# Hymer B544 hab door adjustment



## bigles (May 26, 2008)

I have a 2008 Hymer B544SL and have noticed the habitation door is out of square within the door frame. I assume it is something that can be remedied by adjusting the hinges (the cantilever type). Has anyone done this or knows where I can get information on doing this?

I have contacted my local Hymer dealer but they are suggesting a new hab door and 6.5 hours of labour!


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

Les

presumably a Hartal door like mine? Looking at the hinges, I can't see any way of adjusting them. Mine is Ok, shuts fine on the latches, but I can see that it's a heavy peice of kit, and could drop on the hinges. 
This old thread suggests it's an ongoing problem with hartal doors used on various motorhomes

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=552878&bypass=552878#552878

have you been in to Premier with it? I would assume it's them that have suggested the new door? :roll: Maybe somebody there could suggest an easy way of adjusting the hinges?


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## bigles (May 26, 2008)

Hi Mike - yes it was Premier who suggested the new door. I would have thought adjustment was possible, even if it means removing the inside door panel.

I'll have a look at your link. If I make any progress I'll post it.

Regards - Les


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## bigles (May 26, 2008)

I've read through that thread but it seems to deal more with the pins and locking plates. I have adjusted ours and the door works fine. Our problem is that the door is out of square - from the inside of the van there are vertical gaps (allowing light to show through) at the top left and bottom right. It appears the door has dropped over time (no doubt due to the weight of the door) and needs to be lifted by hinge adjustment.

I guess access to the hinge is from inside the door as there doesn't seem to be any access where it goes into the frame.

I'm just trying to find out if anyone has taken the door liner off and adjusted their hinges.


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## premiermotorhomes (Feb 13, 2008)

Good morning, 

The response provided to bigles in response to his enquiry is shown below, we have not yet seen the vehicle.

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We have received a reply back from Hymer and unfortunately your vehicle is not one of the vehicles that were covered by the recall.

We have contacted Hymer again to confirm if they can confirm if there is possibly a repair handbook for this issue and how to carry out the repair. Hymer replied that there is a repair handbook for this problem but it involves supplying and fitting a new habitation door. According to the repair handbook the labour time to carry out this work is approx. 6.5 hours.

We are more than happy to book your vehicle into the workshop to try and adjust the hinges for you but obviously we can not guarantee that this will cure the problem.
--

Regards,
Chris


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## bigles (May 26, 2008)

Thanks Chris - your workshop is booked up until mid December so in the meantime I am just trying to establish if adjustment is possible. And if it's something I might be able to do sooner.


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## dalspa (Jul 1, 2008)

My Hartal door is a poor fit with daylight being evident down a lot of the latch side on the inner seal, although the outer seal is tight to the outer frame. The outer seal also gets nipped near the hinges and this has chewed the seal a bit. If I opened the door to a right angle to the van, by lifting the door I had quite a lot of play. A couple of years ago Brownhills were selling off some hinges (I think about £50 each) so I bought a pair. Fitting was easy and this cured the play in the hinges. Still got the gap down the inner seal. There is no way of adjusting the hinges other than up and down a few mm on the slotted holes. Only the catches on the latch side can be adjusted. 
I may cut some packers to fit between the hinges and the frame so as to push the door over a few mm- this may cure the nipping of the outer seal and close the gap (a little) on the inner seal. 
Has your door dropped squarely, or just at the bottom outer edge? If it has dropped squarely then you should be able to slacken off the bolts ( needs star shaped allen key, support first) and lift and re-tighten bolts. If dropped at outer edge, then you may be able to square up by packing under the bottom hinge only.
Dread to think what the cost of a new door comes to - unless it came with it's own frame then it may not fit satisfactorily anyway. Over 6hrs labour suggests it comes as a bare door and so a lot of parts have got to be transferred from the old door, and then allowing for a lot of time to frig about to fit.

DavidL


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## premiermotorhomes (Feb 13, 2008)

Good afternoon bigles, 

Have a chat with Rosie at Hambilton Engineering 01772 315078; they are a specialist Hymer independent who may be able to offer some assistance.

