So recently my drivers door had become difficult to open. Not hard to pull up but more that I had to pull up on it twice and a little farther each time. I just had an alarm put in and my installer, a friend of mine & as good as they come, found the culprit. It seems the actuater rod is slotted (looks like the head of a needle) and was worn out at the top where the pry rod contacts it. I'm going to pull it out and fill it in at the top with a bead of weld and see if this fixes the problem.

My question is does anybody remember when their handle broke if there were any symptoms before hand. I was having to pull up extra far and could feel it over extending and am wondering if this my be the cause of our broken handles.

mike

 

Passenger door handle was hard to open. It would never open on the first pull, took at least two pulls. One day, the forward side broke and since then it opens perfectly. I know the handle is half attached, you can see the broken forward tab, but it works fine for now.

 

One thing people fail to take in to consideration is we also have to use the handle to pull the door open as well. While the distance you have to lift the handle is directly related to the wear of the components there comes a point where your no longer moving any of the linage and just putting extra pressure on the handle itself, before you realize the door isn't coming open you've already stressed the plastic to the point where it finally breaks. Now as for the ease the door itself opens (separates the seal from the body) also puts stress on your handle. Try using some silicone around the door seal as this will help keep it supple and sealing well as well as ease the force needed to pull the door open. Regular lubrication of the linkage and inspection will tell you long before you reach the worn out limit and prevent you from ripping the handle off.

 

My door handle had to be replaced recently because the the auto-door lock and unlock mechanism installed for my alarm required the lock rod to be bent and it interfered with the door open rod. It made the handle stiff because the rod end caught against the other rod and eventually the handle broke. I didn't realize this until I installed my new one and it was still hard to pull.

Check for clearance and if it gets stiff after a certain distance it might be snagging on something requiring you pull extra hard. If it's stiff all through out you need to lubricate the moving parts.

 

We are currently working on some aluminum door handles which can definitely solve these breaking problems.

 

Lubricate the innards of the handle and the extra resistance goes away. No unnecessary resistance, no reason for the handle to break. No need to replace handles.

If your handle is already broken then too late for that. Don't wait for it to break.

Dave

 

Sounds simple but doesn't fix my problem, I have no resistance. I can lift my handle with my pinky finger. Just doesn't disengage the lock.

 

Sounds as if you may have the same problem as me. If my fix works I'll post some pics of what is going on.

 

The normal sequence of events is you go to open your door and the handle itself is hard to pull. Then you must pull harder and sometimes it opens and sometime the plastic handle breaks(Russian Roulette). The resaon they all break eventually (for me 2 broke) is the whole assembly(housing, pin, clamps, screws, etc) is metal.
We all know owning performance cars that the piece that breaks is the weakest in the chain (Rear differential or axles or driveshaft and in this case the Plastic Handle).
Also the problem of no resistance could be that your metal tension spring(gives that tight feel to the handle when at rest, and when you pull on the handle) has popped off or broke. If that spring is not connected properly you could lift the handle with your pinky for a little bit. You should be able to get into your car still if the spring popped off just the feel is different.
Good Luck gentleman with the quirks of used cars (I would not have it any other way!!)

Also I have Reinforced Aluminum Door Handles for sale Today at rx7doorhandles.com
or get in on my group buy going on right now!!

https://www.rx7club.com/group-buy-center-69/%24189-fd-aluminum-door-handles-stregthened-official-gb-723251/

 

KGPARTS just came out with some new aluminum handles as well.

 

The KG Parts Aluminum door handles are THE SAME as RX7DOORHANDLES.COM'S Aluminum handles!!!!

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