Driver door hinge, door doesn't stay open

[matthon]

It appears the driver hinge is the same as the passenger, just flipped over.

Problem is, not enough of the S spring is making contact with the 2 rollers so the door won't stay open.

I've tried to get the S spring to slide down, pry bar, hammer, persuasion, etc.

What's the trick in lowering the spring?

 

[lilfontleroy]

IIRC they're not adjustable, it's nuts but it looks like the spring is in wrong\upside down? and I'm not sure if that's even possible

 

[Garry in AZ]

You are right, they are interchangeable from side to side. The drivers side will have the rollers on the bottom, and the passenger sides are on the top. I have never been able to get those springs to move with the door on the car. I think the easiest way would be to remove the door so you have good access to both ends of the spring. Then, you can pry on one end, and hammer on the other to shift it back into place. There's quite a bit of tension on that spring, so it's not going to move every easily.
Alternatively, after the door is off, you could remove the whole hinge and use a press to move the spring down.

 

[lilfontleroy]

You are right, they are interchangeable from side to side. The drivers side will have the rollers on the bottom, and the passenger sides are on the top. I have never been able to get those springs to move with the door on the car. I think the easiest way would be to remove the door so you have good access to both ends of the spring. Then, you can pry on one end, and hammer on the other to shift it back into place. There's quite a bit of tension on that spring, so it's not going to move every easily.
Alternatively, after the door is off, you could remove the whole hinge and use a press to move the spring down.

so they are adjustable?

 

[gdrill]

I have got them to move. Hammer / tap it down.
Somebody may chime in and say not to do it that way, but I have.

 

[matthon]

I stuck my finger in there and it appears there isn't much of the spring sticking up into the hinge at the bottom.

So if I did manage to move it down it would pop out the bottom.

I don't recall the door not staying open before, but sometimes you're so focused on other issues your brain disregards smaller stuff.

Could the spring be on upside down, is that even possible?

 

[gdrill]

I have this

 

[Garry in AZ]

It's possible the spring could be upside down. The spring has a short loop on one end, and longer loop on the other. The squared off end is the end that's supposed to work against the two rollers. Here are a couple of poor photos from my Valiant.

This is the drivers side hinge - rollers on the bottom, short end of spring on the top.

This is the passenger side hinge, rollers and longer end of spring on top.

 

[matthon]

I think it's clear that my spring is upside down.

It's more squared off on the top, and longer. Bottom is more round and shorter.

How much tension is this thing under?

Obviously I'll have to pull it off, just concerned about flipping it off then on.

 

[Garry in AZ]

A good pry bar will be all you need tension-wise. I'd still remove the door to do the job. Look at the pictures in this thread and you can see how to re-assemble it. Start with the short end in position, then use the pry bar on the long side (roller side) to move the spring into place and a hammer to move it vertically.

 

[matthon]

Good news.
I guess it's also good that the hinges are interchangeable, so no chance of the wrong spring.

Thank you all!

 

[Kenneth Baker]

Anyone have ideas on what to do if the spring roller (65 Dart) is split. It just wore through.