Door wind noise/leak

I have an 01 Limited. When I am on the highway I get a lot of noise from the top of my door. At first I thought my window wasn't sealing well because of a bad window regulator, so I replaced that and the wind noise is still there. Also when I took it through the car wash it leaks on the seal on the top. The weatherstripping isn't torn up or anything and it looks to be in good shape so I don't know if I should try to replace that? It was in a accident before I bought it and I am wondering is there any way that I could try adjusting the door to seal better on the top, or even all the way around it?

I didn't think it would bother me to much but it is starting to drive me crazy!

Any ideas or help would be appreciated, Thanks!

I have the same issue with a '95 4 door. I put a wooden block in near the latch and gave the top of the door frame a good shove to try to bend it back a little. Not the best idea I suppose, but it did work for me for a bit. The best solution is to loosen the hinges and move the top of the door towards the centerline of the vehicle a bit. That is, if there is any lateral movement possible in the hinges. I'm not sure off the top of my head.

I know this sounds kind of screwy, but I had a similar issue and posted it on another forum. I know this hasn't anything to do with the leak. A guy there told me that it could be the positioning of my roof rack. I thought he was nuts but my roof front crossbar on my rack was all the way up front, he told me to move the rack back about a foot and boom, it worked. Give it a shot. If your roof rack isn't the problem then I ain't got a clue. Good luck.

ParadiseXJ said:

I know this sounds kind of screwy, but I had a similar issue and posted it on another forum. I know this hasn't anything to do with the leak. A guy there told me that it could be the positioning of my roof rack. I thought he was nuts but my roof front crossbar on my rack was all the way up front, he told me to move the rack back about a foot and boom, it worked. Give it a shot. If your roof rack isn't the problem then I ain't got a clue. Good luck.

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I could see that making a lot of wind noise but my cross bar is back further. Plus the water leaking in through the top seal in the car wash confirms that it is something to do with the top of the door not sealing correctly.
Thanks for the thought though!!

Is there a way to adjust how tight the door shuts?

you could try slightly loosening the hinge mounts on the front of the door and pushing it inwards while shut to see if you can get any adjustment that way. i would loosen the top hinge more than the bottom to help get just the upper part of the door to push inward easier. there's alot of adjustment in the hinges so don't loosen them too much or you'll end up having to realign the whole damn thing! there should be access holes in the hinges so you can get at the torx bolts through the front fender with the door closed and fender liner removed. you could even try loosening the door post slightly and then close the door firmly. open it up and retighten. keep in mind if you adjust the door inwards too much it will not line up flush with the rest of the body. i'm basing this from my experiences doing bodywork on my 88mj and 90xj so i'm not familiar with the 01 setup but hope this helps.

jordo said:

you could try slightly loosening the hinge mounts on the front of the door and pushing it inwards while shut to see if you can get any adjustment that way. i would loosen the top hinge more than the bottom to help get just the upper part of the door to push inward easier. there's alot of adjustment in the hinges so don't loosen them too much or you'll end up having to realign the whole damn thing! there should be access holes in the hinges so you can get at the torx bolts through the front fender with the door closed and fender liner removed. you could even try loosening the door post slightly and then close the door firmly. open it up and retighten. keep in mind if you adjust the door inwards too much it will not line up flush with the rest of the body. i'm basing this from my experiences doing bodywork on my 88mj and 90xj so i'm not familiar with the 01 setup but hope this helps.

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I will look into this once and see what comes out of it. Maybe I will buy new weatherstripping also??? It just really bugs me!!

Adjusting the hinges is certainly one option, but only if the door panel below the beltline is also out of line. If that is lined up correctly, a hinge adjustment to seal the top will result in a bad fit below. You're better off bending the top. Body repairmen do this all the time, and if the vehicle was in an accident, it may just need to be bent back. Sometimes the top will get out of adjustment just from use. Here's what I'd do.

First, shut the door and stand outside. Check the alignment of the whole door in the frame. Make sure the leading edge where it meets the fender is in far enough, because it must seal there first. If the height is correct and the leading edge is correct, leave the hinges alone. As suggested above, hinge adjustment for flushness is best done with one hinge at a time, to avoid changing the height. For a top sealing problem, you might get away with just a little push on the top, but watch for binding. You can adjust the trailing edge, and make minor adjustments for sag, by moving the striker plate.

Once the door panel is to your liking, look at the window frame. With the door shut, push inward on the top and see if it wants to move. You can also try closing pieces of paper into it to see if it's sealing at various points. If it seems to need adjustment, there are two ways of doing it. One is to take a piece of 2 x 4, stick it through the open window, and gently pry the top of the frame inward. Don't overdo. A second is to get inside, with the door unlatched, sit sideways on the seat, brace your knee against the door panel, and yank inward on the top with your hands. Don't overdo that either. Better to have to try twice than undo it, because too many bends can crack the weld where the window frame attaches to the door. A good tug at the front top corner may be all you need.

My 98 makes similar whistling noises from the top of the door windows at the front on both sides. I found that a quarter shoved in quiets it right down. The bulk of my noise was from the window stripping, not the door stripping, so the quarter solves it.

Thanks for all the advice, ideas and help.

