Rusty Drivers Door Hinge

[minky]

Oh dear I noticed whilst cleaning my MC that the drivers door hinge was starting to rust! Anyone have the same problem, and what was the rectification???

[Wul]

Is it definately the hinge? I know the tension strap in the middle corrodes as it is not painted but is usually covered in grese.

All the hinges and fastners should have the same paint build up as the rest of the bodywork.

Your car has a 6 years corrosion warranty - if in doubt get the dealer to sort it.

[Dom]

there was some rust on mine... it was just coming from the pin and was only light surface stuff

[minky]

yeah its that little piece of metal inside the hinge, which is probably that tension strap you are talking about.

Yeah I think I will get the dealers to take look whilst its in for the second service at 19k miles!

[SouthSeaSadie]

I finally took my 2002 MC in for a rusty passenger side door hinge. I didn't notice it for a long time, because I so rarely use that door. The rust covers half the hinge closest to the door attachment. It is bare steel. The driver's side hinge has no rust. Of course I mean the steel thing that looks like a hinge, as others have pointed out.

Well, you know what they said?? Not covered because it is not a painted part.

Anybody up on the warranty for 2002s? Does it really exclude anything without paint? I mean, a rust warranty is a rust warranty and should cover everything. Obviously, the seal on the passenger door isn't as good as the one on the other side, or I'd have rust on both door hinges.

Now, the doors on 2005s (and 2004s, I think) have a completely different, painted hinge. Why would they retool and make a different hinge if the old ones weren't faulty? Nobody makes unnecessary changes. And why should I have to pay to have it fixed?

The service advisor also said "We're not responsible for rust from the outside of the car--only from the inside." Huh??

Ideas on what to say to the service department to get this fixed would be swell. Thanks so much.

[jay cooper]

mine has gone the same way going to change it when i have time.

[Chris Williams]

I had the same problem on my Cooper. I also had boot struts that rusted too. All were relaced under warranty.

Regards
Christopher

[snid]

I've got a squeaky, sticky, rusty driver's side door. The rust / problem does not seem to be on either of the true hinges, but on the part between the hinges, close to the middle of the door, that is a silverish "arm" that goes from the body of the car and slides into the door. I'd guess that could be the "tension strap". Whatever it is, it is the only thing connecting the door and the body that is obviously not a hinge.

I've got a scheduled service coming up, I'll see what they say... I'll be way over mileage on warrantys - 90,000 miles coming up - but the rust warranty is not mileage sensitive, so perhaps there's hope.

[snid]

According to my dealership's service guys, the part in question is the "door brake". It's what causes the door to rest at various states of openness as you open the door. On the early cars, it's a bare metal part - the thing between the hinges at the top and bottom of the door. On the new cars, it's coated in a black rubber of some sort.

The part is cheap - $20. But it's 1/2 hour of labor to replace one of them - so to do both doors is 1 hour of labor.

If you have one of the early cars with a bare metal door brake and are still under warranty, check out the state of yours - compare it to a new car perhaps - and think about getting them changed as you reach the end of your warranty period if possible.

Of course, the replacement parts I got were the old, bare metal style instead of the new rubber coated ones.

[Widgey]

My drivers door check/tension strap was badly corroded and I got it changed while the car was still under warranty. This problem must be quite common to early cars because later models have all moved to a plastic check/tension strap assembly. The hydraulic struts for the tailgate also show signs of rusting on early cars. It's probably not a serious issue (safety or otherwise, just cosmetic) but I'd kick up a stink at the dealers to get them to sort it out at no cost. Corrosion/rust is corrosion/rust. Not acceptable on a 3-4 year old car IMHO

[hwy61]

Quote: Originally Posted by snid

According to my dealership's service guys, the part in question is the "door brake". It's what causes the door to rest at various states of openness as you open the door. On the early cars, it's a bare metal part - the thing between the hinges at the top and bottom of the door. On the new cars, it's coated in a black rubber of some sort.

The part is cheap - $20. But it's 1/2 hour of labor to replace one of them - so to do both doors is 1 hour of labor.

If you have one of the early cars with a bare metal door brake and are still under warranty, check out the state of yours - compare it to a new car perhaps - and think about getting them changed as you reach the end of your warranty period if possible.

Of course, the replacement parts I got were the old, bare metal style instead of the new rubber coated ones.

Good post !! I was just looking at that rusty hinge thingy today and was wondering if I could get anything donbout that before May , when I go out of warranty... they didn't give you any problem ?

Jefff

[snid]

Quote: Originally Posted by hwy61

Good post !! I was just looking at that rusty hinge thingy today and was wondering if I could get anything donbout that before May , when I go out of warranty... they didn't give you any problem ?

I'm out of warranty, so I had to pay for the work. But, my driver's do was taking a lot of force to open, and made horrible creaking sounds as it did, so I had the work done anyway.

I'm not sure if it's possible to get the work done under warranty, but it's worth a shot.