Passenger door sags after some driving

[asgard]

Hi folks,
I drove my first long-distance round trip of 160 miles from the Bay Area to Carmel, CA and noticed that the passenger door starts to sag after about 30-40 mins of driving. A distinct gap develops between the window and the top rubber seal and it gets noisy and lets a lot of air in.
Has anyone else experienced this problem before?
Thanks.

 

[vfx]

A lot of people rest their weight on the doors when entering or exiting the car. This puts undue stress on them and maybe in your case the door has been deformed or bolts have loosened.

 

[asgard]

A lot of people rest their weight on the doors when entering or exiting the car. This puts undue stress on them and maybe in your case the door has been deformed or bolts have loosened.

This is a CPO that was a service loaner so I guess someone may have stressed the door when it was loaned out.

 

[PV-EV]

We had the window channel inside the door become detached on ours. This caused the window to sag but also caused a rattle so it might not be the same problem you are having.

 

[pharma5]

I had a similar issue to PV-EV. A quick measurement of window glass above seal on each side could confirm if it's the window sagging inside the door.

For mine, the door panel was opened to correct the window height and retighten whatever holds it (which had become loose over time).

 

[jordanthompson]

I had the same problem and pointed it out the the mechanics... They just lifted up on the door, bending back whatever bent to begin with. I have done this on at least one occasion myself, but would never recommend it to anyone else.

I just grabbed the bottom of the door while it is open and lift gently. I did a little at a time until I was happy with the results.

 

[wiztecy]

I had the same problem and pointed it out the the mechanics... They just lifted up on the door, bending back whatever bent to begin with. I have done this on at least one occasion myself, but would never recommend it to anyone else.

I just grabbed the bottom of the door while it is open and lift gently. I did a little at a time until I was happy with the results.

I wouldn't pull up on the door like that, I feel that's stressing the hinge and carbon fiber which makes the issue worse over time. I told Tesla one day that my door was drooping like that, they came over and pulled up on the door. I wish they asked me first before doing that! That's not what you do on someone's $100k+ car!! Heck, even a $10k car you still don't do that. I could hear the carbon fiber stressing and cracking slightly on the Roadster but it was too late. I didn't say anything but was pissed since that is not the professional way to fix it. Well a few months later, the door dropped again. This time worse. Why, the put force in an uncontrolled fashion to the whole door, the door, the hinges, the brackets, etc....

Really, the correct way and only professional way to fix it is to loosen the bolts on the door/hinge and then carefully raise the door (have someone do this). Then tighten the bolts.

I complained about the door again and told them to take the door off and inspect hinges. They said the hinges were fine and readjusted the door.

 

[marco2228]

Asgard, do you know if the whole door is lower or the window only?

At my car the passenger doors window is lower as it should be at the rear end. Didn't figure out how to remove the interior panel of the door, yet. Does anyone has an idea how to remove it?
Could post pictures if the refitting process, then.

 

[wiztecy]

Didn't figure out how to remove the interior panel of the door, yet.
Does anyone has an idea how to remove it?
Could post pictures if the refitting process, then.

Need Info on Roadster Door Panel Removal

No pics but steps thanks to dhrivnak for the steps which are below, original thread link above:

============================================================
My experience is with a 1.5 and I also helped HCSharp and he has a 2.0 or 2.5 and it was the same procedure. For that you do not need any special tools. The chrome on the handle pops off and there are two (8 mm I believe) bolts that need to be removed. Then on the top right and bottom edge of the fabric/leather you have to bend it back to find two more additional bolts (8mm I believe) then the door panel will come off. There are about 5 plastic caps/fasteners that hold the door on besides the 4 bolts. There are also wires for the speakers and windows/locks that have to be unplugged but that is straight forward. It was uncomfortable the first time I did it and was fortunate as I had a Ranger watching me. I say this as bending the leather panel back to gain access to the screws was a bit scary but be gentle and all should work out. Once the screws are out it does take a bit of force to pull the plastic fasteners again I was worried I might break something but then just as my worry reach the top of anxiety the panel separated off with no problem.

============================================================

Here's a link with some oversized pics showing the interior door panel off and where the screw/bolt points are. Very helpful knowing where they are:
Blaujunk - Roadster audio/NAV options - Page 6