Door opening/closing

SHAWNASH

MEMBER
2017 NISSAN SENTRA
4 CYL
AUTOMATIC
115,467 MILES

The hinge (not sure if that’s what it’s technically called) on my drivers side door has been wiggling and loose for a while but it’s always been fine with tightening by finger and has never had an issue until tonight. When I tried to close my door and it wouldn’t close. It looks as though the hinge bolt has come out and now I can’t get it back in. Just wondering if this is an easy fix or if it is going to cost a hefty amount to get it fixed.

Thanks in advance!

1 Reply

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Hi,

This depends on what you mean by you can't get it back in. When this is loose and you open and close the door, it strips the bolt and nut out and eventually it will not tighten any longer. If this is what happened then you are going to have to replace the structural component that this bolt tightens into. I don't have a diagram to show this portion of it but it doesn't sound good.

Clearly with this being loose, just tightening back with your fingers was not sufficient. It needed to be tightened back to the proper torque spec.

I would suggest taking it to a body shop and not a service shop because body shops in general, are cheaper than repair shops. Plus if this is what I suspect they will need to make a body repair on where the bolt stripped out of. Was this bolt part of the door portion of the hinge or the body?

Maybe getting a picture of it will help. Thanks