I replaced both front door checks with original Lexus parts from the dealer.

These were great for a couple of years, no issues. Now my passenger door check is starting to click when opening and closing the door.

I am surprised it did not last longer than just a couple of years! Do these really wear out that quickly? I assume anything aftermarket would probably be worse, but maybe someone here has some experience with them and can share. Any suggestions?

I don't mind getting another door check and putting it in, but if there's something that would last longer, I'm up for considering that.

 

What is a door check? I'm not familiar with that term.

 

I think a door check is the thing between the door hinges that prevents the door from opening too wide. I usually just spray it with some lithium grease once in a while.

Do you take a lot of daily short trips so that the door is opened a lot more frequently than on a vehicle that is driven for longer distance? Maybe they just need grease.

I recall a friend had a 2nd gen (2008) Toyota Sienna which had a problem with the door check straps breaking. There may have been a service bulletin about the weld failure.
But no complaints about the 3rd gen RX.

 

As suggested above, spray it with some white lithium grease if you have not done so already. That always works on my 27-year-old Ram.

 

Here is the part:
2013 Lexus RX 450h BASE (VIN starts with J) Door Check (Right, Front). Body, Interior - 6861048060 | Bell Lexus North Scottsdale, Scottsdale AZ

Spraying anything that is accessible won't do anything because the mechanical part is inside the door and would require that I disassemble (remove door panel, remove door check) to actually get to anything worth lubricating, so I'm not going to do that unless I'm just replacing the whole part.

I'm not going to just shoot white lith into my door in hopes that some of it happens to land in the crevices of the door check mechanism. I know that with some cars, the mechanical part is actually visible and you CAN lubricate it, but in this case, it is not. It would depend on the mechanism for your particular vehicle. I had an 86 Plymouth once which was very much a mechanical mechanism that you could just grease. This part in the 2013 RX seems very self-contained and sealed up in comparison.

I'm actually leaning toward this particular door check is just a bad one. The drivers door check is holding up fine and gets more use, for sure. Must just be a bad part that did not want to hold up very long.

Edit: I looked at this a while ago and the door check seemed tight, and there didn't seem to be any movement. Upon a closer inspection, the nuts were a little loose, which may have caused the door check to rock slightly against the door frame when opening and closing. After tightening the nuts, the clicking has gone away.

Sheesh, I didn't think the nuts would loosen. Perhaps some Loctite is in order if they want to keep doing that on me.

In addition, I think I was incorrect about being able to lubricate the door check. You can apply lubrication to the metal arm itself, which then retracts back into the mechanism. Perhaps lubricating this will lubricate the mechanism if you do that and work the door back and forth. I am not sure how well this would work, but it may help. In my case, the nuts were just a little loose. I did more reading on this, and it is fairly common because they probably use a factory thread locker. Replacement door checks are clean and clear of any thread locker. I did not apply any during installation, so I suspect it would be advisable to actually use thread locker upon replacing your door checks!

 

These door checks are faulty from the factory (bad design). I drive this car a lot, but I am a passenger in it just as often, as with other family members so the rears get a lot of use. Both my rears are now worn and clicky. I just changed the really bad one for now (rear right) with one from a 16-22 4th gen RX. It's still good for now (It's used), but it was from a 2020 so it's not that old. It has the same plastic design that will probably fail in a decade or so. The 2007-2011 Camry ones are all-metal and are what I run on my 2008 RX350. I think those should fit our cars and hold up a lot better. They're sold by Aisin on Rockauto and are a quality Japan part for stupidly cheap

 

I also had a problem similar to yours. I was already thinking about replacing it. It was solved by replacing one bottom hinge. The door was sagging and not working properly. On one RX I replaced the hinge with the original one. On the other, I drilled and inserted bushings from Amazon. The doors work like a Swiss coffer ..click

 

Do you have the links for those bushings? Was this done on a 2010+?. Sadly, I think the front door bushings are clunking on mine (door can move up and down w/ play when open), but the front checks are still good. The 2004-2009 RX is very prone to this too, I think the doors are too heavy for those hinges. I've never seen it happen on any 2001-2007 Highlander which has a similar hinge but way lighter doors

Thanks in advance!

 

There are videos on YouTube about replacing different models; they're generally similar. For these models, you need to drill out the hinges and then press bushings in a vice. It's best to have a spacer inside to prevent warping. I'll look for a phot

 

Adjustment may be necessary. You need to bend back the plastic fender liner and loosen it with a flat-end wrench, then tighten it when the door is ok. Of course, if you're alone, you can use a wood support under the door. Removing it is fine, but putting it on is very heavy.

 

Thanks for sharing! The dimensions are a huge help right there. I just put junkyard hinges on my 08 RX, but if those fail good to know there is a way to rebuild the hinges vs. just junking them