Driver side door bolts came loose

[Blueridge9]

Is your driver's side door not closing firmly?I noticed my driver's side door was not closing firmly sometimes. I would have to really pull it tightly when inside my 2004 Vibe. I looked it all over and realized that somehow 2 of the 3 bolts in the door that hold it to the striker plate were missing. Only one bolt was left to do the job of three!So I checked at Advance Auto and they said they could not get it - it was a Stealership item (Dealership). I went to the Parts Dept and they had to special order them so a bolt that should be about .60 at a hardware store cost me $2.99 each. See picture.Ohhh well they are installed now and sealed in with lightweight teflon tape to keep the bolts snug (we had some leftover from a plumbing job). Anyway check inside your doors to make sure they all have 3 tight bolts and if they are loose tighten them. Probably the Driver side door is most at risk since it gets the most use.

[BlueCrush]

Good thing you caught it before the last one fell out. Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to go check mine.

[Blueridge9]

Yeah, at first I thought maybe somebody had tried to break into my car and had messed up the door but then when I looked it over carefully I realized the problem was the two missing bolts. Then I recalled seeing a bolt in my driveway a week or so ago and wondering what it fell off of. It must have fallen off the door when I was blasting the stereo.

[tribalman]

i had close to the same issue with mine. once i had the window recall done on mine i notice that my passenger door was clicking when opening or closing. checked as soon as i heard it as i don't use that door often and noticed the bolts were lose. did you have it done on yours? maybe when the work was done the bolts weren't torqued on right.

[Blueridge9]

Tribalman, Yes, I did have the recall done at the Dealership and maybe they did not tighten them properly after fixing the window bolts.

[lovemyraffe]

I haven't heard of this happening before. I'll have to double check mine.

[ramenboy...]

nice catch, blueridge!read this thread this morning at work.stopped at the grocery afterwards, and just decided to take a look at my door for the heck of it. 0NE B0LT WAS L00SE AND 0NE WAS G0NE!!!!dammit. anyways, i got the rachet out and tightened the 2 that were still there, and will try checking at the toyota dealer to see if theirs fit.i got the window recall done, too. so i'm sure its a reslt of that. if the majority of the gm mechanics are/were as careless as this, i'm not surprised gm went under.