Regards,
Chris


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## bigles (May 26, 2008)

Dalspa - thanks for the information. Yours sounds similar to my problem. 

I'll try the adjustment you mentioned but I don't think it will be enough, so packing pieces behind the lower hinge may be a solution. 

Chris - thanks for the info I'll give them a call.


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## eurajohn (May 9, 2005)

bigles, is it possible that the problem lies in the frame rather than the door itself?
If you remove the inner trim you will find the frame is clamped to the bodywork in a hole that is not exactly precision.

Worth a try.


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## bigles (May 26, 2008)

John - I'll have a look and see if it's an option. Although the frame looks pretty true - I suspect it's the door that has dropped in it's hinges through use.

Hambilton Engineering couldn't help as they have not had a van in with this problem. They did offer to have a look but as I am on the Sussex coast and they are in Lancashire it's not really a viable option.


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## bigles (May 26, 2008)

Well, at least I can see how the hinge works:

http://www.hartal.de/en/produkte/reisemobiltueren/hartalevolution.html


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## newleaf (Jan 11, 2007)

*Hymer Habitation Door*

Bigles,
Thought it might help if I share my habitation door problem with you.
From new, the door would appear to stick, you had to really pull down hard on the lever and even then sometimes it wouldn't open, the lever just wouldn't do anything.
Under warranty I took it back to a nameless dealer just off the A1!! to have that and other things fixed, and then returned to camping at an event in Peterborough. I parked up left the vehicle and couldn't get back in!!! I called the dealer who sent out a chap in a van to sort things out. Never really worked very well even after that, if the door later wouldn't open I had to push it in and after hearing a click would try and open the door, repeating the exercise until the lever engaged. That's how its been for three years or so, not all the time just periodically.
Last month I took my van in to Premier Motorhomes for its annual habitation service and asked them to look at the door. They adjusted a few things and hey presto the door works better than it ever has.
So.... if I were you before doing anything else I would, if it's at all possible, get Premier Motorhomes to have a look and a tweak.
Regards
Geoff


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## bigles (May 26, 2008)

Thanks Geoff. 

My door doesn't stick, it opens and closes perfectly, it's just the light shining through the gaps that a bit unnerving for my wife. And draughty.

Premier can't look at the van until mid December so I am just trying to see if it's anything I can do myself in the meantime.


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## bigles (May 26, 2008)

Update on the door situation - it seems as though there is no adjustment in the hinges used in the Hartal door, they just bolt directly into the door (4 bolts) and the frame (2 bolts). Checking my hinges more thoroughly it seems there is excessive play in the upper hinge, the door moves in and out slightly when lifted. I think the previous owners must have used the interior door and handle to assist them when climbing in the van!

With new hinges being rather expensive I have 'shimmed' the lower hinge using washers - the two fixing points on the frame. This has squared the door nicely and we can no longer see daylight at the edges, however there is still a strange anomaly. When the door is closed when you look at the internal door seals they 'kiss' at the top and bottom and around the curve to the vertical bay a couple of inches but there is a vertical gap up both sides where the seals don't meet. As though the door or frame is warped. Does anyone else have this?


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## HarryTheHymer (May 1, 2005)

I've just checked my Hartal door and it does have a slight bow out from top to bottom when open. 

Perhaps you need to adjust the locking catches (inwards a tad) to help spring the door back into shape when closed.

I know that with doors with just one locking catch (half way up) the manufacturers used to pre-camber the doors so when closed the top and bottom of the door fitted snuggley with the seal and didn't spring out.

I wouldn't have thought that doors with double or triple catches actually need to be pre-cambered.


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## bigles (May 26, 2008)

Thanks Harry - I'll have a look at the door catches but the top and bottom are nice and snug and the door doesn't have inward/outward play when it's shut, it's just the verticals that seem to have a bow. Maybe the centre lock needs adjusting?

I'll report back when I've tried adjusting.


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## Hymie (May 9, 2005)

*Hartal Door*

Does anyone know which vehicles were subject to the original recall as mentioned previously?

Happy Travels


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