Camry door guide

[Hutchoo]

My 2001 Camry has a loose door guide (between the 2 hinges) on the driver's door. In forcing the door shut this arm pushed the window off the regulator. I got the interior door panel off and the window out thanks to this forum. What secures the guide inside the door? When I get that fixed I will put the window back in!

[71Corolla]

Two 10mm nuts IIRC. Do you have some idea of how the unit became loose? Is it damaged in some way?

[Hutchoo]

There is nothing on the end of the rod that goes through the door. I reached in and felt along the bottom of the door for missing objects but nothing. I took the woofer off to see if anything was captured by its magnet - nothing. Any ideas?
Thanks for responding.

[71Corolla]

We're talking about this thing right? I can't remember if this is off of a gen3 or gen4, but they are very similar (and can be interchanged)

[Hutchoo]

Aha. Yes that is it. Looks like there is rubber bushing and a pin through the left end. If I remove the 2 nuts then mine should pop out like this one. Then what?

[71Corolla]

Not exactly sure what you're asking, but that unit does not come apart. Not unless you plan on grinding and drilling out the spot welds. After removing the two nuts, the unit has to be pulled out from inside the door. It comes out as one piece, if you think it's bad replace it.

BTW, those units suck, I don't know why Toyota revised them from the generation 2 Camry's. The gen2 units are far better, they hold the doors much better and don't wear out. And they don't make groaning noises, my gen4 does, I have to lube them with lithium grease mixed with silicone oil, it's the only thing I've found that works. My gen3 has the same problem but not as bad.

edit - for clarity, I mean the unit cannot be dissembled to get to the spring mechanism. Which is really the only thing that can fail, so they are not designed to be repaired.

[Hutchoo]

I understand. The bushing must have disintegrated because the arm is flopping around freely. I'm pretty sure it ran into the window guide and bent it enough to jam the glass out of alignment. I have another go at it in the morning. Thanks a lot.

[71Corolla]

I wonder if Toyota used revised units on later models? I'd like to replace them on my car I hate them. Especially my gen4, the door is too heavy for them, it doesn't hold the door partially open properly.

Anyone know? If not, I'm going to try and combine the gen2 with the gen3 units.

[ed0628]

hutchoo,

My 1998 Cam has the problem of not holding the door open on slight inclines. I need to replace the left side "Door--Check" as it is referred to by the dealer at a cost of $112 per side. For the time being, I'm going to try to interchange the right side with the left [ if possible ] until funds become available. I am not close to any bone yards.

I would appreciate any ideas or discussions from the forum.

Thank you for your interest.

ed0628

[71Corolla]

Do an Ebay search for Camry door check.

[ed0628]

71 Corolla.

Thank you for your suggestion, I will give it a shot.

ed0628

[Hutchoo]

OK turns out the housing that holds the bushing (inside the door) broke off and this is what rammed into the glass.
A quick trip to the wreckers and $20 got a replacement. The window was tricky to get back in because the guides were bent. I inserted a strap wrench through the door guide hole & pulled them back into place. Thanks everyone. This D.I.Y. was easy with help from this forum. Not only saved lots of $ but prevented a lot of knuckle-scrapin' curses.

[71Corolla]

Good to hear you got everything sorted.

[ed0628]

Hutchoo,

Pleased to hear that there is a happy ending to your saga.

ed0628