Hello,

A few weeks ago my driver's door began making an uncharacteristically loud "klonk klonk klonk" as it closed. It was clear that it had something to do with the mechanism that keeps the door from swinging freely on its hinges, which Jaguar calls the door check arm.

I had presumed the bolts securing it may have come loose, but upon removing the door panel today to check out what was happening inside it seems that the lower 'L-bracket' that holds the unit to the door and the other end of which serves as the leg for the spring rod that regulates the detents has cracked.

I posted this so that anyone else who experiences these symptoms knows what to have a look at. It could be worse, I could have ripped sheet metal like this poor soul did: http://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/showthread.php?p=287145

Just wondering if this is considered to be a common trouble area or if failures of the check arm is relatively rare? Suggestions for parts sources (particularly reliable used parts sources) would be appreciated.

Submitted by vogelbp@gmail.com on Sun, 03/13/2011 - 17:04

Edited on 2011-03-13 17:08:37

Edited on 2011-03-13 17:05:54

Well, what should have been an easy job (and in its essentials really is) has turned into the "job of the damned" for me.

I have succeeded in getting the new check arm installed and used a fender washer on each side of each of the bolts, upper and lower. It turns out I did have some metal cracking where the upper bolt on the check arm goes through the door. This is probably from the stresses that tiny piece has been under for the weeks since the lower 'L' bracket on the old arm cracked. It was minor in the grand scheme of things and the washers take care of that entirely.

What has happened, though, is that I lost one of the nuts and a socket down in the tiny door "pocket" below the check arm. I was, to put it mildly, infuriated when I found that this area was not created with a small "pass through" hole at the bottom to allow things to fall through into the main door cavity. I am not amused and have been unable to retrieve either the nut or the socket. I'm just hoping that I now won't have a horrible rattle all the time. If anyone has any suggestions for getting these out, other than doing a tape ball at the end of a probe and fishing around (been there, done that, retrieved nothing), please let me know.

The bolt that holds the front of the check arm to the body pillar is unthreaded except at the top where the nylock nut goes and did come out fairly easily with a moderate tap from a hammer.

One thing that I decided to do for my own sanity was to replace the screws that hold the mounting bracket to the body pillar with hex-head bolts instead. I do not understand why this was not done in the first place, as getting these in and out is much, much, much easier than the torx screws and the bolt heads are plenty small enough to fit beneath the plastic "aesthetic shroud" that goes over that area.

I would recommend to anyone that if they hear sudden changes in the sound when the door closes that they check the check arm as soon as possible. It's quite clear that if one part fails (or the door sheet metal fails) that whatever remains is put under horrible stresses that will eventually end with complete failure.

The worst is over. Now out to put the door panel and trim back on!

Submitted by vogelbp@gmail.com on Sat, 03/12/2011 - 15:29

Steve (I hope I can call you Steve, if Steven is preferred please let me know),

Thanks very much for this advice. I'm about to make my trip to the hardware store in a few minutes. I have managed to get the arm off on both sides but am now facing yet another problem: The screw that holds the front part of the arm in the mounting bracket just doesn't wan to budge!

In looking at the new door check arm the metal sleeve inside where that bolt slides is not threaded. I'm wondering if over time the threads have dug into this soft (or kinda soft) metal and don't want to let go. I've given a good squirt of penetrating oil, but no luck so far. I am wondering if the bolt is only threaded on top where the nylock nut goes and if one could give it some light encouragement with a hammer (and, yes, I do mean light).

I do not have any sheet metal damage whatsoever. What I thought had happened is exactly what I found. The lower "L" bracket on the check arm on the door side had cracked and split right near the bend.

For anyone who might face this job later the nuts are all 7mm and the screws that hold the front bracket to the car body are Torx T27s.

Submitted by stevejag@sbcgl… on Sat, 03/12/2011 - 12:22

Hi Brian,

I have used that very setup to repair many, many XJ6 & XJ8 doors to save a trip to the body shop. I personally would highly recommend adding fender washers. I've even put them on both sides of the door metal. It protects the door, and if they ever get loose, it makes a good racket so you know to address it before real damage is done.

If the door is already damaged, I use heavy fender washers and a bolt to make a washer sandwich. The bolt is my vise and flattens the door metal right back into shape between the washers. Then, put in the new check arm.

You could use any steel black bolt to attach the arm to the body pillar, but if you use any LocTite, make sure it isn't the high strength stuff. You don't want to have more trouble getting them out if you need to.

Cheers,

Submitted by vogelbp@gmail.com on Sat, 03/12/2011 - 09:30

My dilemma continues. . .

Received the new check arm yesterday. When I was trying to extract the original the other day it became apparent that I was going to have to release both ends if I was ever to get the thing out and get the securing bolt out of the mount that holds it to the front pillar.

While trying to remove the screws that secure the front arm mount/bracket I've managed somehow to strip the screw head (a real trick with a Torx screw). I think I'll be able to get it out the rest of the way by using pliers to slowly turn it out. Are these screws "garden variety replacements" that I should be able to find at a local hardware store or will I need to special order one? I am planning on using anti-seize compound when I put them back in so that should this ever happen again the removal won't be so ugly.

Even though I've had no issue with the sheet metal on my door getting ripped apart as a part of this issue, should I do something to reinforce around it? I thought that the use of fender washers such as this person employed (see pictures on jaguarforums.com thread):
http://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36075&highlight=check...
might be a good idea. Any pro or con thoughts on that?