Door handle problem
Discussion
My door handle has been getting progressively worse over the winter. It is now slack until it gets to the very top of its range. At this point it just manages to release the catch to open the door.
I have left it open since last week just in case it wont open again........
I'll be taking the door card off tomorrow for a look but would appreciate any advice or guidance from anyone who's had a similar problem.
Cheers,
Steve
I have left it open since last week just in case it wont open again........
I'll be taking the door card off tomorrow for a look but would appreciate any advice or guidance from anyone who's had a similar problem.
Cheers,
Steve
Edited by SteveOS3 on Friday 20th January 15:11
Edited by SteveOS3 on Saturday 21st January 18:58
Hi Andy,
problem solved - as an extra benefit the passenger door now open via central locking which it hasn't in the 4 years I've had the car.
Here's what happened.
The main problem was the rod that connects the door handle to the locking mechanism, #4 on the picture. I guess that over time the plastic that it clips into had worn away just enough to stop the plate, #2 making contact correctly with the bottom of the spring loaded plate at point #7.
I lowered the window to get at the top of rod #4, release the clips at either end and increased the bends at the mid-point of the rod, in effect shortening it by a couple of mm.
When it was refitted I found that I had shortened it too much as plate #1 was fouling on plate #2 when using the key to lock/unlock the door. Took it out again and extended the bends a little to stop the fouling. Worked a treat.
Whilst working in that area I noticed that rod #3 that is operated from the door handle also controls the central locking relay. Manually pulling the rod up and down made the passenger door central lock work fine, but using the key it didn't. I could have fiddled with the adjusters at point #5 but decided to give the bend at point #3 a little tweak with pliers to shorten it and that did the trick.
A previous owner had cut the centre of the door panel out, which made things a lot easier, see below. Last problem solved was the door catch shown by the red arrow in this pic'. It was very stiff but a few squirts and wiggles with WD40 and it was springing back into place with no problem. I repeated the WD40 on the passenger door too.
Final tips:
Give the window channels a good squirt with silicone lubrucant.
Try everything out before refitting the panel.
Save yourself 10 minutes by raising the window back up before trying to figure out why there's no room to get the hidden nut/bolt back on.........
Hope this helps,
Good luck.
problem solved - as an extra benefit the passenger door now open via central locking which it hasn't in the 4 years I've had the car.
Here's what happened.
The main problem was the rod that connects the door handle to the locking mechanism, #4 on the picture. I guess that over time the plastic that it clips into had worn away just enough to stop the plate, #2 making contact correctly with the bottom of the spring loaded plate at point #7.
I lowered the window to get at the top of rod #4, release the clips at either end and increased the bends at the mid-point of the rod, in effect shortening it by a couple of mm.
When it was refitted I found that I had shortened it too much as plate #1 was fouling on plate #2 when using the key to lock/unlock the door. Took it out again and extended the bends a little to stop the fouling. Worked a treat.
Whilst working in that area I noticed that rod #3 that is operated from the door handle also controls the central locking relay. Manually pulling the rod up and down made the passenger door central lock work fine, but using the key it didn't. I could have fiddled with the adjusters at point #5 but decided to give the bend at point #3 a little tweak with pliers to shorten it and that did the trick.
A previous owner had cut the centre of the door panel out, which made things a lot easier, see below. Last problem solved was the door catch shown by the red arrow in this pic'. It was very stiff but a few squirts and wiggles with WD40 and it was springing back into place with no problem. I repeated the WD40 on the passenger door too.
Final tips:
Give the window channels a good squirt with silicone lubrucant.
Try everything out before refitting the panel.
Save yourself 10 minutes by raising the window back up before trying to figure out why there's no room to get the hidden nut/bolt back on.........
Hope this helps,
Good luck.
Edited by SteveOS3 on Monday 1st December 10:10
Ahh the mysteries of the hidden nut.
Glad you got it sorted.
When I took the electric mechanism out of mine I found it reacted the same as it did when in the car i.e. it was bl**dy sloooow.
Clean the horrible copper grease of the teleflex, clean the crap out of the channels, regrease the teleflex and use (just a dab) of silicon grease on the channels and it goes up and down now like a lady of the nights' undergarments.
Glad you got it sorted.
When I took the electric mechanism out of mine I found it reacted the same as it did when in the car i.e. it was bl**dy sloooow.
Clean the horrible copper grease of the teleflex, clean the crap out of the channels, regrease the teleflex and use (just a dab) of silicon grease on the channels and it goes up and down now like a lady of the nights' undergarments.
gifdy said:
Central locking !!! Never knew that was an option.
My S3c has it, sometimes, when it decides to work. I guess it could have been a dealer fit option? Although that does sound a bit unlikely.I think its time I did a little investigating and tried some of the wire 'bending' so well described above.
Door handle now working great, no play in it now, easy job.
Next problem is the central locking, mine has motors fitted, I put 12 v across it and it extends, reverse the voltage and it retracts, so I'm guessing that it may have been key fob operated, and not key operated,
Has anyone got a similar system?
Does anyone know how these work?
Thanks
Andy
Next problem is the central locking, mine has motors fitted, I put 12 v across it and it extends, reverse the voltage and it retracts, so I'm guessing that it may have been key fob operated, and not key operated,
Has anyone got a similar system?
Does anyone know how these work?
Thanks
Andy
Andy Lynch said:
Door handle now working great, no play in it now, easy job.
Next problem is the central locking, mine has motors fitted, I put 12 v across it and it extends, reverse the voltage and it retracts, so I'm guessing that it may have been key fob operated, and not key operated,
Has anyone got a similar system?
Does anyone know how these work?
Thanks
Andy
Where do the motor wires go to?Next problem is the central locking, mine has motors fitted, I put 12 v across it and it extends, reverse the voltage and it retracts, so I'm guessing that it may have been key fob operated, and not key operated,
Has anyone got a similar system?
Does anyone know how these work?
Thanks
Andy
Just been lying on my back, upside down, with my head in the foot well, easier to get in than out if your my size, traced the passenger’s side wire from the hole in the wing to under the dash to where it disappears behind the centre console.
The driver’s side one, goes through the wing and stops at a connecting block near the steering column.
I haven’t found a control box, yet!
There is a wiring diagram in the Bible, which indicates that it may or may not of been an optional extra, although it shows three wires to the solenoids, mine has 2 wires to each motor, so I think mine as an aftermarket job.
The driver’s side one, goes through the wing and stops at a connecting block near the steering column.
I haven’t found a control box, yet!
There is a wiring diagram in the Bible, which indicates that it may or may not of been an optional extra, although it shows three wires to the solenoids, mine has 2 wires to each motor, so I think mine as an aftermarket job.
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