My driver door handle isn't working to good. There's no tension in it, and I have to pull up super hard to get the latch inside the door to let go so I can open the door. I don't think it's the door handle itself...although I could be wrong. I think it's some where in the mechanisiem that allows the door to let go of the latch so it can be opened. Does anyone know exactly what it is?

 

I took a pic of a driver latch assy.(low quality pic was took with my phone)You need to pull the door panel,and lubricate the latch assy.They get gummed up over the years.There's an adjustment located on the rod that goes to the outside door handle,remove the spring from the the adjuster turn it down to remove any unwanted slack.


Dan

 

thanks for taking the time to show me that! i'll try fixing it this weekend.

 

I just repaired mine this past weekend for this same reason. My door handle would pull almost all the way to the upper limit of its travel before the latch would operate and open the door. The problem with mine was wear to the actual door handle mechanism itself. There is a dowel that is pressed into the door handle assembly that drives a fork mechanism that operates the adjustable rod that connects to the actual latching mechanism.

This dowel, and the fork that it operates will wear over time, which increases the amount/distance that the door handle has to be pulled before the latch will activate. My dowel was worn so badly that I had to dremel/drill it out and drive in a piece of rolled steel in it's place. If your dowel isnt worn too badly, then the adjustment rod should give you enough adjustment to remove most of the unneeded travel in the door handle mechanism itself.

Hope this helps, and best of luck!

 

it was an easy fix. i just had to turn the metal pole until the thread like portion went upwards. but i can forsee the thread working it's way down again to soon. maybe because the thread metal is old and partially corrided. is there a way to make the thread not eventually unscrew itself? buying a new mechanism would help(if any are out)? i hate to use liquid thread lock because that can always be a nightmare to take off.

 

I aso have this latch drift problem. Your post mentions a "metal pole". How did you access this?

 

Hi, sorry for the late reply. I should state it as a metal stick with threads on the end rather than a pole. It should be easiley viewable after you take the door panel off.

 

i picked up used handles at the wreckers for $5 each
and they were very easy to replace
so dont waste too much time trying to repair the old ones
this is a common problem with these door handles
but is also an easy fix