Today I was opening the door and a small charcoal colored bar "shoot" out of the driver side interior door handle. Its about 1.3 inches long and looks sheared at one end. The handle still works but it doesn't return to its position after opening it. Is this possible to fix without replacing the entire handle? How much would it cost to fix? Thanks

 

Sounds like the handle broke. You will either need to glue it or replace it. If it's a tension point, where it takes stress, it would be hard for glue to hold. You can try it but you would probably be better off just replacing the handle with a used one from a junk yard.

The trim piece around the handle just pulls off. Then a screw holds the handle cup in place. That may be all you will need to remove to get the handle replaced.

 

The S90 I bought had a broken handle like this. I pulled off the door panel to get a better look at the handle assembly to see if it could be repaired. A small "colored bar" exactly like what you describe fell out. It is the straight end of a spring that causes the door handle to retract. Without the straight part, the spring has nothing to push against, so your handle is no longer springy. With the door panel off, use a punch (or nail or small screwdriver that you don't really like or some other suitable substitute) to knock out the brass-colored pin that holds the handle. You will see the rest of the spring. The spring is SUPPOSED to only go in one way. I was looking at where it broke, what other knicknacks I had laying around my garage that might be a suitable replacement, etc etc etc, and kept coming up empty. I thought I was going to be out of luck and would have to either go to Home Depot or somewhere to try to find a good replacement or worse yet, order one from Volvo for big $$$. Just for kicks and giggles, I decided to see what would happen if I put the spring in upside down. Sure enough, although it was clearly not designed to work that way, it operates just fine. There's enough of the broken part left to provide the proper tension, and the other flat part that remains just rides in between the top of the handle and the bottom of the lock lever. Difficult to describe, but easy to understand once you have it all apart in front of you.

Total time: 30 minutes. Total cost, $0. Your results may vary depending on where exactly your spring broke.

Good luck!

-Jon

 

door panel is quite easy to remove.some of the screws on the armrest and bolt the door handle surround sound, and that is about it. another door to be held with clips and those around the perimeter and bottom side and the door panel.pin-out on the sides and bottom . when everything is released, the panel can be folded up and out the door.

 

A sharp tug on the driver's inside handle of our 2001 XC70 resulted in the latch presenting in the open position, and would not push back flush. The door would open from the outside handle only.
I pried off the faux wood trim piece and door speaker grill, then unscrewed the vertical handle piece. Plastic parts were broken. I popped the door panel off and had access to the door handle.
Luckily for me, the cable-end barrel seems to have just slipped out of the curved notch on the handle. Stressing some slack into the cable allowed me to put it back in place, not unlike the brake cable on a bicycle.
Unless it is worn or I'm missing something, this connection is more tenuous than appropriate for such a buried application; the barrel is held in the curve only about 90 degrees. Hopefully, with all the trim installed, there is a more-secure purchase than apparent when everything is open. For now, there is a post-it with the words 'open gently' on the dash...