Rattling passenger door - Let's combine forces and make Nissan Australia fix this!

[docp1980]

Well I know that i'm not the only one whose passenger door rattles and I know i'm not the only one that gets bloody pissed off by it. I also know that many of you are aware that the door rattles because of a factory fault in how the striker plate is welded on. Nissan, however, don't want to seem to admit any fault to this problem and if you take your ute to them and ask them to fix it they never do. So, who here is interested in writing a universal letter to Nissan Australia complaining about this problem? The template for this letter would be posted on the forum and every single person that is fed up with their bullshit just has to change their details, etc and mail/email it to their customer service department. Complaining to our local dealers doesn't seem to be doing anything, so I think the only way we'll get this problem fixed under warranty is to combine as one, that way they can't ignore us!

Anybody else keen on this idea?

Cheers,

Matt

 

[Dave]

Mine doesn't do it but good luck.

Bump.

 

[ralphn]

You could just adjust it.
i adjust heaps of them just a little crack with the mallet and its all fixed up ?
Or seeing how its a manufacturing fualt it will be covered by warranty so stick it to the nissan dealer you got it off and if you have to take him or her out and show them shake the door in front of them if you have to
good luck

 

[Aido]

Standby....Dinner is on the go but will remove the striker plate and show why.
Also show how Nissan "Resolved" the problem.

 

[Aido]

Roger me senseless with the rough end of a pineapple!!!!
I just found the solution and it is dead easy!........

 

[heata]

Roger me senseless with the rough end of a pineapple!!!!
I just found the solution and it is dead easy!........

Are you waiting for the pineapple before telling us???

 

[Aido]

What I thought were spot welded captive nuts are actually a pair of nuts welded to a plate inside the B pillar.
When I got the vehicle I removed the striker plate and saw these nuts all cockeyed and askew. When I just removed the striker plate again to take pics I noticed they weren't in the same position as last I saw them. The are held in place by the paint. Stick a no2 phillips head into them and lever them away and the nuts move in unison. So whilst the striker plate cant be adjusted itself the nuts can be.
Trick is though that the screws are locktite'd in so an impact driver is the best way to go or mild heat from a heat gun to soften it first or risk stripping the heads of the screws.
Dinner now ready so pics and a how to coming up later

 

[Aido]

Ok so this is my one Eureka moment!
I feel like a dumbass for not looking into it further before but....This vehicle has been looked at by 2 different body shops and three dealers - one of which knew how to resolve it.
I believe there was an 08kingcab owner that went to the effort of welding up the striker plate and redrilling it to suit.... I hope he didn't fall for the same problem that I saw.

Ok...when I first noticed that my passenger door was banging away like it wasn't closed properly I took it to the dealer on the 10k service and I was told point blank " My mechanics dont adjust doors because they will just fuck it up". So I took it to the local body shop where they told me to take it straight back to Nissan because the door rubbers were not right and needed to be replaced because they weren't providing enough compression to hold the door firmly.
Jack of it all I switched the striker plates from passenger to driver side and vice versa. It was then that I noticed the nuts in the B pillar were cockeyed and looked like this ( re-enactment ) Edit...you can see by the paint mark where they were...certainly not straight.
[

I then pointed this out to a different dealer on the 20k service. His mechanic was knowledgeable enough to know that the striker could be adjusted and resolved the movement and the sound of the door over even slight bumps. But the door now appeared, and continues to be out of line with the rest of the panels. So the dealer put in a warranty claim....this is where the real fun begins.
Nissan tell me to take it back to the original dealer that I bought it from as it is their responsibility to adjust and correct imperfections before delivery. So I do. They're reply was " Why are you here?" before a few frustrated calls to the Nissan HQ and sending me down to their body shop where the basher came up with the solution of pulling in the back door to suit the line of the front because he too believed the nuts to be spot welded in place. I gave up about there when phone calls were not returned and it all seemed too hard.
Until Tonight!
I found that the nuts inside the B pillar are welded to a plate and are not in fact spot welded to the B pillar itself.
To adjust the striker plate just break the nuts away from the paint that holds them in place.

and adjust them to suit.

Be warned though! the countersunk screws are held in place with a form of loctite so to remove them without stripping the heads you will need
1. Impact driver or
2. Heat gun to warm the screws and soften the loctite or
3. a Gorrilla with a death grip and 100t of down force.

