Door closing and locking issue?

[grapejuice]

I recently pick-up a 89' GTST and been having issues getting the doors closed and locked. The main thing I've seen thats wrong is with the windows all the way up, they hit the frame when closing the door which prevents the door from closing easily most of the time(I can get it closed but the window sits on top of the frame)...when the window is down a little the doors close just fine. Not sure if there is something which used to roll down the window just a bit to clear the frame when unlocking/locked the doors?

The other issue is actually just locking the door, figured out you have to hold the handle on the door up while closing to lock it, you can't close the door first and use the key to lock it?? Is that true? I've wondered about dissabling the power locks as I really don't need them to see if it helps.

Any thoughts on this or maybe a door closing/locking instuctions

[caliber676]

The door actuators tend to wear out after a while, but take the door trim off and have a look, it's all pretty simple stuff so you'll get an idea of what's wrong, possibly something out of adjustment or loose. For the window there might be some adjustment as to the height and position with you can play with to get working. Take a look at the door when it's closed and see if the body panels line up properly. It is possible the whole door isn't adjusted properly.

[grapejuice]

I had the door card off yesterday and was sort of looking around a bit, nothing looked wrong but I didn't play with the lock when I had it off. I guess a better question to ask is should I be able to lock the door when it's closed by using the key in the door?

[caliber676]

Yeah if the door is closed you can use the key to lock it and it should lock both doors. Same with opening

[grapejuice]

Cool, thats what I needed to know...it will unlock okay so I need to look at why it won't lock. Thanks!

[Skym]

Usually the door doesn't close properly because the car is airtight and found out that was due to help the airconditioning work faster / properly. Open the passenger door and then close the drivers door. If driver door closes easily, then it's that. If driver door still doesn't close properly, then it's the door alignment. In some rare cases the chassis can be warped (caroliner chassis alignment check would confirm or alignment specialist might be able to tell you).

[grapejuice]

I know it can't be that the car is airtight, back of the car is gutted w/ no backseat and there are a couple holes in the bottom. It's got to be something with the window alignment/height since the doors close just fine when the windows are down...I'll try to take a pic of how the window sits outside the frame when it's fully up and you close the door. Windows go in frame just fine when you roll the windows up and the door is already closed.