Hello everyone!

I'm a new guy here, and I've come to seek aid for a problem I'm having.

First of all, let me quickly introduce myself and the car I have. I'm from Europe, and I have a 1997 Eclipse GS with the 4G63 non-turbo engine. Yes, you read that right, it's the non-turbo motor that clearly says "Mitsubishi DOHC 16 valve" on the cover and the timing belt and such are on the driver's side. I'm saying this now, since I've noticed that quite a lot of DSM-ers are unaware that DSM shipped out 4G63 N/A powered Eclipses to Europe. Here's a few pics of my car imgur: the simple image sharer .

Now, onto the problem. Keep in mind my mother tongue is not English (wish it was...), so I might be explaining the situation in a weird manner or with inappropriate words, so please bare with me!

You know how most car doors have two opening positions, one is around 45 degrees-ish on the first push, and the second, final one opens up at about 90 degrees. Well, whenever I open either door, it makes a loud pop sound when the latch/hinge/lever engages and holds the door at that position. I've tried putting on some lube on said lever, but nothing changed. Unfortunately I am not near my car at the moment, and I am unable to take a precise photo of the lever I'm talking about, nor make a video to record the sound it makes. I have, however, found this photo on the Net and I've circled the spot where this lever is. I've also tried to make a rough sketch of the bar/lever that makes this pop sound, so you could get a better idea of what exactly I'm blabbering about. Here's the link: imgur: the simple image sharer

I hope this information is sufficient enough, and we can solve this problem!

I believe I have the exact same problem you do. However, I'm not sure how or why it is making those popping noises. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to pop right as it is locking into the 45 and 90 degree positions. I would like some insight on this issue as well.

Yes, it makes the pop exactly when locking onto those positions, and I even saw how the lever jerks just a little bit.

yeah the lever jolts about an 1/8 of an inch when it pops. We definitely have the same issue.

Car ever been in an accident? Doors out of alignment? No grease on hinges?

GSLENK said:

Car ever been in an accident? Doors out of alignment? No grease on hinges?

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The person I got the car from did not mention that the car has been in an accident (well if he's selling it, why would he?). From what I've inspected, the front and sides look just how they should. No dimples, no secretly welded stuff etc. The engine bay looks really good and clean. The doors themselves open and close correctly, as in they don't drop too low. There is a very fulfilling "whomp" sound when I close the door. As if you close an incubator or something. I haven't looked at the hinges themselves, since the sound was directly coming from that lever.

There is something strange, though. Maybe I should've mentioned it. It's a bit too far fetched, but here it goes. I've noticed that both door handles look a bit darker red than the rest of the car's body. Also, the driverside handle looks as if it was unevenly coated with red paint, and that it is black underneath. It doesn't have the same finish as the rest of the body. Now, here comes the weird part. I bought the car with two sets of keys. One key is the normal Mitsubishi one for starting the engine, and the other key is for both door locks. On the key for the doors, it says "Silca Italy", which is an Italian company which makes duplicates of keys. Currently my car doesn't have an alarm. It has central locking. Also, neither key entirely fits in the trunk's lock. I don't know if it's jammed or not, but this seems a bit too fishy. I was thinking that maybe someone might have tried to steal the car, or has in deed stolen it and replaced the door locks and removed the previous alarm. Then they bought these duplicate keys that don't have the Mitsubishi name on them. This would also explain why the key doesn't fit in the trunk. Then again, the car was imported from Germany, and it passed inspection in my own country, so that probably means that the car hasn't been broken into.

I don't know, it's my first car and it simply looks too good to be true. It has absolutely no rust, the engine is a beast, it climbs to 7.5k RPM quite fast and it's really quiet, no ticks, no knocks, no nothing! The interior is also really well preserved, there are only a few minor cracks in the plastic parts, but that's about it.

I've never heard of a 2g eclipse with a non turbo 4g63 in it I would like to see pics.

Now from what you have said it sounds like someone has replaced the door locks or the doors all together. If the gap between the door and fender are to close together it will bind and make a pop noise just like you described. Sounds like you need to adjust the door/fender lines to correct it.

jayson427 said:

I've never heard of a 2g eclipse with a non turbo 4g63 in it I would like to see pics.

Now from what you have said it sounds like someone has replaced the door locks or the doors all together. If the gap between the door and fender are to close together it will bind and make a pop noise just like you described. Sounds like you need to adjust the door/fender lines to correct it.

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As I said, the only 2G 4G63 non turbo Eclipse was for the European Domestic Market. User "Xeiros" explains it in this thread http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/251391-european-2g-4g63-n-t.html . Unfortunately I am unable to make photos of my own DSM's engine bay right now to prove it, but It's a fact.

As far as your suggestion, I don't think the door made contact with the fender at any one time, so I doubt it's that. I'm more concerned about that lever. It might be a bit loose or skipping a bit. I don't know, might have to take the car to a mechanic when I get back to it in a few months time.

That popping sound is the sound of your testicals dropping now that you've bought a bad a$$ dsm haha. Im just kidding. It sounds like you need to unbolt the fender and then loosen the 2 hinges that hold the door on and have someone lift up on the door itself and then retighten. If thats the only issue you that you have with your new dsm your doing pretty good. Welcome to the club.

