Driver Door Adjustment

[logicbyondreaso]

Hey guys!
I hope all are doing well. I have not been on in while because I have been moving/settling in. I moved from New Jersey to Washington state. As a refresher i drive a 2000 silver S4 Q6MT. For the longest time now my front driver door has been "unaligned". Like in all Audi's it is very simple to close the door. However, mine seems to be hanging angled slightly down. When i look in my rearview mirror you can see how the window trim is a little bit lower than the rear door. This makes shutting the door a pain. I am forced to apply a little extra force or even re-close it when it does not shut. I am writing to see if anyone has any tips on how to fix this issue. I have already played with the mechanism on the pillar and adjusted it as much as i could. Are there any other adjustments on the hinge side? If so how do i go about adjusting the door. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I tried to do the headlight restore DIY but mine did not come out looking like the one in the DIY. As the final step I used the MCguires headlight restore. I used sand paper all the way up to 2000 grit. Should i have gone higher or do i need to get something besides McGuires?

Thanks again for helping out.

-Pavel

Bremerton, Washington

[JWatson]

Don't have an answer. but I have the same issue and would love to fix it!

[bps4]

Don't have an answer. but I have the same issue and would love to fix it!

Search for door sag, I used a Jack on mine to bend it back.. Go slow if you do it that way

[jesters22]

ur door hinges could be bent, or just need to be loosened and brought back to the proper setting.. on the lights i was informed this is a good way

"wet sand with 500grit, then 800, then 1000, then 3000. apply 3m plastic cleaner then 3m plastic polish."

[logicbyondreaso]

Jesters I will follow your advice and see what happens. Are the hinges loosened from the inside? Also will i have to lift the door up a little bit or put some wood blocks under it?

[Ribbie]

If you bring the door to almost closing and lift it up, that will tell you if the hinge has worn. Which may be your issue.

[jesters22]

hinges loosen from the inside, as ribbie said they could be worn from ppl putting weight on them and ovaling them out and other crap. but i would try loosening them first then put blocks of wood or a jack and prop the door to the correct height and tighten the hinges back up. if it works and stays. ur good to go. but if it sags back down in say a day or so or lil longer u might need hinges. i no ecstuning sells them. idk if the prices are good or not.

excuse my poor grammar and mispelling, but i think you get the idea.

[ravegreen]

The door hinges are adjustable in how they're attached to the body on the A-Pillar. This adjustment allows you to counteract any sag in the door alignment. To adjust you have to loosen those bolts which are accessed from inside the car under the dead pedal and behind the fuse box.....

[logicbyondreaso]

So should i have not touched the adjustable bolts on the non-hinge side? Or just shut the door and adjust the bolts on the hinge side? I would like to get the door to align back up to how it should be from the factory.

[J-b5]

The method audi uses to adjust the door upwards is this:

take a 13mm deep socket and place inside the lower hinge as you close the door, this will strech the hinge outward causing the door to swing up...

dont overdo it... esentially you are massaging the hinge to counteract door sag. I was out about 2mm and this method fixed me up.

[J-b5]

The method audi uses to adjust the door upwards is this:

take a 13mm deep socket and place inside the lower hinge as you close the door, this will strech the hinge outward causing the door to swing up...

dont overdo it... essentially you are massaging the hinge to counteract door sag. I was out about 2mm and this method fixed me up.

[odhinnhrafn]

Keep in mind that your hinge bushings may just be worn out of limits, as well. So don't be surprised if you can't get it to sit right after adjusting it. That's the dilemma I'm facing now with mine.

[J-b5]

yeah ive got a b5 passat thats just done in that respect.

too many years of dipshit owners leaving rock filled grease on their hinges does it every time.

[mrpeterparker]

The method audi uses to adjust the door upwards is this:

take a 13mm deep socket and place inside the lower hinge as you close the door, this will strech the hinge outward causing the door to swing up...

dont overdo it... essentially you are massaging the hinge to counteract door sag. I was out about 2mm and this method fixed me up.

can someone further explain " place inside the lower hinge " , i'm trying to envision this and i think it's time for a youtube video. lol

[ravegreen]

So should i have not touched the adjustable bolts on the non-hinge side? Or just shut the door and adjust the bolts on the hinge side? I would like to get the door to align back up to how it should be from the factory.

There are actually 3 bolts per hinge as I recall, 2 that bolt from the inside, and one from outside the car. Technically you're supposed to perform this adjustment with the front fender removed. But you definitely don't need to jack the door up, or bend or massage the hinges in any way. There's a shit-ton of adjustment in how the hinges bolt to the chassis.