back door getting stiff to open and close

So I have noticed over the last few weeks the back door on my Gen is starting to get stiff to open and close.  It felt like hinges, so I gave them a spray with some lubricant and it seemed to get a little better, but now it’s worse than ever.

i am now thinking that it is the the damper strut, is this how they go, massive amounts of damping/stiffness?

i might try disconnecting the damper and see if the rear door moves correctly.  Or, do the hinges start to cease up?

Ta

Robin

In my experience the struts gradually lose their ability to hold the door so it gets easier to move not stiffer.

MInes the same and again heaps of wd40 didn't help.

It's the hinges.
You need to get oil into them, not WD40.
GT85 will help as it has a teenie amount of teflon in it.
You could keep applying a small amount of diesel, it penetrates and lubricates.
I used to keep squirting a little oil into that notch in the hinge and then open & close the door about a thousand times- you don't have to let it latch.

The bonnet hinges seize too, you need to get the deck under the wipers up to lubricate them, I took mine off one at a time to do a good job. (And lubricated the wiper mechanism whilst the deck was off.)

Agree with others that a failing gas strut tends to go weak not stiff.  Tygris R223  white lithium grease with PTFE lubricant spray is good for door hinges because its waterproof.  I've used it on the Defender hinges for a number of years with good results.

Thanks guys, I think I have some lithium spray somewhere, I'll get to work with it.

I agree with what you say about the struts but I did have a good go with Lithium grease before and it didn’t make much difference.

I also checked the hinges to see if one has dropped, but there is no play.

I am going for a extended session this morning, the strut will be easy to remove as a test.

Robin

So I sprayed round the hinge with Lithium, then disconnected the strut and worked the door backwards and forwards, no change, so kept applying lithium to the hinge joint, still no difference.

Next I applied a small bit of lithium to the top of the hinge and hey presto just opened the door once and it went very smooth.

Looks like the very top is the place to apply lithium.

Robin

 

Glad you managed to free up the hinge.  I also use lithium grease spray on the front door hinges,  bonnet hinges and bonnet release mechanism every couple of months.
 

My rear door has been suffering the same symptoms. I will give this a go.

On the Gen.4 the rear hinges have a drilled hole at the half way point. I modified a grease nipple to put a point on it and brazed it into a grease gun extension tube. It doesn't take a lot of pressure and it will pump the grease of your choice to all the points necessary. I have enclosed a couple of pics. to show the details.
Roger 

 
 

Thanks Roger. My Gen3 doesn’t appear to have a notch and no matter how much spraying I did in the middle of the hinge made the slightest difference. However a quick spray on the top fixed it.

I originally thought it would be stuck at the mid point, but now I think about it, it is the top which is open to the rain.

I might find some rubber covers for the top of the hinge.

Robin