door handles
 

Hi - new here, so sorry if this isn't in the right place.

I have a 91 rx7. When I bought it, I knew the passenger side door could not be unlocked from the outside. Someone tried to stick something into the keyhole I guess and messed up the whole lock. The outside handle works if its unlocked from the inside.

The drivers side *did* work fine. Now, I can put the key in it and turn, but it doesn't unlock from the outside. Actually, it doesn't open at all from the outside, even if its unlocked from the inside.

The car isn't running right now (its going to the shop today for an engine rebuild), but when I need to get into it I have to climb in the hatch, over my speaker box, over the console, and into the seats - not very much fun. :(

My question is - what parts exactly do I need to replace both sides? This is my first rx, so I'm pretty new to it all and I'm not sure what exactly I would need. :confused:

Thanks in advance.
A

well its one of two things in my experience. the stock handles are connected to the bars that unlock the doors by little plastic clips. these break over time or simply come lose. if you remove the door handles you can either place the bar back into the clip on the handle like i did. otherwise you have to order a new handle or buy a used one. Ray Crowe at malloy mazda has really awesome prices on stock parts and he gives free ground shipping too. 888-533-3400

the second thing that happenned to me is my little sister broke one of my keys in the lock cyclinder and i had to order a new one. it was like $60 from the local mazda but i am sure Ray can beat that price also. once i had the cyclinder i had to take mine to a locksmith to gut it to match my key. but i did that since my local mazda couldnt do it from the vin because their machine was broke or whatever excuse they had that day for not wanting to work.

sooo worse case to me is that you need new handles and new locks. anyways this is just what happenned to me and my car and i hope this helps you because i am sure there are a lot of ways to break it lol.

Re: door handles
 

Why does this sound all too familiar! Our door handles are made from "pot metal" or some very low grade materials that can't even be welded. Since you can't open it even when its unlocked it sounds like one of the metal "tabs" on the backside of the handle broke.

You should be able to find a working handle at a junk yard and swap lock cylinders so your current keys will work. Although you may have to paint it to match.

Just to add to what apexkw said, Ray at Malloy Mazda is on vacation right now. He'll be back in a few days. But if you need the stuff asap, talk to Kelly. She's handling his business w/ RX7s in his place.

Oh, the door handles are practically a weak point in all the RX7s...that's why it's repeated over and over in the "you know you drive an RX7 if" thread, since they all eventually break hehe

Last thing...I got a new lock cylinder as well for $60 from the local mazda dealership...it comes w/ two keys. But I also wanted to have it rekeyed to match all the other locks on the car. Cost me $40 lol, plus I had to buy a new key, since the ones that came w/ the lock cylinder were chucked. So don't be surprised when you get suckered for rekeying it as well ;)

Thanks!
 

I had tried looking around before I posted about it and saw some of the same things you all said (about the locks being the weak part and breaking a lot), but I wasn't sure. Thanks for repeating it all to the newbie! ;)

So I basically need new handles and new lock cylinders for both sides, right? Because I can't put the key into the passenger side, that means that the lock cylinder is broken or jammed or something, and if I want to be able to use the same key for both doors (which would be nice...) I would need to replace both of them. And while I'm replacing the driver's side door, I might as well replace the other handle since its probably on its way out anyways - I doubt they've ever been replaced before. Do I have all that right?

Thanks again for the help and for the recommendation on the parts.
A

Wait...does the driver side lock cylinder work fine? (a simple way to find out: open the door, and while it's open, try to lock the door w/ the key from the outside, then unlock it. See if the lock switch on the inside panel moves when you do this).

If your lock cylinder on the driver's side works, you do NOT need a new one. Just one new cylinder to replace the passenger side one that's messed up, and have that one rekeyed to match your existing keys.

Getting both new cylinders would bee more work than you need to do, and you'd need to change the hatch clyinder as well (or get it rekeyed). So keep it simple: change only the cylinders that aren't working, and get them rekeyed to match the keys you have now.

As for the door handles, it sounds like your driver side door handle is broken. You prob won't need to change your passenger side door handle, but you have to remove it to install the new lock cyclinder. So try greasing the handle interior when you remove it, because that usually does the trick, and maintains it's longevity. Also, save your money until it finally breaks, cuz those door handles run $180 or so...so it's not pocket change.

Also...if you want, you can try www.mazdatrix.com They have lots of parts for very decent prices (lock cylinder, exterior door handle, etc)

hmmmm
 

The last time I tried to use the key on the driver's side, it went it and it turned, but I'm pretty sure it didn't unlock it at all. I think I am going to stop by the shop where it is today after work, so I'll try what you said.

I wasn't too worried about the hatch key - I figured that as long as the 2 doors used the same key that I could deal with having a different key for the hatch. It really wouldn't bother me that much.

How much does a rekeying usually cost? Was that the $40 you mentioned earlier?

Will changing all of this be relativley easy? I want to try to do it myself with my younger brother.

I tried looking at www.mazdatrix.com before I posted, but I had no idea what I was looking for. I'll try again once I have exactly what I need in mind.

Sorry for all the questions - you must be sick of me! :o:
A

When you put your key in the passenger side...try wiggling your key up and down while turning it. That may work. I had to do that with my 10AE for a while until I put some lithium grease around the cylinder. If that doesn't work then I PMed you with a list of stuff that may work.

The key doesn't even go into the passenger side - someone broke something off in it or tried to jam something in it. Did you mean the Driver's side?

Re: hmmmm
 

Don't say that...this is EXACTLY what the forum's for :)

http://www.mazdatrix.com/in-locks.htm
2nd to last item at the bottom, is the 93-95 lock cylinder...one for the left door, the other for the right

http://www.mazdatrix.com/n-4.htm
halfway through the page, it has 93-95 outside door handle, again left and right

What usually happens is there's a plastic diaphragm covering the lock cylinder, w/ a slit for the key. It gets moved around, and either falls off, letting dirt and debris into the lock cylinder, or the diaphragm falls into the cylinder itself.

The rekeying was $40 for me, so I'd shop around and find a place that'll do it for a better price.

As for ease of doing it, it can def. be done. But it's a little tricky in the sense that you may need to pull off some of the interior door panel to disconnect the door handle and the wires running to it. And replacing the cylinder is a little tricky, since there are these springs that are real funky and are time consuming to get on until you realize the trick lol

Hope that helps some.

Her car is a 91. The 93-95 won't work for her.
I didn't know that there was something jammed in there I just thought that it was hard to turn or something. So I don't know without looking at it. It's not hard to figure out tho if you get it out and take a look at it. Good luck!

Sorry...I didn't notice that you had a 91. But the links I gave you to mazdatrix should still be valid, since they have the lock cylinders and exterior door handles for all years of rx7s on those pages.

I'll check out those links. Thanks. I got lost trying to do it myself!
<-- Just starting to learn about the wide world of cars!

Before I get the car back, I will pick up a book for it. Since this is such a common problem I'm assuming that it will be explained in the book (with pictures) how to fix it. My brother has had to help my sister with taking apart the door panels in her 90 Probe to fix the windows and such, so I'm sure he'll be able to figure out what I can't.

Pray that my engine isn't too messed up so I can have my baby back soon - and it doesn't cost me too much!

Thanks again.
A