really cool info thanks for posting the pix and everything.

 

Two things! 1st of I pulled my door handle apart to check the play like described in this thread and found the tiny loop that the rod goes through was broken. That broken section allowed the handle to pivot too much and not properly push down the release rob. Also I can really see were the OP's method to relieve the stress on the handle by drilling and installing a screw to keep the lever from over traveling. When the lever over travels like that, it's really hard to move because of the lack of angle. It becomes too virticle. I'm going to drill and tap my passenger side as a preventive measure. I highly recommend this on even new door handles as well. It really does eliminate the initial stress the handle gets when you start to pull it.

 

Shameless plug time



https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...7&postcount=33

We're actually running a GB on these replacement aluminum handles now, and further discounts if paired up with the interior aluminum replacement handle (which also break like crazy). But in all honesty, the points of the car which you GRAB should not be made out of plastic. It was a reallly poor place for Mazda to try to save money on the car that's been causing problems for all of us for years now. For less than the cost of new replacement plastic pieces, these parts can be swapped out for aluminum units that will last the life of the car.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...7#post10902897

 

So I snapped my drivers handle off a few months ago, and didn't even think that metal ones would be available. I ordered a brand new one from Mazda, and man it wasn't cheap, so low and behold my brand new one is completely stuck after just a few months! I pulled it apart and lubed it to get it working again, but how in the hell does the original one last for almost two decades of operation and a brand spanking new one stops after a few months??? I should have checked the packaging, I'd be willing to bet it was made in china. SMH.

 

Same thing happened to me with a driver door map pocket lid. Old one snapped, then I got two months out of the new one and the same thing happened. Either the newer parts are not produced as well, and the old ones that failed had been replaced with ones that didn't, so only the working ones survived.... kinda a darwinian take on it Either way we can all agree the stock plastic **** is, well, **** (albeit really expensive ****).

 

Compare the new handle linkage to my extremely worn out one. I think its the stiff spring under the phillips screw that eventually pushes back on the linkage bending it and wearing out the pivot rod for the handle as well. Doing this mod will create a stopper so the force of the spring cannot push back and bend the assembly making everything sloppy and loose.

This mod improved mine slightly but I think my handle is too far gone and needs to be replaced.

 

So. My drivers door handle started binding. I happend to stumble upon this wonderful thread. Since i understood what you were talking about with the binding linkage and since i have a tig, i started to take my door handle apart. I was looking at everything and i noticed one significant fact. The part of the linkage that actually attaches to the plastic handle. The part that is shaped like a c and is pinned by the same pin that the plastic handle is pinned by had a significant amount of play. So i took it apart. Lubricated everything and i pinched the "c" part of the linkage until it didnt have any play. Now the handle functions like new! Thanks for the insights here!

 

some good info here. ill be using this to help fix mine

 

i'll have to give this a try, awesome discovery!

 

wow great write up i will be trying this

 

Actually the easyist way to fix the problem is to spray the mechanism with WD40.
Did it once when they got a little stiff and they have worked perfectly ever since.
Going on 21 years of ownership and never broke or changed the mechanism on my doors.

 

Yo so the other day my handle broke on me. i don't know where, but the handle is super loose now. can this method repair it or am i S.O.L. and have to get a new handle? they are aluminum.

 

Old thread, but I have something to add. Have my handles off for repainting and I found most of my play could be eliminated by putting a shim on the handle pivot. It goes in as pictured. I cut them out of hdpe jugs from the recycle bin! Just drilled a hole thru the center.The driver side needed an even thicker one. If you wiggle this bracket the direction of the handle pivot you will notice a lot play.

 

You clever $^%&*.

I thought about it too, and I also used the same screw solution, but I put the screw under the handle itself, as a stop for how far the handle plate can come down to rest ontop of the screw.

Your idea is much better in that its all hidden behind the handle mechanism and doesnt require the whole handle to be disassembled to do, like my idea did. I'll definitely do this next time round..

 

Good Write-up, I fixed my door handle this past weekend luckily my door handle was already metal. One less this thing to worry about.