Door handles dead...
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 1,427
Likes: 1
From: Boxford Mass
Door handles dead...
Yep, I have the interior on the garage floor and the passenger door poops out. The door will not latch close. Neither handle functions. Ughh.
Guess I have to take the doorskin to fix this. How difficult is this job going to be?
Guess I have to take the doorskin to fix this. How difficult is this job going to be?
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 4,004
Likes: 2
From: Severna Park Md
Re: Door handles dead... (74jack)
Have you tried to lubricate the latch? It could be hung up with gunk and whatnot. Maybe some WD40. Could the latch pin be mis-aligned? If the rod fell off the latch on the inside, you should be able to get to that by removing the inner door panel. Sometimes the little retaining clip comes off and the rod becomes dis-connected.
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 4,004
Likes: 2
From: Severna Park Md
Re: Door handles dead... (Jvette73)
Also sometimes the latch gets accidentaly pushed to the closed position while the door is open. When you try to close it it just bounces off the pin with a thunk. If everything is well lubricated and the spring in the latch is good, you should just be able to work the door handle and hear the latch flip back to the open position. But again, if the latch is not well lubed then you may need to pull the door handle while at the same time put your finger or screwdriver into the latch and flip the latch back to the open position.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 15,156
Likes: 3,965
From: Connecticut, USA
Re: Door handles dead... (Jvette73)
I agree, I had several that would bind up. OSmetimes the lock would cause the problem. The thing to do is remove the door panel and shine a light in there. You'll see the rod coming down from the outside handle to an adjustabel pivot that's held by a clip. Remove the clip by sliding it and then pulling the pivot out. Disconnect the other rods clips and the 3 screws holding the latch to the door. With the latch out wash it down with carb or brake cleaner to get the dirt and grease out. Blow it out if you have access to air then lube it with white grease or dry flim lube. Try working it by hand and it should snap open pretty good. Assemble and adjust the outside rod to get a smooth opening action. Check the lock rods,I found a bent one that was causing a problem too.
Take your time and you'll get it.
Gary
Take your time and you'll get it.
Gary
