Chevy G-20 Van Door Clank In Latch

[Bob1942]

Our 1988 Chevy G-20 VAN has developed a problem in the pass side front door latch ... The door will not close now unless you slam it hard and when you open it pressing the door button the latch makes a loud metallic CLANK ...The door used to close easy and did not make any strange clank when you opened it...What could this Be ? has anyone had this problem ? ... My nephew said it could be the door hinges are worn I checked that , the door is not sagging at all and the hinges are tight yet so I think it is in the latch itself ...

So I have two questions

#1 What could cause the hard closing and CLANK in the door latch ?

Question #2 I tried to get the door trim off to get to the latch but there are two square switches in the door one for the electric window and one for the electric door locks that go through the door panel HOW do you get these switches out without breaking them to get the panel off ?


THANKS ! and Make Haste Slowly... Bob in Michigan

[denisond3]

There are a couple of things that might be making the clanks. One, the latch guts itself is held to the door by fat phillips head screws. They are tightened with an impact driver. If they work loose, the latch can move around, and will make noise doing it.
Two; the latch pin that is on the side of the body opening for the door, and which the latch clamps onto to hold the door shut: They should have a hard plastic sleeve on them. This usually breaks away with age. You have to get new latch pins (though I dont know what Chevy calls them), or put up with doors that rattle around. The latch pins in the junkyards are usually ruined already.
In order to remove the door panel, you have to take out the screws, get the door latch arm off using the famous GM door-latch tool, and maybe pry out some clips which often pull out of the cardboard instead. Then you will be holding the inner door panel in one hand. With the other hand you work the connectors off the back of the window and lock switches. Helps to have 3 hands, since it will take a while. If you hurry the process you can break the connectors or the terminals on the switches. The switches are far from cheap! Once you have the switches unplugged from the connectors, you will see how to get them unsnapped from the door panel - thoug I have yet to find a reason to need to do it. And be careful of the wires going to the speakers, if you have speakers in the doors. Another connector to work-apart.
I drip oil onto all of the hinges on our 87 G20 van - front doors, side doors, and rear doors. I do it about each 2000 miles in fact. I also drip oil onto the key, and put it into the lock slot, then leave it for ten minutes, and do it again, and go around the vehicle, doing all locks. Including the igntion switch.

[Bob1942]

Originally Posted by denisond3

There are a couple of things that might be making the clanks. One, the latch guts itself is held to the door by fat phillips head screws. They are tightened with an impact driver. If they work loose, the latch can move around, and will make noise doing it.
Two; the latch pin that is on the side of the body opening for the door, and which the latch clamps onto to hold the door shut: They should have a hard plastic sleeve on them. This usually breaks away with age. You have to get new latch pins (though I dont know what Chevy calls them), or put up with doors that rattle around. The latch pins in the junkyards are usually ruined already.
In order to remove the door panel, you have to take out the screws, get the door latch arm off using the famous GM door-latch tool, and maybe pry out some clips which often pull out of the cardboard instead. Then you will be holding the inner door panel in one hand. With the other hand you work the connectors off the back of the window and lock switches. Helps to have 3 hands, since it will take a while. If you hurry the process you can break the connectors or the terminals on the switches. The switches are far from cheap! Once you have the switches unplugged from the connectors, you will see how to get them unsnapped from the door panel - thoug I have yet to find a reason to need to do it. And be careful of the wires going to the speakers, if you have speakers in the doors. Another connector to work-apart.
I drip oil onto all of the hinges on our 87 G20 van - front doors, side doors, and rear doors. I do it about each 2000 miles in fact. I also drip oil onto the key, and put it into the lock slot, then leave it for ten minutes, and do it again, and go around the vehicle, doing all locks. Including the igntion switch.

A quick Check showed you are right ! The pass side door latch post is missing the plastic sleeve...So that is the clank ... The drivers side door still has the sleeve BUT it is really beat up and probably will fall off soon ... Thanks for the Info I really don't know how i could have looked at those posts so many times and missed that ! I guess that is why my motto is ... Make haste Slowly ! BOB

[Bob1942]

Originally Posted by Bob1942

A quick Check showed you are right ! The pass side door latch post is missing the plastic sleeve...So that is the clank ... The drivers side door still has the sleeve BUT it is really beat up and probably will fall off soon ... Thanks for the Info I really don't know how i could have looked at those posts so many times and missed that ! I guess that is why my motto is ... Make haste Slowly ! BOB

ITS FIXED ! Denisond3 Thanks for showing me where the problem was I couldn't see the forest for the trees ! ... Today I measured the "pin" in the door frame it is .375 " Diameter and .750 long where the plastic was ... I spotted on a nail on the wall in my garage a short piece of white opaque tubing used to connect ice makers in a refrigerator it is .250 inch I.D. and made of tough plastic ( Nylon or PVC ? ) tough stuff anyway ...I cut off about 4 inches and with a very sharp new Exacto #1 knife and my optivision head band magnifiers I spiral cut the tubing for a distance of 2 inches my cut made a spiral with about 1/4 inch apart wraps ...I cut this off and wrapped it on a .375 (3/8 inch ) drill bit shank... It wrapped on there tightly real nice ... Then I measured 3/4 of an inch long of the wrapped tubing on the drill bit and cut it off ... I took this piece out to the van and wrapped it on the door pin closed the door and it works GREAT ! NO MORE CLANK ! and the door closes easily ! How long will it last? I don't know but I should think it would last quite awhile that stuff is tough plastic ... It took me less time to make and install on the pin than it did to write this so I can easily make another one ...I am proud of my success here and wanted to pass it on ...

Make Haste Slowly ! Bob in Michigan