I now suspect that the door hinges are held in place by the same method and I should be able to pull the door back into line with the rest of the panels....But its dark out there now and I cant be arsed finding out till tommorow.

Hope that helps.

 

[terryc]

Thank you. Very helpful info. I've noticed the occasional thump from mine recently and it has only done 4K kms.

 

[Aido]

When I said Impact driver I meant one of these.....

NOT ONE OF THESE

 

[Leprechaun]

I don't think mine was the same, but you'll have to ask another Kingcab owner to check to confirm if I am a idiot that needs glasses.

 

[Aido]

I don't think mine was the same, but you'll have to ask another Kingcab owner to check to confirm if I am a idiot that needs glasses.

I don't feel bad because all the "professionals" concurred that the nuts were welded in place. And after more than 18months of complaints about rattling doors nobody else has discovered this.
Above comment about smacking the striker with a mallet also makes sense as it would relocate them but thats a bit rough.
Have even heard of dealers wrapping duct tape around the striker "D" to alleviate the problem.....So what hope have we got?

 

[Leprechaun]

Pretty sure, I backed mine off then tapped with a big hammer without them moving. Almost certain they are a nutsert on the Kingcab.

 

[Aido]

Pretty sure, I backed mine off then tapped with a big hammer without them moving. Almost certain they are a nutsert on the Kingcab.

Your re-assuring yourself now aren't you!?

 

[docp1980]

Aido you need to clear you inbox of messages, I can't PM you back at the moment, it just bounces back...

 

[Aido]

done........

 

[StuD22]

Ok so this is my one Eureka moment!
I feel like a dumbass for not looking into it further before but....This vehicle has been looked at by 2 different body shops and three dealers - one of which knew how to resolve it.
I believe there was an 08kingcab owner that went to the effort of welding up the striker plate and redrilling it to suit.... I hope he didn't fall for the same problem that I saw.

Ok...when I first noticed that my passenger door was banging away like it wasn't closed properly I took it to the dealer on the 10k service and I was told point blank " My mechanics dont adjust doors because they will just fuck it up". So I took it to the local body shop where they told me to take it straight back to Nissan because the door rubbers were not right and needed to be replaced because they weren't providing enough compression to hold the door firmly.
Jack of it all I switched the striker plates from passenger to driver side and vice versa. It was then that I noticed the nuts in the B pillar were cockeyed and looked like this ( re-enactment ) Edit...you can see by the paint mark where they were...certainly not straight.
[

I then pointed this out to a different dealer on the 20k service. His mechanic was knowledgeable enough to know that the striker could be adjusted and resolved the movement and the sound of the door over even slight bumps. But the door now appeared, and continues to be out of line with the rest of the panels. So the dealer put in a warranty claim....this is where the real fun begins.
Nissan tell me to take it back to the original dealer that I bought it from as it is their responsibility to adjust and correct imperfections before delivery. So I do. They're reply was " Why are you here?" before a few frustrated calls to the Nissan HQ and sending me down to their body shop where the basher came up with the solution of pulling in the back door to suit the line of the front because he too believed the nuts to be spot welded in place. I gave up about there when phone calls were not returned and it all seemed too hard.
Until Tonight!
I found that the nuts inside the B pillar are welded to a plate and are not in fact spot welded to the B pillar itself.
To adjust the striker plate just break the nuts away from the paint that holds them in place.

and adjust them to suit.

Be warned though! the countersunk screws are held in place with a form of loctite so to remove them without stripping the heads you will need
1. Impact driver or
2. Heat gun to warm the screws and soften the loctite or
3. a Gorrilla with a death grip and 100t of down force.

I now suspect that the door hinges are held in place by the same method and I should be able to pull the door back into line with the rest of the panels....But its dark out there now and I cant be arsed finding out till tommorow.

Hope that helps.

Well, it's 2024 in SA, and I have been hunting this problem with everyone else to no avail until I came across this thread. I can't even tell you how thankful I am for this post because I was at a complete dead end, till now. Thank you.

 

[StuD22]

 

[KevinE]

By 2013 the dealer where I bought mine was offering beefed up door strikers to replace the factory ones. I had mine done way back then when the car was still very new. It didn't fix the issue for me though. All the doors on mine flap, but the front passenger door is by far the worst. Every time we drive on long dirt roads, the passenger side gets filthy inside.