Stiff Driver's Door (A4 B5 '99)

[defever]

Hello forum users,

I have a problem (though not significant) with my driver side door. I feel a resistance opening the door from the outside slightly more than the other doors, and definitely I need a lot more force to open from the inside compared to the other doors.

When opening from the inside, the initial “latch” is released effortlessly when I pull the door lever, but then I get this resistance immediately and I have to use my shoulder to nudge a bit to open it (while the lever is still in "open" position).

When the resistance from the door is weakened, I hear this sound of rubbery “plunger”-ish seal releasing the pressure (like a high-street shop’s double door with really thick rubber seal).

The locking mechanism looks okay for a novice’s pair of eyes, no obvious wear/tear nor repetitive scratch marks around the area. All other doors are fine, central locking (with remote key) works fine. I haven't manually un/lock any doors with the key, yet.

Has anyone with B5 model had anything like this?

Is it an electrical issue on door latch release or simply a mechanical sealant wear with a solution of “WD40”?

I haven’t tried anything as I don’t want to naively prod around the locking system and ignorantly damage something else. It’s a door lock system so I don’t want it to break…

Thanks for reading, and I’d be grateful if anyone can enlighten me to the right direction.

[spartacus 68]

The Audi B5 doors are heavy, and at this time of year it's not unusual for the hinges to dry out. First thing to do is grease up the hinges with a suitable lithium grease and avoid WD40 which simply cures the problem for a matter of days.

The other thing to check is that the door hasn't dropped. Standing outside, open the door and check that as it opens, there's no vertical movement or drop. If there is, you'll need to adjust the hinge bolts. I found this on another Audi site, but explains in more detail than I can.

Here's what you need to do: Open the door and chock it on a box or something. Then, remove the single 16mm bolts that hold the hinges to the A-pillar. (The one's facing backwards, NOT the ones in the wing facing outward). With the 16mm bolt once removed, you should find a 12mm Allen 'bolt' underneath. This is basically a threaded spacer that allows you to set the clearance between the hinge plate and the A-pillar. You may want to slightly loosen the remaining 16mm bolts that face outward - this will ease the adjustment. But remeber to tighten them 'just enough' when you're checking the door for alignment.

Now, for the tricky bit: Turning the TOP allen bolt clockwise (into the A-pillar) increases clearance and thus moves the top-back of the door down, and backwards. Anticlockwise the opposite. Turning the bottom allen bolt clockwise moves the bottom back of the door upwards and back. anti-clockwise, the opposite. Adjusting both equally moves the whole door back/ forwards in the badyshell. Too much adjustment of either will throw the door panel away from the line of it's adjacent panel.

When you're happy that the door sits 'right' in it's hole when closed, put some loctite on the 16mm bolt threads and tighten them until they squeak!!

That's the theory anyhow. I had had a hell of a job adjusting the door on my coupe, but got there in the end. It takes a fair bit of playing about / trial and error before things start to make sense (well, it did for me anyway ). But you'll get there eventually.

Also lubricate the door lock. If that doesn't work, you might need to strip out the door card to take a closer look at the lock mechanism. More details here on removing the door card: AudiWorld Tech Articles

[defever]

Thanks again Spartacus, you may have hit the nail there!

I did notice a very very slight door shift (in a clockwise movement looking from outside; shifting back towards the rear door and down towards the ground) when opening, but I just assumed that it was how the door hinge operated on Audi and I haven't compared the movement with other doors.

I will certainly check with the other doors and if this is the culprit, then I'll check those 16mm and 12mm bolts by the hinges.

Thanks again!

[Doc B]

When it comes to lubricating door hinges & locks use an aerosol of white grease. It workes a treat! It's also good on boot locks, bonnet hinges & Bonnet catches/cables. Got the tip from my local garage.

[defever]

Just picked it up from the garage for servicing this morning, the garage (which I trust wholeheartedly) noted the upper hinge worn as one of the advisories.

Unfortunately I didn’t have time to speak to the actual mechanic who looked after my car, but I just checked the door and it had a little play at the upper hinge when fully opened and lifted.

The hinge on the first picture on this link: Audi A4 B6 Door Removal Recycled / Used Audi Parts Online!

I haven’t compared it with other doors but I guess this is the culprit.
The hinge doesn’t look tired by looking at it, the white grease is still fairly clean and well covered. *Edit: I was looking at the wrong part... it's dirty.

