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My rear driver side door is borderline not usable because the hinges are virtually frozen. About two years ago I had to replace the hinges on my rear passenger side door. After painting the hinges and installing them, I think Lexus charged me around $400-$500. I seem to recall a thread about drilling a hole in the hinges and spraying lubricant inside. Has anyone done this recently?
My rear driver side door is borderline not usable because the hinges are virtually frozen. About two years ago I had to replace the hinges on my rear passenger side door. After painting the hinges and installing them, I think Lexus charged me around $400-$500. I seem to recall a thread about drilling a hole in the hinges and spraying lubricant inside. Has anyone done this recently?
I did it almost 2 years ago,
Last edited by samsonn25; Mar 9, 2019 at 04:55 AM.
Reason: add pics
Samson -- thanks for posting. What size bit did you use? How far in did you drill? Just past the outer sleeve? Did you still both hinges on all 4 doors? And then spray WD-40 inside the hole? Any addtional info you can provide?
To the other poster -- I sprayed the outside of the hinges with WD-40 but the hinges are completely sealed so the WD-40 has no effect. This is a huge design flaw in my opinion. It has happened to 2 of my doors and the others are stiffening up too. Lexus knew about the issue because hinges are specifically excluded from the CPO warranty. I mean, come on, how would you think to include "hinges" in the list of exclusions unless you knew there was a problem.
Have you tried pb blast? If it refuses to penetrate try using a heat gun, warm it up hot and then blast it with pb blast. If that doesnt work as worst case drill it, but I would use a small drill bit, one that is the same size as the plastic tube nozzle. I would at the tops of the hinge and once the bit starts to cut into the steel, I would raise the drill to drill in a downward slant. That will allow the fluid to hold more and longer, and by drilling at the top it gives you lubrication of majority of the pin.
Did mine a couple years ago before it got too bad. Then did all 4 doors to get ahead of it. I remember it didn't seem to work at first, it took a few weeks of using the doors for them to free up. But all 4 doors work great today.
So I sprayed WD-40 on the hinges a few days ago and it didn't seem to make any difference at all. That is, at the time. It's been a few days now and they definitely feel like they loosened up a little bit, not a lot, but enough to make a difference.
So I'm sitting in my car right now looking at the rear door hinges with the rear door closed and my drivers door open. Is it just me or would this be a fairly simple DIY replacement job? It seems to me that if these hinges come as a sealed unit, with the door closed, you could remove one hinge while the other one remains in place and easily replace each one. No? I could see where the front door hinges would be much harder to replace because there's no easy way to access them. But the rear door hinges can be easily accessed with the rear door closed and the front door open.
You could easily replace them, but by simply removing one and replacing them expecting to have the same results as the originals I think it maybe tricky to keep the same feel and gaps. Try heating up the hinge with a heat gun and cool it down with PB blast. The heat will expand the metal, this will allow it to expand enough for the PB to seep inside better.
Thanks ibidu. Question, how would the spacing or gaps change? If the rear door is closed and one hinge remains attached, it's fixed in place. Remove the bolts holding the other hinge in place, remove and replace and nothing should have moved, right? Then remove and replace the other hinge and you're all done.
Thanks ibidu. Question, how would the spacing or gaps change? If the rear door is closed and one hinge remains attached, it's fixed in place. Remove the bolts holding the other hinge in place, remove and replace and nothing should have moved, right? Then remove and replace the other hinge and you're all done.
With lining up doors its tricky, even if you pulled one at a time the adjustments are super sensitive more likely they will be off. Unless you have experience with lining up doors, its best to have a body shop adjust them for you. You can install them yourself maybe you will get lucky, and if you dont get them just right, take it to a body shop and just pay for an adjustment.
What you can do to save money, is before installing them you will need to paint them before. If you look up automotive paint supplier in your area, many times they sell these one time use spray cans that they fill with your mixed paint code. Tell them you want want to paint a set of door hinges and that to have them mix you up a can of basecoat and clear coat mix, usually called 2k or single stage urethane. Its best to snap a photo of your vin plate on your door so they can pull the color code off of that to properly mix the paint. You will also need a can of primer 1k is fine, 400 and 600 grit sand paper. Sand it down with 400 grit, hang the hings on a wire and spray the primer, once that fully cures lighly sand with 600grit, hang the hinge on a wire and spray the color/clear can. Let that sit for 2-3 days to harden up and then install the hinges.
Samson -- thanks for posting. What size bit did you use? How far in did you drill? Just past the outer sleeve? Did you still both hinges on all 4 doors? And then spray WD-40 inside the hole? Any addtional info you can provide?
To the other poster -- I sprayed the outside of the hinges with WD-40 but the hinges are completely sealed so the WD-40 has no effect. This is a huge design flaw in my opinion. It has happened to 2 of my doors and the others are stiffening up too. Lexus knew about the issue because hinges are specifically excluded from the CPO warranty. I mean, come on, how would you think to include "hinges" in the list of exclusions unless you knew there was a problem.
Been awhile but i think I used 3/16 bit or smaller.
I drilled until I hit the inner part and then a little more because if you dont you wouldnt have drilled all the way through and you need to so the lubricant can reach the inside to lube the outside and inside sleeve.
There is an old thread about why they seize up because the dirt trapped in there has no where to go even after lubrication.
I did my rear left door and it was hard because of the tight angle and space. Its a very hard piece of metal and you need a good bit and have to put alot of pressure on the drill.
I then sprayed wd 40 on it originally, now I use the Nano dry lubricant spray.when it tightens up and I have only had to do that 3 times in the last 2 years.. Im on the East coast so we get some crazy weather.
Last edited by samsonn25; Mar 18, 2019 at 03:04 PM.
I replaced my front passenger door last year and it took 3 guys to do it, 2 to hold the door slightly open and 1 to feed the bolts and tighten them. I got a complete used door with the same color code, hinges attached. The shop had a door dolly but it would not jack down low enough because my car is lowered on BC coil-overs.
According to my friend the body guy, when we switched out doors he says the door has self centering holes on the inside of the door side to guide the door hinge bracket bolts-single top and single bottom (not sure about the hinge bracket to body side), once he got the bolts to line up and started to tighten then wha la they centered and lined up perfectly and all gaps were good.
Not sure about the rear door hinge bolts either.
Last edited by samsonn25; Mar 19, 2019 at 04:35 AM.
I liberally sprayed PB-Blaster on my hingers every day for a week despite only one door have difficulty opening. After a week or two, the door that had an issue opening opened like every other door and operated as normal. Just keep at it with a good penetrating oil, and the issue will resolve itself.
Has anyone drilled door hinges recently?