I know it isn't the window because I checked last night on the highway. It is definately the seal on top where the body and the door meet. The door frame on top actually flutters a little bit when I am doing 75. Would bending the top fix this also.

All the gaps around the door look good and even, not perfect but very good.


I was thinking about it last night and I wonder if I would put some clear silicone on the door side if that would work also?

klennop said:

Thanks for all the advice, ideas and help.

I know it isn't the window because I checked last night on the highway. It is definately the seal on top where the body and the door meet. The door frame on top actually flutters a little bit when I am doing 75. Would bending the top fix this also.

All the gaps around the door look good and even, not perfect but very good.


I was thinking about it last night and I wonder if I would put some clear silicone on the door side if that would work also?

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I don't think silicone is a good idea. For one thing, it's too stiff, and impossible to get even enough to avoid little gaps. Every time you shut the door it will bang against the silicone instead of against the soft weatherstrip. If your top frame isn't bent out now it will be after that. Even normal use with the correct weatherstrip will eventually push the frame out a little. If you can see the top fluttering, I think the easiest and best solution is simply to pull it back in a little. Don't overdo, just try to get it to make good contact with the weatherstripping all the way around.

I was once showed a cool trick - put a dollar bill at the top of your door frame, and close the door with the dollar bill sticking out the top of the door.

If you can pull the dollar bill out easily with the door shut - you need to bend that door a bit.

Like someone previously said, put one foot on the armrest, and gently give the top of the door a tug inward - then repeat the dollar bill trick...

I will try the dollar bill/paper trick tonight but to be honest I feel kind of nervous about bending my door.

I probably can use a tug or two on each of my doors (2-dr XJ). Currently I can stick my finger in between the top door window frame and the door jam (about midway the length of the window), run it around the front of the window and down the A pillar, until about 6 inches from where the window frame meets the main door body. I can easily push the weatherstripping out of place in that area. The other parts of the door press readily against the weatherstripping to where i can't push it out of place, thereby breaking the seal.

Or you could loosen the stricker(that post the door latches on) and tap it in alittle.
Wayne

Wayne Sihler said:

Or you could loosen the stricker(that post the door latches on) and tap it in alittle.
Wayne

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Yes, you could do that, and you could tap it upward a little too to compensate for sag, but you run the risk of making the door close too tightly at the bottom, or to look misaligned, without solving the wind problem.

Bending doors is a little scary at first, but it's routine, really. Especially with the flimsy window frames on modern doors, it's pretty much a necessity at times. Simply by shutting the door many many times against air resistance, the frame will eventually be bent out. Correction is occasionally necessary.

There IS some truth to your whistling possibly coming from your roof rack. I had some super-annoying whistling in an 88 XJ,.... I added weatherstripping, bent the window frame, loaded itt upp with tape at different points, tried "shadowing" the sound with my palm while driving.. Still it whistled. The ONLY TIME it would stop was after I washed the vehicle, or if it rained, or when I had the blower motor on HIGH with all the windows closed.
Turns out up in the front mounting bolt of the roof rack, there's a small, mushroom-shaped gromet (that's supposed to hold a round-edged nut in place to accept the mounting bolt's threads [ a truly piss-poor design, but mebbe on another thread...}) Well my gromet was ripped, and air was escaping OUT OF THE VEHICLE through the tiny hole, whistling lika Jay-Bird. MANNN, was I glad to find THAT one!!

NTrails said:

There IS some truth to your whistling possibly coming from your roof rack. I had some super-annoying whistling in an 88 XJ,.... I added weatherstripping, bent the window frame, loaded itt upp with tape at different points, tried "shadowing" the sound with my palm while driving.. Still it whistled. The ONLY TIME it would stop was after I washed the vehicle, or if it rained, or when I had the blower motor on HIGH with all the windows closed.
Turns out up in the front mounting bolt of the roof rack, there's a small, mushroom-shaped gromet (that's supposed to hold a round-edged nut in place to accept the mounting bolt's threads [ a truly piss-poor design, but mebbe on another thread...}) Well my gromet was ripped, and air was escaping OUT OF THE VEHICLE through the tiny hole, whistling lika Jay-Bird. MANNN, was I glad to find THAT one!!

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I don't doubt that the roof rack could cause whistling, but I am even seeing my door flutter and I can feel air coming in when I put my hand up to it. Mine also does it all the time. I will check over my rack though. It has been pretty cold here and it isn't getting any warmer anytime soon.

When you bend the door do you do it with the window up or down?

klennop said:

I don't doubt that the roof rack could cause whistling, but I am even seeing my door flutter and I can feel air coming in when I put my hand up to it. Mine also does it all the time. I will check over my rack though. It has been pretty cold here and it isn't getting any warmer anytime soon.

When you bend the door do you do it with the window up or down?

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Down.

i've got this problem with my '01 as well

my driver's door is used so much more than the passenger door, which doesn't have the wind noise...............which backs up what Matthew Currie is saying about the top of the door bending itself outward over time

Fred85 said:

i've got this problem with my '01 as well

my driver's door is used so much more than the passenger door, which doesn't have the wind noise...............which backs up what Matthew Currie is saying about the top of the door bending itself outward over time

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I totally agree with that. I am going to try and bending it maybe this weekend if I get the time. I am putting in my lift so I will be pretty busy trying to get it done.