I’ll have a little look around later on today. It's only a few "degrees" of play so I may be able to fix it with Spartucus' advice, and hopefully not a hinge replacement (which I read somewhere that it can be quite time consuming?).

Thanks again.

[defever]

I thought I posted a reply last night but I guess I didn't submit it...

So I had a little prod around and there's definitely a play with the driver's door; when I position the door just before it catches the latch on the body, the top corner of the door (the top left hand side if you are looking at the door front the outside) doesn't align with the body frame and is approx. 0.5-1cm lower than the body frame.

It's definitely the upper hinge that's playing:

photo.jpg

It's at the actual pin in the middle that's playing.
I tried to understand the quote from Spartacus, but I’m stuck at the second sentence: “Then, remove the single 16mm bolts that hold the hinges to the A-pillar. (The one's facing backwards, NOT the ones in the wing facing outward)” Which one is that on the picture above?

I'm equally tempted to replace the hinge pin all together. So I've been looking at VAG catalogue and tried finding the part number for the pin itself, but being new to the VAG catalogue, I'm confused what's what...


This is the page for door hinge VAG catalogue: Audi A4/Avant 1999
So far I think the whole upper hinge part is "8D0831401B” (for left front door, ie dirver’s side; audi a4 b5 parts drivers side front top / upper door hinge 96 - 01 | eBay).
Then there’s “threaded pin M8X12” (N90355503). Is this the pin that connects the two parts of the hinge?

Advice on these parts and how to replace the pin would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you again

[spartacus 68]

Glad you've identified it. Try the adjustment before trying to replace it.

[defever]

Hello,

I haven't really got around to this yet, as I'm struggling to understand the instruction: I found the original post with the instruction posted by Spartacus:
Audifans.net: You are using an invalid IP

Here's what you need to do: Open the door and chock it on a box or something. Then, remove the single 16mm bolts that hold the hinges to the A-pillar. (The one's facing backwards, NOT the ones in the wing facing outward). With the 16mm bolt once removed, you should find a 12mm Allen 'bolt' underneath. This is basically a threaded spacer that allows you to set the clearance between the hinge plate and the A-pillar. You may want to slightly loosen the remaining 16mm bolts that face outward - this will ease the adjustment. But remeber to tighten them 'just enough' when you're checking the door for alignment.

Now, for the tricky bit: Turning the TOP allen bolt clockwise (into the A-pillar) increases clearance and thus moves the top-back of the door down, and backwards. Anticlockwise the opposite. Turning the bottom allen bolt clockwise moves the bottom back of the door upwards and back. anti-clockwise, the opposite. Adjusting both equally moves the whole door back/ forwards in the badyshell. Too much adjustment of either will throw the door panel away from the line of it's adjacent panel.

When you're happy that the door sits 'right' in it's hole when closed, put some loctite on the 16mm bolt threads and tighten them until they squeak!!

That's the theory anyhow. I had had a hell of a job adjusting the door on my coupe, but got there in the end. It takes a fair bit of playing about / trial and error before things start to make sense (well, it did for me anyway ). But you'll get there eventually.

I'm already stuck on the first part. Where does it mean by "remove the single 16mm bolts that hold the hinges to the A-pillar (the one's facing backwards, NOT the ones in the wing facing outward"?

I now know that A-pillar means the body of the car so this 16mm bolt should be the one that attaches the hinge to the body. BUT it faces outwards (the bolt head is facing away from the body), not backward. And I can't find any bolt that faces "backward" (in relation to front/boot of the car? front/back of the pillar?) The other bolts I can see on the hinge is the pin itself at the hinge, the tiny hex screw at the hinge (with a rubber cap), and another bolt on the door. That's it, so...err.

Even looking at VAG catalogue on the door, I can't see any other bolts that's involved with the upper door hinge... I feel stupid...

Any further help on identifying which bolt the above instruction refers to would be very much appreciated!!

[spartacus 68]

Open an account with Audi World. Someone there has posted pics in PDF format on adjusting the door of a B6 A4 with is exactly the same as the B5. Link here: Front Door Hinge Adjustment DIY - to fix a sagging door. - AudiWorld Forums

[defever]

AHA! Thanks for the link Sparta!

The pdf on the link explains how to adjust the lower hinge, not the upper hinge I have problem with. But with the combination of the link I posted on my third comment and this pdf, I think I can tackle it.

Would be a two person job as one needs to hold the door (they say it can be done with a jack or some sort of block under the door, but just in case if a supporting items slips...!).

Will update on how I get on!