Hey all!

I have a 2001 Chevy Blazer, and my driver side door won't stay shut. The latch is in the open position, but when I close the door, it just slides off and doesn't lock in. It happened on the freeway the other night and scared the hell out of me! Haha. I can't drive now without holding the door shut, which as you can imagine, is very irritating.

Any easy fixes to this?

THANK YOU!

 

check the hinge pins
probably worn out so the door has sagged and no longer hitting the striker properly
If the door isn't hitting the striker properly it will tear the striker in the door pillar

 

Yes the door is sagging but only slightly, up until today if I just pushed up on it when i closed it, it still worked fine. I even did it from the outside, pushing up on it strongly, and it goes into correct position, but the latch doesn't seem to come down and lock.

And for the hinge pins on the door, just tightening them will be a fix?

 

to fix the pins , remove pins replace bushings and pins

If the latch has been oiled, IE all greasy
Clean latch with chlorinated brake clean and oil again with something like WD40
there are a lot moving pieces within the latch , greasy dirt can cause problems

It would be better to completely remove the latch mechanism and clean with varsol and a paint brush

I have also seen on the latch a plastic coating start peeling away
If that is the case cut away with a razor blade

 

X2 on the hinge pins and bushings. Easiest way is toss a ratchet strap over a rafter, loop it through the window, take the weight off the hinges, remove the pins and the door. Install new bushings. Put her back together... about 30 minutes. You'll need 2 of these: Item Details

 

Definitely what they said about the pins. Make sure you check the bushings where the pins insert. If they are cracked and or worn down replace them, 12 dollars or so at an autoparts store.

Also another thing, dumb question but what does the pillar look like where the door locks onto the frame ? When I had a problem with that part it took me days to notice because I was only looking at the door haha when the problem was on the other end....just figured to ask just in case !