Opened my driver's door at noon and "crack". Same when closing.

Doesn't always make the noise but seems like there's no resistance when opening the door (it swings open).

The two hinges appear to be in good shape. Believe the problem is in the middle "thingamajig" that appears to regulate the opening and closing of the door.

What kind of damage am I looking at $ wise and who fixes this sort of problem?

I've nearly had it with all the little shit that breaks on these 850's.

I have owned mine since new in 1995 and have only 71K well maintained miles.

nathan

Took it to the dealer and he installed whatever it took to fix the check strap. It cost me about $130 for parts and labor.
--
Nathan Valles, Black 855R, MBC, tint, strut brace, RE 730's

bought the OEM Volvo part from an indy parts house. $32.42 about 1 hour to change, two metric bolts and one torx hold it in, but you have to remove the door panel to change it. so i guess volvo charges about 100.00 labor for the repair, that's nice.

Dan

Daniel,

Can you explain in a little more detail how you repaired the door thingamajig thingy?

How hard was it to get the door panel off?

I guess once the door panel is off it's fairly straighforward to replace the parts?

Thanks

I am going to do it later today, but the hardest part will be taking off the door panel. The "door stop" what the thing is actually called just has 2 bolts and one torx screw. the bolts are on the door and and the torx is on the body under the rubber cover where it attaches to teh car body.

I will post the procedure after i change it later today.

Thanks

Dan

I recently had to replace the checker. Bit of a bear in the it's a tight fit to get the assembly back into the door. Had to extend the arm out, insert at a 90 degree right hand turn relative to the door hole and wiggle a lot.

After all of that the door is popping again. I am going to check the weld.

My 97 850 Wagon has suffered from both the broken weld version of this problem, and the loose bolt version of this problem.

To minimize the possibility of ever getting to the broken weld stage, I highly recommend frequent and generous lubrication of the checkstrap mechanism.

To solve the loose bolt version, I annually retighten the checkstrap bolts.

Lousy design flaw.

My drivers door did the same thing a couple of weeks ago. I bought the replacement Hinge/detent mechanism???? whatever it is called. But i have not had a chance to install it yet, i will do it tomorrow.

The old part has bolts that hold it in from outside the door jamb and the new part has studs that extend through the jamb from inside hte door and then has nuts and washers to hold it in place.

I paid 34.24 for the Door Stop and 3.00 for the nuts aad washers original Volvo OEM from john at VPI parts 713-722-0505

Volvo Part number 9187591 for driver door 1997 850.

Dan

It is your door check. It prevents your door from hyperextension and damaging of the upper and lower hinges. This is a very common problem with 850s. Occasionally, it is just some loose bolts. However, the majority of the time, you need to have the check rewelded to the body. The check is welded to the frame of the car, and bolted to the door.

Hopefully, it is just the bolts, at which point the most that is required is a couple twists of the wrist. However, should it be the infamous check strap, check with your local Volvo dealership for a recommended body shop, and have them weld the check back to the frame.

I was lucky when my 850 started doing this...the bolts (screws really) that hold the thingamajig on the door were loose. Tightening worked great.
--
http://www.fidalgo.net/~brook4/oilslubesfilters.html

Try looking for a missing bolt inside the door that connects the thingamajob. I had a bolt come free a couple of months ago on the front passenger door. made that popping noise. The bolt was at the bottom of the door. Tight space to work in. This will only apply if the weld aint busted.
Aloha,
Mark

I have the same problem. I'll bet your checker arm (that's what the thingamajig is called) is broken off the body of the car. Open your door all the way and then grab it and see if you can freely move it (make sure the door doesn't shut on you!) That's what happened to it on my driver side rear door. The only solution is to spot weld it back on. There are MANY people who have had this happen. Just do a search and see.

Apparently there was just a weak weld from the factory on these things.

kevin

Checked and cannot see any broken welds on the thingamajig or the two hinges- guess thats good.

I tried to tighten the torx bolt that goes thru the thingamajig- but it was already tight.

Sorta at a loss because I cannot visually see anything wrong at this point.

However, where the thingamajig goes in and out of the door seems more lose than on the front passenger side.

Yep. Had this problem, too. I probably let mine go too long, lubricating the hinges and hoping the problem would go away. The real issue is a design flaw.
The guy that finally fixed it told me he has repaired atleast thirty 850/S70's and wagons this year. Probably should have been a re-call issue, but since it happens later in the life of the car, they are beyond Volvo warranty, and thus the factory ignores the issue.

The popping noise that you hear is the metal shearing in the column adjacent to the door. It won't "grow back". The door has to be removed. The sheared metal has to be cut out, replaced and welded back in. Then a repaint.
2 days. $350 bucks.

Sorry for the bad news. My guy guaranteed it for "life". If you want to call him his name is Jack Welsh (440) 439-2213 -- Cleveland OH>

Joel
96 850

I've applied some silicone Volvo white grease to the hinge and thingamajog in the middle.

Don't think I'll get off that light though- as I said, the door seems to swing open now with little resistance compared to the front passenger side door.

Me thinks the thingamajig may have gone were all good thingamajigs go.

Probably another common 850 design flaw.

Try a little white grease on the door hinges and the middle thingamagig.
Aloha,
Mark