89 240 door woes

Door handle itself in fine condition. However, in order to get the driver side front door open from the outside, I have to lean on it - putting pressure on the door pushing it inward towards the cabin. Moreover, from the inside, I can hardly manage to get the latch to engage and keep feeling as if I'm gonna get stuck in there and have to crawl out another door. Thoughts? Please and thank you all.

Maybe the door sags - has worn hinges. Try opening it just a little bit, and lift the whole door. Is there any play?
It can be adjusted though to avoid this hard closing-opening situation. Usually it is enough to loosen the lower hinge 3 bolts, under the fuse panel, lift up the door, knock on the hinge a bit to move it a bit further back, tighten one bolt and try closing softly. After it is adjusted, tighten all the screws and you are good to go.

Mine had badly worn hinges, which caused hard closing-opening situ, door seals rubbing against B pillar and latch, and cracks all over the place on the inner sheetmetal of the door - because it needed so much force from the drivers seat to shut it...

Most likely, a corroded latch assembly. The fact that both handles have trouble opening the door indicates a latch problem to me. Usually, if you remove the interior panel, flush the latch out with solvent so that it is spotlessly clean and then lubricate it with some very thin grease it will work properly again. I had one get so bad on a car that was parked for a very short time I couldn't get the door open, period. I had do remove the trim with the dew wiper on it, roll the window down and spray PB-Blaster in the latch several time. I had to study another latch and see exactly what had to move, use a very long screw driver and a hammer to move the parts in the latch and it finally opened. This was a 1990 240 California car, not something from the rust belt.

A great lubricant for the door latches and internal stuff is Wurth HHS Plus. It works wonders and will make the latches and hinges work smoothly. Use the straw to spray into the latch. Try to get the very center on the door. that will send the lubricant inside the parts internal to the door and after awhile of working at it, it will loosen up the latch.

I use white lithium spray on the latch mechanism. With the little straw, you can get into the guts of the latch and the lithium sticks around quite nicely.

Inspect the hinges carefully to see if they have sagged.

Inspect the post on the door frame to see if it is bent.

Inspect the latch mechanism to see if the door around it is damaged.

with any luck, just a good greasing will fix it.

On 242s the door rod can get bent/flex, but that usually isn't an issue with the shorter sedan/wagon doors.

All these contortions to lubricate the latch are not necessary.

The latch is fastened to the door jam with two Trox or Allen bolts that may be pretty tight but do not appear to use thread locker. A battery impact wrench is helpful. It comes right off and goes back on without any difficulty. Once off it can be cleaned easily and lubricated with whatever magic goose oil you choose.

Once you see how easy this is and have one working properly you will immediately service the others. This, by the way, is why all those door handles break.

Here's a picture from one of cleanflametrap's posts...
http://www.forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=329481

Ignore the words. Look at the picture.

The striker is held to the jamb with 3 bolts. Loosen the bolts just enough to make it "prybar worthy", and tweak it just a tiny bit outwards. Tighten the bolts and try the door. Lather, rinse, and repeat as needed.

Striker plate wear... for sure. Damn those bolts are tight. I need stronger tools.

If your striker plates are worn.... so are your hinges.

mhgreen said:

However, in order to get the driver side front door open from the outside, I have to lean on it

Click to expand...

2manyturbos said:

Most likely, a corroded latch assembly.

Click to expand...

dl242gt said:

A great lubricant for the door latches and internal stuff is Wurth HHS Plus. It works wonders and will make the latches and hinges work smoothly. Use the straw to spray into the latch. Try to get the very center on the door. that will send the lubricant inside the parts internal to the door and after awhile of working at it, it will loosen up the latch.

Click to expand...

quillc said:

with any luck, just a good greasing will fix it.

Click to expand...

MasterBlaster said:

Loosen the bolts just enough to make it "prybar worthy", and tweak it just a tiny bit outwards. Tighten the bolts and try the door. Lather, rinse, and repeat as needed.

Click to expand...

Oh, don't listen to that last goober!
Read the previous posts instead.

My door started acting the same way a few days ago. Seemed fine when open, but I had to lean on it to get it to open easily. Grabbed a can of Wurth HHS-2000 at work, stuck the little straw in the latch and soaked it, made sure to spray upward to get the latching "finger" on top of the visible moving "claw". Worked it back and forth for a while, open close open close, pulling the button a few dozen times. Now it opens with one finger from outside or inside.

(Also blasted the hinges while I was there.)