Suggestions on fixing door jam air leak

Kathy

Kathy

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Over the Christmas holiday someone locked the keys in Dave‘s Escalade. my dad took it upon himself since Dave was not there to try and get some sort of a prybar in between the door and the vehicle to hit the unlock button he was unsuccessful and we ended up having to drive back to town pick up his spare set and come back. Since that time, when we’re on the freeway there is now an air sound coming in due to my fathers “helping “. Any suggestions on getting the Indents in the door jam out to make a good seal again?
 
Try a heat gun (just make sure you don't hold it in one place for too long). Heating up the rubber should allow you to be able to massage it and work it back to it's original form.

A hair dryer will probably work fine as well, I just always seem to end up using the heat gun.
 
Chris said:
Try a heat gun (just make sure you don't hold it in one place for too long). Heating up the rubber should allow you to be able to massage it and work it back to it's original form.

A hair dryer will probably work fine as well, I just always seem to end up using the heat gun.
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It’s not just the rubber but he dented the metal as well
 
Ohhh... Well if it's metal too, I wouldn't bother touching that unless you have some body shop skills. I'd have to see a visual of how bad it is though. That doesn't seem like a good idea to take a crowbar to a door jam :D
 
With out a pic it's kinda hard to offer good advice but as a temporary fix, (IE:get through the winter) you might try filling the dents with a little Bondo and shaping it to the original contour. This will give the gaskets a place to seat and keep the weather out. Hopefully he didn't spring the door during the prying 'cause that will be a pile of $$$$ to get fixed!!
 
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I don’t know how ridgid that door is but I used to have a door seal leak on my LJ (full door/soft top). I had a body guy working on some corrosion and I mentioned it to him. He grabbed the door and with one quick motion twisted it into shape- and he is a little guy. It’s perfect ever since. So- when the crowbar was used was enough force used to warp the door itself???? I realize the Escalade door is twice the strength but????
 
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Vulture said:
With out a pic it's kinda hard to offer good advice but as a temporary fix, (IE:get through the winter) you might try filling the dents with a little Bondo and shaping it to the original contour. This will give the gaskets a place to seat and keep the weather out. Hopefully he didn't spring the door during the prying 'cause that will be a pile of $$$$ to get fixed!!
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Here are pics
07912891-5C8F-49E3-826E-D2429716FF13.jpeg
A499CFDA-85E4-463B-AFAA-5349BEFCE39D.jpeg
 
He very well could have sprung that door with that much force but I hate to say that will need bodywork and paint cause I doubt you want to use chewing gum or bondo on an Escalade- look to see if that gouge lines up with a secondary seal. If not- is it bulged out under the seal in the photo?- maybe that could be forced down.
 
Phil Younger said:
He very well could have sprung that door with that much force but I hate to say that will need bodywork and paint cause I doubt you want to use chewing gum or bondo on an Escalade- look to see if that gouge lines up with a secondary seal. If not- is it bulged out under the seal in the photo?- maybe that could be forced down.
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Are You talking about the black part underneath the dent as the secondary seal? Ironically there is no soft rubbery seal that I’m used to seeing on cars on this Escalade. We are looking at selling it, so that’s why I’m wanting to repair the noise if possible without breaking the bank. That black part is hard plastic underneath the dented metal
 
I also want to add, that the noise is not very loud. In fact I had a hard time hearing it when Dave noticed it after that incident. When I drove it the other day and it was windy and I was driving, I heard it much more easily. But it still is not significantly loud
 
Sometimes a person does not notice a noise until something happens like the above. Causing a person to focus one the "new" problem. While I would want that fixed..it really does not look to me to be that big a deal.
 
Reece said:
Sometimes a person does not notice a noise until something happens like the above. Causing a person to focus one the "new" problem. While I would want that fixed..it really does not look to me to be that big a deal.
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That is a good point. Dave said that he knows the door is not sprung. He does tend to be sensitive to any little noise/change, and I didn’t know if I thought the sound increased since the dent until I drove it on a windy day. It is minor , but I feel bad seeing my dad caused the damage . Doesn’t look like there will be an easy repair without it looking bad. I’m still going to try to fill it with something and see if it changes the noise . Thanks for your input
 
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