Today I broke the...door check bolt

Was installing my meso puddle lights today and got the wild idea to take the (driver's side) door check off the mount to give myself more room to run the wires.

Totally unnecessary, and instead now I have a problem on my hands:

As I turned the bolt to loosen, I could feel what I think was the "nut" on the back turning with me, breaking free of whatever seat was supposed to hold it still.

I can't get it out of there, it just spins and spins. It's just loose enough to bang left and right as it slides when opening/closing the door.

The issue is, there's no way I can see to access the inside of the fender in there. There's a hole for wiring about 3 inches below, but seemingly no way to get at this thing and remove/replace.

Anyone have any ideas before I start cutting metal?

 

It may be a welded nut that broke loose. I doubt Toyota would create the dreaded “loose nut behind a sealed plate” on purpose.

If all else fails, you could drill a 1/2” hole above the nut, to get an angle wrench in there, and then seal it with a 1/2” plug. It would look stock when you are done.

 

Can you pull against the check arm as you try to tighten the bolt. If you can put pressure on the nut inside the fender, it will keep it from spinning and once it gets tight, it will keep itself from spinning as you torque it down.

 

tried that, went one better even and wedged a flathead in behind it, no dice

 

I guess right now is the wrong time to say "Toyota, what a feeling."

In all seriousness though, this sort of thing is SUPER common on these trucks, they tack weld a square nut on the other side of the body and the frame as well in the four corners of the square and more often then not those tacks break because they were never designed to see the sort of regular work that gets done to them every once in a while, go figure. They break as soon as the threads get a little corrosion or rust on them and you have to use any sort of force to bust that bolt loose. It's so stupid, and I've broken tons of them on my truck in that way, as well as have had to repair various failures like those on Toyota customer vehicles at my work all for the same reasons.

Don't feel bad about it. Just do what you gotta do to get that nut off, even if that means doing the suggested repair above to get to it.

 

impact driver?

 

Had a similar situation on a different vehical, ended up doing exactly what Stocklocker said. Punched a 1/2" hole about a inch or so above the bolt, fished a wrench down inside to hold the nut and tightened up the bolt, put a little silicone on a 1/2 body plug and stuck it in the hole.

 

Impact wrench might spin it fast enough to tighten it

 

Since there are wires running out not too far away, you must be able to access that area. Have you tried pulling off the interior panels in that area?

 

Hahahaha sorry but I can’t help but laugh. Don’t feel bad, I’m only laughing because I did the same thing and felt like the biggest dumbass in the world. In my case though I opened my door on a windy day which ruined the check strap, but I thought maybe that bolt had just come lose and I could torque it down a bit and avoid having to buy a new one. Anyway, torquing it down did nothing. I went to install a new check strap a week later and as soon as I began to loosen the bolt I heard the dreaded pop.

Don’t drill a hole! If I remember correctly, the metal in that area is several layers thick since it’s reinforced for structural integrity in a crash. It’s been a couple years since I did it so my memory is a little hazy, but what you want to do is remove the kick panel by where you’d put your left foot. There’s also a wire harness you have to unplug and I think unbolt to swing out of your way. Once you do that you should see a little access hole along the pillar back there that I believe has a hose either running through it or very close to it. If you get a mirror and angle it up through that hole you should be able to see the nut that you broke off. I had a friend grab onto the nut with a small wrench while I undid the bolt for the check strap and installed the new one. Sorry I can’t give you more specific instructions, like I said it’s been a while. Just know that you can definitely get to it, you just have to go from inside the cab. It takes a little bit of finesse to get to the nut but its much better than drilling holes or cutting things.

 

If you can get it out would a nutsert work as a replacement?

I broke one of those welded nuts on a skid plate and used a nutsert to replace that

 

sounds like a plan. thanks, everyone

 

Big PITA, but fixed.

Took kick panel and lower dash off (exposes lower cutout)
Pulled the boot and wire harness out into the door jamb and removed a large plastic clip-in guide (upper cutout)
Placed headlamp inside lower cutout to see
Used a small mirror through lower cutout to get an eye on the nut
Got a 13mm wrench on it through the upper cutout & tightened the 10mm bolt up

Didn't see any evidence of a weld from the factory...wondering if they intend for you to have to take all this shit out to service that

 

That’s a good trick
In my experience, it’s the first trigger pull of the gun that seems to help torque it. I’ve had better luck getting ‘em to tighten up with short bursts rather than holding it. Combine it with some pressure as mentioned above and you’re golden

 

2019. Warranty.
Complain about it rattling.

 

My Tacoma developed the dreaded "Clunk" while closing the driver door (with the window down). I ordered the door check and while installing it I discovered that the bolt on the door frame side of the door catch was just spinning as I tried to loosen it. WELL SHIT!!!! It was 100 degrees outside today and I didn't feel like sweating my ass off so I called the "Stealership" for a quote. Without the "bolt extraction" issue I was experiencing, the quote was $465.00, JUST LABOR! For them to get the bolt out and install the new door check was $750.00 in labor plus a diagnostic fee to verify that the nut was indeed broken free from the door frame. They said plan around $1000.00 out the door. Sorry Toyota I just couldn't hand over a grand for a stuck bolt. Three hours and a gallon of sweat but it's done and my Tacoma Clunk is gone

 

Just had to replace my passenger door check. The rust and lock-tite overpowered the welded nut and it snapped of the frame weld. I was able to spin it quickly with an impact to remove the bolt. Damaged the threads but it worked. Getting the bolt back in was a royal pain in the ass. I ended up pulling the side panel by the floor board, this reveals a small opening into the frame cavity about 1 foot below the bolt hole. I taped the nut to a sacrificial wrench, wrapped a coat hanger around it and fished it into position, with a little patience it was lined up enough to tighten the bolt down.

 

I hope it is the last one you will ever have to do.