DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

It happened to me today - pulled up my driver's side door handle, and nothing happened. Darnit!

At lunch, I pulled the door handle off the car and messed around with it, and I've discovered a few things.

First off, you have to know how the door handle works. The handle that you pull on pivots on a pivot point. This handle is plastic (yes, no kidding) and around the arm of the handle near the pivot point there is a metal bracket with 2 tabs that "hug" the arm of the handle. The other end of the metal bracket attaches to a rod - when this rod is pulled up, the door unlatches and all is good.

There are 2 primary failure points for the door handle. First is the metal bracket - the tabs can bend down and not "hug" the handle like it should. Pull the handle, and the handle pops away from the bracket and the door is not opened. The other failure point is the handle itself - the metal bracket wears on the plastic over time, and there's less surface on the handle to push/pull against the bracket.

My neighbor's FD actually has the passenger side door handle totally broken off - the plastic handle itself is totally snapped. This moreso points to just neglect and abuse than anything else.

Sad thing is, BROKEN DOOR HANDLES CAN BE PREVENTED. Every year or so, pop the interior trim piece off to reveal the 2 10mm nuts that hold the handle on. Unbolt the handle, pull it away from the car a bit so you have access, and lube all the moving parts with white lithium grease.

Failure is really caused by the lubricant breaking down, requiring more force to open the door handle and putting more stress on the components in the handle. If the handle is kept well lubricated, it should last a LOT longer.

BTW, ordered my new door handle from Ray at Malloy today - $185! Ouch! Sad thing is I had warning - this week my door handle was hard to open. It was VERY wet and rainy this week, and I think the moisture broke down the lubricant. If I would have stopped and lubed the handle up, I bet my door handle would still be in the game.

I'm going to pull the handle off tonight and see if I can fix it a bit better than the quickie job I did at lunch, and when I do I'll get some pics up of the components.

Dale

XSTransAm

good to know, my passanger side is usually hard to pull open so ill probably grease it up like you said.

my drivers side is already halfway broken though :P

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

I don't know if it's possible to repair a door handle so it will operate at 100%. I did learn from FC's that there's nothing like a brand-new door handle .

I'm going to try and get mine a bit happier tonight - I won't have the new handle until Tuesday!

Dale

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

This is exactly what I had concluded.

What would be nice is a replacement handle made of metal instead of plastic. A handle 'rebuild kit'.

Maybe sneak in a few ball bearings. "They're all ball bearings these days..."

Dave

sevensheaven

iTrader: (1)

I have noticed that the door seals stick. As RX7 owners we have to unlatch the door the easy part, but I think the failure is caused by pulling the door open. That is what stresses the handle the most. Spray some pam or better silicone spray around the door where it contacts the seal.

DamonB

You can lube the handles without removing them if you use a spray lubricant. Once the interior trim piece is popped off there are a couple holes you can squirt lube through.

If the door handles need lube the power antenna probably does too!

mad_7tist

lol fletch rocks

danny hahn

door handle repair still working and I also believe this can be prevented.

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/driver-door-handle-352779/

theorie

iTrader: (31)

**** my drivers door handle just broke sometime while it was in the shop....

it just wont unlock anymore. the handle still works when its unlocked...but i cant unlock it with the key :|

it worked before it went in! maybe i can get the shop to fix/pay for it

Black97VR4

My passenger side one broke because of stupid passengers. The handle didnt come off or anything, just no resistance when you pull it up so hopefully I might be able to fix it and not buy a new one. Worst come to worst, I'll just get the FEED handles.

vosko

iTrader: (4)

on my old car one day went to pull the handle and noticed it was really hard and wouldn't budge before i yanked on it. did the same as you, sprayed grease on it and worked fine ever since.......

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Well, I worked on my door handle some more last night - I'll get pics up in a bit.

Took it off and re-bent the metal tabs on the metal bracket - got that good to go. Tested it on the workbench, and it seemed good to go.

I realized that a LOT of the force you use on the door handle is simply for overcoming the spring in the handle itself. So, for the short term until the new one gets here, I removed the spring.