Check your door gaps/clearance while you open and close it, you may be rubbing door to fender, which is not good for paint (I think that's what these other guys are saying).

Is it both sides or only drivers side?

GSLENK said:

Check your door gaps/clearance while you open and close it, you may be rubbing door to fender, which is not good for paint (I think that's what these other guys are saying).

Is it both sides or only drivers side?

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Both sides make the pop sound at 45 and 90 degrees opening.

Having the same issue as OP, I checked again and the door is not hitting or grinding on the fender or anywhere else. So, clearance is not the issue here. This is happening for both doors as well and they each seem to line up with the fenders perfectly with no odd looking gaps. I think its something internally wrong inside each door. I'm heading back to college soon so I don't have time to rip apart my door and figure out what's wrong quite yet.

It's binding where the door bolts to the door structure. Our cars are old and the metal flexes a certain way making a pop noise. My car made the same sound until I got a paint job and had every seem aligned perfectly.

The "lever" you are talking about is called a striker. I have two 2G eclipses. Both cars have had (do have) this problem. I have purchased brand new strikers from the dealer to try and solve this (3 total so far) and one has this problem even being brand new. I wish I knew why but I have yet figure out the cause & have just been putting up with it. To date, 2 cars/4 doors, & I only have 1 door that is doing this now. It's on the passenger side so I can ignore it easier. I stopped buy new ones after they coming out of the box and still popped. I've decided to see if I could identify what the root cause is but so far no luck. If I ever do figure this out I will update my posts for you & others. If anyone does know the cure hopefully they will reply to help us all. It is extremely annoying though. Lastly your english is very good, better than us Americans that have been educated through our own countries pathetic worthless schools & education system. When I was in England I was shocked at how much better the Brits were educated. This entire country has just gone to sh*t at the hands of our elected officials and political system & "our" entitlement mentality.

Check your "Door Check" when you open the door. I have a loud pop sound when I open the 2 positions. Its from the black arm pulling away from the hinge 1/4" and then hitting it when it gets to the 2 stop positions. JNZTuning has them for about $14.

sccrbrandon4788 said:

Check your "Door Check" when you open the door. I have a loud pop sound when I open the 2 positions. Its from the black arm pulling away from the hinge 1/4" and then hitting it when it gets to the 2 stop positions. JNZTuning has them for about $14.

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My 1998 e350 clubwagon ford does this exact same thing because that piece is either worn or out of grease. It makes a deep sounding 'squeak' or a pop sound at 45* and 90* as described in the op.

Since its both doors, I think its safe to rule out alignment issues.

Had the same thing going on with my 2g, there called door check, it has 2 positions tat it locks in place, most likely there cracked and needs replaced. Kinda hard to find tho, mine made a really loud pop when opening it every 45 degrees, found the door checks on eBay. Hope this helps

silversgst said:

Had the same thing going on with my 2g, there called door check, it has 2 positions tat it locks in place, most likely there cracked and needs replaced. Kinda hard to find tho, mine made a really loud pop when opening it every 45 degrees, found the door checks on eBay. Hope this helps

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Yep, that's exactly the rod I was talking about. Seems like I'm going to need to open up my doors and check whether it's broken or not and if so, get it replaced. Thanks a lot!

My car does this too >.> im going to experiment with some BG tomorrow to see if I can relieve it of some stress xD

Its the door check. They wear out all the time on these cars. The arm is plastic and it's attached to the body with a pin through a hole in the arm. Pressure is exerted on the pin when the arm rides into and out of the detents. This eventually ovals the hole in the arm where the pin goes through. The "pop" you hear is the worn, oval-holed arm hitting against the pin every time the arm falls into a detent. And it only gets worse every time you open and close the door.

I have the same problem with my left hand side door and I think I found the problem. I took everything apart and found out that the welds on the nuts inside the pilar are broken and the hinge cant be thight up thats way the door pops everytime I open it, hope this helps

Had the same problem on both sides. If you open your door and look at the lever, see if it moves when you close and open it slightly. If it does it'll most likely make a "snap" like movement. Mine were rivets that were worn out. I drilled mine out, and bought two bolts from lowes that are threaded on both sides and smooth in the middle. Two lock nuts on each side and mine were good to go.

Wanted to see what my first post was on these forums and here it is, ... I know I'm necro'ing a thread, but I started it and I want to finish it. I never updated it, I sold the GS back in 2016 but up to the last day it had the popping door sound. What Mello and 99gst_racer said are the most likely causes. However, in my case I remember that upon further inspection, the door check lever had a visible crack all the way through towards the inner pivot point. So as the lever was extending and the door was reaching position 1 and position 2, the lever 'jumped' because of the crack and made the loud pop sounds.

So in case anyone stumbles upon this thread and has popping doors, 99% of the time it's a worn out door check. Here's the part number for it (2G only) to save you the hassle of searching for it: MR137843

And here's how it looks and where a crack can form:


RIP popping doors 2013-2016. Luckily my Talon ain't poppin'! (yet....)

Thanks for the info! This has been driving me nuts.

I found the oem parts on walmart.com of all places
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mitsubis...ipse-Talon-1995-1996-1997-1998-1999/751079156

I'll update this thread when I get them and get them installed.

That's crazy Erik. I would have NEVER thought of WM. Great find!