My driver's door on my '99 convertible drops when opening. If I jack up the door it works ok for a few weeks. Does anyone know of a permanent fix other than replacing the door hinge? I have heard of others using shims on other cars but the space to access the hinge is so tight!
Thanks!

 

Yes . . . replace BOTH hinges. I'm not being facetious, but after 3 E-Types and an XJS (all gone), you know enough about worn door hinges to have already pointed to your solution . . . so IMHO, buy them and be done with it properly and permanently.

Best wishes,

Ken

 

My driver' door was doing the same thing. A bolt in the hinge was loose. Tifhtenedit and the "clunk" went away.

 

Orthodoxy, can you please share how you tightened any of the door hinge bolts, pins, or nuts? The access is so small I've wondered how to get access for a long time.

Others: could someone please post a door sag checklist? I've got to address mine, it has started to wear the paint on joining surface at bottom of door jamb. Previous searches showed a post on aggressively jacking up bottom of door . Sounds like folks have hard success with that.

Not so for me, either I chickened out or not the solution. What's strange is that I cannot see any play anywhere in hinges. The drivers door is less than 1/4 inch drop.

As I look through years of threads, I see it can be hinge, body, hinge pin, need to tighten - all possible culprits for door drop. How does one figure it out?

Thanks!

John

 

Yeah, my guy like to never have managed to get to it. Seems like Jaguar didn't expect anyone to keep one very long or, like me, not wealthy enough to have it taken to the dealer.
I may have misled you. Mine didn't seem to "drop" but made a clunk at have way. He finally managed to get a wrench on it. Lubed it to. We could see it move but you had to hold your mouth just right or you missed.

 

I have a similar problem and traced it to sheet metal fatigue of the door itself, behind where the hinge is attached. This is not rusty at all, just fatigue crack.
The hinges are very well made and usually don't shift, i have seen other XK8's with this issue.
You can get to the nuts on the inside of the door by following the instructions to remove the interior door panel in the FAQ section.
I made shims out of 1/4" brass with slotted holes so I could slide them between the door and the hinge. This worked very well and I was very smug for about 5,000 miles, now the sheet metal behind the shim has further collapsed and i am back to clunky door. I plan on taking it to a body shop to have the door welded and reinforced.
I would replace the door, however, that is where a lot of vehicle ID is located to maintain a "numbers matching" vehicle a little welding may be in order.
1) Check hinges for signs of wear, have someone lift up on end of almost closed door and see if there is play in hinge or play between body and hinge.
2) Check both hinges but problem is almost always in bottom hinge.
3) Check mounting points for both hinges to see if they are still aligned with original paint, if there are gaps between pant and position of hinge, washers, nuts, etc., verify position adjustment was made intentionally, if not, the nuts may have worked loose.
4) Inspect for rust.
5) look for fatigue cracks at hinge mounting point. Most cars this occurs on the door frame (tough to repair) as above, mine was in door sheet metal at bottom hinge.
6) It should give you a nice smooth "click" when all is right.
7) Have fun!

 

Thanks Tavguy, I'll run in her through the list.

John

 

My XKR had the metal fatigue and had been re-welded under a previous owner. No current problems, but on previous cars (a '76 Trans Am I had in college and a '67 MGB GT I still own) I rebuilt the hinges, as there was "slop" caused by worn hinge pins. I drilled out the old pins and installed brass bushings with the new pins. There are usually a bunch of different pin and bushing kits available at Trak Auto, Pep Boys, etc. under the "Help!" brand (red bubble packs) but nothing specific to the X100 (or MG) chassis, so fiddling and fabricating a bit would be required, but still worth a try first if your pins a re worn vs. buying new hinges (2)x $150.