at an auto parts.

Northland Fasteners Search Results

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[jdeft1]

Thanks for that link Dave. I've been looking for a place that sells these doo-dads.... (I mean fasteners).

 

[SA HEAT]

See the tree fastener at the top of the pic? It comes loose from a mounting base and is easily replaceable.

If you take your panel apart and discover it wrong you can either get them at the link below or at an auto parts.

Northland Fasteners Search Results




That's it! It's the yellow round piece I mentioned. It looks like the pin broke off the base...thanks, Dave!

 

[97GTS]

Dave, when you said that you had sound proofed your car you weren't kidding were you? Great idea inside of the door panel. I need to do the same thing after converting to side exhaust too. Did you notice a big difference?

Ron

 

[dave6666]

I did the door panels to get rid of speaker related rattle. It was done well before the exhaust. I spent about 3 hours doing each panel. Gained about 20 oz each.

 

[jay01m]

Bump! Instead of creating a new thread, perhaps we can resurrect this one. While using the search feature of the forum, I found a couple folks are having similar issues as I am recently, so here we are...

The link to the Chrysler fastener in this thread doesn't indicate what size the fastener is. I actually went to the local auto parts store and even the biggest one I could find wouldn't grab the hole in the door to tighten up the door panel. Does anyone know what size is needed to fix this?

Thanks in advance,
Jason
97 GTS

 

[cyaford]

Bump! Instead of creating a new thread, perhaps we can resurrect this one. While using the search feature of the forum, I found a couple folks are having similar issues as I am recently, so here we are...

The link to the Chrysler fastener in this thread doesn't indicate what size the fastener is. I actually went to the local auto parts store and even the biggest one I could find wouldn't grab the hole in the door to tighten up the door panel. Does anyone know what size is needed to fix this?

Thanks in advance,
Jason
97 GTS

That should be the right part.

If "should be" doesn't work for you, then click the fastener in the link. The info you asked for will be there.

Trim Panel Retainer
Bottom Head Diameter: 3/4” - Top Head Diameter: 1/2”
Stem Length: 3/4” - Snaps Into 11/32” Hole

I'll be ordering a pack today!!