Guess what? The door handle now requires near ZERO force to lift and open. Works great. But, I think it could be a safety thing - in an accident, it could easily pop up, unlatch, and bad things happen. But, this is a good short term fix to get me by until Tuesday.

I plan on comparing the new handle to the old one and see what all wears out.

Oh, my passenger side door handle was also being sticky and required too much force to open. I popped it out and lubed it up last night - now it works great again. I got that one in time, fortunately .

Anyhow, pics in a bit .

Dale

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

OK, some pics. This should give you some ideas as to what I'm talking about in the above posts .

Dale

`sl!mXP

your post makes a lot of sense to me. I had a very similar problem a month ago when we were getting a lot of rain here. The drivers side handle was getting harder and harder to open and then one day it just wouldnt budge, I had to get in from the passenger side. I took the handle apart, sprayed wd40 all around it and put some grease on the moving parts and it works better than when I got the car now.

good advice nice post!!

JConn2299

Great advice and a great thread, Dale. And there's nothing like pics to show how things work. Thanks.

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Glad to help. I'll post up some pics of the new door handle when it comes in - I'd like to compare the two.

Dale

SlingShotRX7

when you order New doorhandles..
DO the door handles come with the LIGHT in the KEYHOLE??

omochi

hah! this is why my door handles woudlnt budge the other night.. time to find some grease!

thanks!

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

I assume a new door handle comes with the light, as Ray told me they come "with all the electronics". That's why the price is so high .

It would be REAL easy to remove that keyhole bulb and replace it with an LED - that was gonna be my plan until I found that I'm fixin' to have a new door handle with bulb .

Here's the weird thing - I'm working on a customer's FD, and he had his door handle go south this week as well. So, I temp fixed it until we can get a new door handle. From what I can tell, it's the original handle, and the light still works! 112,000 miles on it!

Dale

Tim Benton

iTrader: (1)

Dale,
Do you remember the blub size on the door handle? Wonder if it's something you can get at a Pep boys or autozone.

Tim

poss

iTrader: (5)

Like you I found the spring to be too strong. I permanently removed it after I broke my 1st door handle. The only thing is that when driving on the highway, the handle pops out around 1/8" on the bottom. No biggie.

And since the light burned out, I also replaced it with an LED and a pot to adjust voltage going the LED.

busy13b

iTrader: (5)

great idea Ryan!! and you thought you were never going to put your EE degree to use!!

NINjaX7

yeah i got fed up and just did this instead

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

The bulb for the key hole isn't a standard bulb - the bulb is encased in rubber and has the two wires directly connected to the bulb. My door handle had the wires corroded from the bulb - a small tug on the wires, and it detached from the bulb.

An LED would be the best solution. Should last near forever, and it could be installed in the slot the stock bulb occupied and held in place with clear RTV silicone. Would work well and be a quality job.

Discovered another handle failure mode on the customer's car I was working on today. The plastic handle itself has 2 round holes at the ends - this has the metal pin going through it, and is the pivot point for the handle. One of the holes (the one on the load-bearing side that has the metal bracket surrounding it) was cracked in 2 spots - one spot went all the way through, one close to it. I superglued it back together and reinstalled minus spring.

I was digging through the parts fiche last night. Seems there have been multiple revisions to the door handle - there's a letter at the end when they revise the part, and there's up to a "D" revision! I plugged the part numbers into MazdaPartsCheap.com to look at cost - each subsequent revision went up in price. I'll be interested to see which revision I receive .

I also have coming an order from JT-Imports - they're closing shop up soon, so I placed a large order to "get it while the gettin's good". I ordered 2 door handles for my neighbor - his passenger door handle has the entire lift handle snapped off, and his driver's side door handle requires a "Fonzie technique" to open . Anyhow, JT-Imports is/was selling the door handles brand new for $120 each - compare this to the $185 I paid Malloy for a new handle. Dunno if it's cheaper just from it coming locally from Japan, or if it's a different part number or revision, or possibly a version that has just the handle with no electronics.

As the new handles arrive, I'll find out some more.

Dale

BlueRex

Have you considered using a different spring that would require less force to overcome, and therefore less stress on the moving parts? It may add to the longevity of your new handle.