DIY: Door Handle Spring Fix w/Pics

[delsle1]

DIY Stats and Roll-call:

Duration:

90 minutes Total

Tool list:

-Shop Chair
-Metric Socket Set
-Torque Wrench Set
-Bent Needle-Nose Plyers
-Flat/Phillips Head Screw-Drivers
-Work-Light(s) of one type or another
-Grease (For window guide rail, since yer in there, right?)
-Shop Mat (a soft surface for knees and to lay door panel on, etc.)
-Replacement Spring (Score: Ace Hardware 1 --Automotive Stores 0)
-Beverage of your choice.

AND lastly,

(1) Aurora in dispair!!!

(SIDEBAR: Appologies for out-of-focus pics!)


(Pic#01)


Note to self: First, cutback on arm curls at gym....Second, practice new technique: Grab
and Release; Grab and Release;....

Actually, seen here: the internal mounting srews are already out when I snapped the pic.

The purpose for this: the internal spring which applies downforce tension on the exterior
door handle broke, due to water damage!

Read-on for the complete DIYer Play-by-Play-----


(Pic #02)


Remove these two screws (note: I put all the parts into the built-in door storage pocket,
as to not lose anything.)



(Pic#03)


Kinda like paint by numbers, huh!


(Pic #04 )

Quick note here, when lifting up the top of the panel will un hinge itself, yet the bottom
of the panel will remain attached to the door via (2) nicely incorperated factory hooks!


(Pic # 04a)



(Pic # 04b)



(Pic #05 )




Here’s a look at the (3) harnesses somehow packed within the guts of this “air-tight”
zone. Gave me flash backs of being crammed in an Air Force HC-130 rollin’ down hard
toward the deck! So tight, “Sam-and-the-Twins”....well, ya know!!!


(Pic #06 )

Ratchet was a 12mm, I think?



(Pic #07)



(Pic # 08)



(Pic # 09)




(Pic # 10)



(Pic # 11)



(Pic # 12)






LATER TATER, Tune in next time; same Freeway, different Payday!

Del S.---------------

[95mushroom]

Great write-up! As I've been looking at Auroras for recently, over half have a new (err, replacement) driver's door handle.

P.S. Holy crap your door panel wires are long! Mine just about long enough it get your hand and a screwdriver to get the connectors apart.

[aldrichd]

Great sense of humor. Do another post when you change your oil and filter.

[aarcuda]

I just did this and you dont need to touch the door latch mechanism. the handle will come out of the door with the latch still in place. and the lock mechanism can be left in the handle too until the whole assemble is out of the car. just slide the old handle up and out at the bottom and then finagle the handle around to get to the linkages. then unsnap the handle linkage plastic doohicky and remove the rod from the handle. then tilt the hadle up and down to remove the lock linkage from the lock.

then you can take the old handle out and remove and replace the lock easier- my lock was stuck like a sob in the handle and it took quite a bit of force and lube to get it back inside the new handle so I think it would be easier to do it with it unattached from the door linkages

[mattn]

del,

Great writeup and Pictures. Your pictures REALLY helped me see the parts that were invovled, and where they were. THANK YOU!!

I just took my outside door handle off, basically following your pictures. I will order a new handle next.

What broke on mine was the plastic 'lever' which is part of the handle's inside mechanism - the part that pushes down on a plate that is attched to a rod that is attached to the door latch. I can't see repairing it as a long term fix, so a new handle will be ordered.

A few extra notes to help others...
- The lower panel screws that hold the interior panel on are 7mm
- The screws that hold that handle on the door are 10mm (knowing beforehand helps as it is dark and hard to see in there)
- You might make sure you have a magnet attached to a long handle, in case you drop parts inside the door cavity (like I did). I used electrical tape to tape a magnet to a long screw driver to fish out the socket I dropped inside the door cavity.
- I also did not have to remove the 3 latch plate torx screws. It was a bit of a puzzle to get the handle out of the door, as there were 2 small tabs on the handle that sort of held onto the sheet metal of the door on the inside of the handle opening. I used a screw driver to lift/pry up the handle within the door handle opening until they cleared, then rotated the handle mechanism out.
- I never disconnected the electrical wires. I just rotated the panel into a parallel position and sat it on the sidewalk leaning against the door.
- Also did not have to remove the steel plate on the inside of the door
- Had to push out a small black round plastic piece in the metal of the door under the door panel in order to get access to the 2nd door handle screw that is towards the rear of the vehicle. (I used an L shaped screwdriver to pop it out).
- There is a small plastic tab that is pushed onto the door rod mechanism - this is just pried off to finish separating the handle from the door
- I have screwed the handle (not attached to mechanism or keylock back onto the door temporarily, and hung the inside door panel temporarily back on also, so I can still drive the car until I get the new handle picked up in the next few days.


A few notes about putting the door handle back in....

- Make sure the lock is put back in correctly, there are two extrusions on the bottom of the metal cylinders, in addition to the two 'wings' on the sides of the metal lock cylinder - make sure all three are lined up (or you may find it impossible to squeeze the metal cylinder into the plastic door handle bezel).
- I found that pushing the lock into the plastic door handle bezel, and then coaxing and positioning the plastic door handle into the door opening so it is almost fully in place, and then attaching the small plastic clip to the latch rod was the only way to get the door handle back in. (If you insert both the metal lock and the plastic rod clip, and then try to make the plastic door handle go into the door opening - it won't go back in, as there is not enough clearance).
- Also, make sure the two lower 'lips' on the plastic door handle bezel are lipped over the sheet metal of the door, or the bottom of the plastic outside handle won't be fully flush with the door's sheet metal. Do this before putting in the two screws that hold the door handle in place. (I ended up not noticing these two notches on the door handle bezel, put everything back in place including the interior trim, then stepped back to admire the finished job, only to see the bottom of the door handle was not exactly flush. I had to take the door panel off again, remove the two door handle screws, and lift the bezel up and over the door's sheet metal before reinstalling the two door handle screws and then putting the interior trim back on using a screw driver to lever it over the sheet metal. This second attempt was a waste of time I could have avoided - had I put the door handle in the correct way the first time!)


aarcude, thanks for your reply in the other thread !!

[erw38]

great write up

next time save the beer until after you finish taking pics

;D

[toolshed2010]

awesome write up

[RCA1186]

There is actually a fix for the broken "lever" that another member on here showed me and it works like a charm, you drill a hole into the little plastic lever and thread a screw into the place where the piece of the lever cracked off and line it up to act as the lever used to itself, it worked handily

[RamblingRVers]

Is there any way to get the pictures? They are just shipping wing up as a box.
Thanks

[gurney]

Hello -

Do the pictures of this repair process still exist on an accessible server? My '99 Aurora has several of the common problems, including a dud driver's door.

Thanks!

Gurney

[tigger]

Unfortunately, we don't have access to these images.