nchittendon
Active member
- 544
- 28
- 28
- Location
- La Crosse, Wisconsin
After having this issue, and doing a quick search I found broken links and minimal information. Only after EXTENSIVE research, did I find the answers I was looking for.
I thought I would do the gentlemanly thing and post up a "how-to" for those of us that will encounter this issue for the first time in the near future.
THE PROBLEM:
Outside door handle does not open door. Inside door handle works properly in every way.
THE SOLUTION:
Grab your handy phillips screw driver, electric or manual, and go to town removing the access panel off the inside of your door.
Once that panel is out of the way, you need to remove the screws that are holding the door latch mechanism in place. Start by removing the outer door handle by taking out the two screws already removed in this pic:
Once those screws are removed, the outer door handle just pulls straight out.
With that removed, you can attack the other screws on the interior side of the door.
You'll have to remove the ones near the latch, as shown above. And you'll have to remove the inside door handle and related screws as well:
Once all screws are removed, all you have to do is get the mechanism out of the door. With the window still installed, this is a little tricky. However, very possible with patience. I found by rolling the window half way down (be sure not to have a hand, fingers, or arm in the access hole while moving window up or down), it was a tad easier. Also having a mirror of some kind was a huge help just to see what it was that hated me inside there.
I found that feeding the latch end down, while working the handle end behind it in the same path was the best way. Continue working the latch end down towards the access panel, and once visible start steering it towards the front of the truck. Making sure the handle end follows in a similar path.
Once you have that pesky bugger out of the truck, now you can do some open heart surgery.
This is the area that you are going to focus on. This plate needs to be removed:
In order to do that, flip it over and you will find these two tabs that are bent over. These hold that plate in place.
With a tool of your choosing (I used a hammer and chisel to get under them, and then a needle nose to manipulate them where I needed them), get the tabs straightened out enough to remove the plate on the other side.
With the plate removed, you will finally see what is going on inside the latch mechanism.
During normal operation, the outside door handle slides into the area circled in yellow. When you turn the outside door handle, the little lever circled in red rotates pushing the main arm circled in green. The arm that is circled in green will bend eventually. Whether it's from the combat lock being on, and trying to open from the outside, or just rough housing with the door handle and not taking care of your 40+ year old beauty. I always tell my son that he can help me work on it because "you can't hurt it." For most applications this is true, but she is still a lady that needs to be treated as such from time to time.
To make the operation go more smooth, I used a vice grip and "clamped" the main arm in a retracted position. Otherwise, the part circled in green is resting against the part circled in red.
To move forward with my repair, I heated the arm circled in green and bent it back down again.
Once everything cooled down, I gave everything a fair amount of grease, re-installed the plate opposite of removal, and then re-installed the mechanism back into the door. Remember the way it came out. It goes right back in on the same path. I found it easiest to feed the handle end up into it's proper neighborhood, but then feed the latch end into it's home. Get that screwed back in, then return to the handle end and get that lined up.
If I have forgotten anything, or overlooked anything, PLEASE let me know.
I hope this helps at least one other person.
I thought I would do the gentlemanly thing and post up a "how-to" for those of us that will encounter this issue for the first time in the near future.
THE PROBLEM:
Outside door handle does not open door. Inside door handle works properly in every way.
THE SOLUTION:
Grab your handy phillips screw driver, electric or manual, and go to town removing the access panel off the inside of your door.
Once that panel is out of the way, you need to remove the screws that are holding the door latch mechanism in place. Start by removing the outer door handle by taking out the two screws already removed in this pic:
Once those screws are removed, the outer door handle just pulls straight out.
With that removed, you can attack the other screws on the interior side of the door.
You'll have to remove the ones near the latch, as shown above. And you'll have to remove the inside door handle and related screws as well:
Once all screws are removed, all you have to do is get the mechanism out of the door. With the window still installed, this is a little tricky. However, very possible with patience. I found by rolling the window half way down (be sure not to have a hand, fingers, or arm in the access hole while moving window up or down), it was a tad easier. Also having a mirror of some kind was a huge help just to see what it was that hated me inside there.
I found that feeding the latch end down, while working the handle end behind it in the same path was the best way. Continue working the latch end down towards the access panel, and once visible start steering it towards the front of the truck. Making sure the handle end follows in a similar path.
Once you have that pesky bugger out of the truck, now you can do some open heart surgery.
This is the area that you are going to focus on. This plate needs to be removed:
In order to do that, flip it over and you will find these two tabs that are bent over. These hold that plate in place.
With a tool of your choosing (I used a hammer and chisel to get under them, and then a needle nose to manipulate them where I needed them), get the tabs straightened out enough to remove the plate on the other side.
With the plate removed, you will finally see what is going on inside the latch mechanism.
During normal operation, the outside door handle slides into the area circled in yellow. When you turn the outside door handle, the little lever circled in red rotates pushing the main arm circled in green. The arm that is circled in green will bend eventually. Whether it's from the combat lock being on, and trying to open from the outside, or just rough housing with the door handle and not taking care of your 40+ year old beauty. I always tell my son that he can help me work on it because "you can't hurt it." For most applications this is true, but she is still a lady that needs to be treated as such from time to time.
To make the operation go more smooth, I used a vice grip and "clamped" the main arm in a retracted position. Otherwise, the part circled in green is resting against the part circled in red.
To move forward with my repair, I heated the arm circled in green and bent it back down again.
Once everything cooled down, I gave everything a fair amount of grease, re-installed the plate opposite of removal, and then re-installed the mechanism back into the door. Remember the way it came out. It goes right back in on the same path. I found it easiest to feed the handle end up into it's proper neighborhood, but then feed the latch end into it's home. Get that screwed back in, then return to the handle end and get that lined up.
If I have forgotten anything, or overlooked anything, PLEASE let me know.
I hope this helps at least one other person.
