Driver door handle.

vdubyah73 · Post by **vdubyah73** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:46 am

Handle can't be squeezed enough to open door from out side. Took it all apart and there is no adjustment that I can see. The trigger has some in and out play in it so I guess that is where the wear is. The bear claw latch works fine, but because of all the added up sloppy wear she no worky any more. I got it to work temporarily by putting a Zip tie on the small tab on the side halfway down the latch ass'y. Anybody ever tried adding a snot of weld on this tab to see if things would work again?

Bill

chitwnvw · Post by **chitwnvw** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:20 am

JB weld would probably work, maybe even liquid metal filler.

You really had that much wear there?

vdubyah73 · Post by **vdubyah73** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:28 am

Yeah, the points of wear have divots in them and the trigger can be moved in and out about 1/8" add up the slop and it might be 3/16" maybe more. That's why the zip tie was a temporary fix just to see if it would take up the slack and make it work again. It did but it was a one of the cheap plastic ties not a good nylon one so it only lasted a few days.

I like epoxies as much as the next gut but I think it would chip, crack, or wear fast. I think I'll give the bit of weld snot a try. Once the latch is out of the door it is easy access and can be filed or ground with a dremel to get a nice surface.

vdubyah73 · Post by **vdubyah73** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:18 pm

Fixed it with a bit of weld. Here's what I did.

Take the handle off.

With handle off you see a smallish rectangular piece of steel that is flush with the back side of the door skin.

That rectangle is what the trigger pushes against. If you push it with your finger the door will open.

With the lock button in the unlocked position scribe a line where it disappears under the door skin. Now lock it and scribe a line at the other end where it does the same.

You don't want any weld out side these lines or the lock may not work anymore.

Remove the whole latch ass'y, undo the clip and rod from the inside handle and unscrew the lock button. the latch mech. slides down and out. It's a tight fit but it will come out.

Clean up the rectangular bit and build up the area that is marked out with weld. Grind and file till the new surface is about the thickness of a dime or maybe a penny. clean all the greasy oily lint that has accumulated. Re-oil it reassemble the latch to the door and put a gob of grease on the rectangle piece before reinstalling the handle.

My door opens so nice. Has a nice solid feel to the latch mechanism and operates smoothly, without the use of ham handed assaults.

chitwnvw · Post by **chitwnvw** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 5:32 pm

No pictures, Bill?

vdubyah73 · Post by **vdubyah73** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 6:03 am

nope I'm challenged that way.

Post by **Amskeptic** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:10 pm

vdubyah73 wrote:nope I'm challenged that way.

Nice little repair there, Bill. The last time I had an outside handle go out was when the loopy-doopty thangamajig that the trigger actually pushes into the latch broke. But it was a minor crack at first. So it would bend only under load and keep me out of my car, but operate fine when I checked it with the door open. Finally it broke so I could say "aha, that is why the door doesn't open."

urtheiz · Post by **urtheiz** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 4:36 am

ok, my problem might be along the same line.........here goes. the outside driver door latch dosen't work, but the inside latch does. how or where do i start to find the problem? pull the inside panel off i figure would be a good place to start, but what after that?

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 1:04 pm

I have the same problem on my drivers door, me taking it apart without knowing what I am fixing is akin to dismantling a nuclear detonator, a disaster waiting to happen. What exaclt are we fixing/welding?

Post by **Amskeptic** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:21 pm

Sylvester wrote:I have the same problem on my drivers door, me taking it apart without knowing what I am fixing is akin to dismantling a nuclear detonator, a disaster waiting to happen. What exaclt are we fixing/welding?

It is all very easy stuff. Remove inner door panel. Make sure window is up. Remove 4mm door handle retainer screws. Door handle falls off the car.
Look in the hole. There is a metal rectangle that gets pushed by the door handle actuator. Pull the trigger on the now-free door handle to see how it hits the rectangle.
The rectangle merely pushes a lever on the door latch assembly to release the catch.
Colin

urtheiz · Post by **urtheiz** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:49 am

thank you Colin, i'll try that in the am................

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Driver door handle.

Driver door handle.

Re: Driver door handle.

Re: Driver door handle.

Re: Driver door handle.

Re: Driver door handle.