Door Latches Revisited

[Ala75Vette]

This past weekend, feeling motivated to fix my broken passenger side outer door handle (after getting confidence reading several previous posts), got the door apart and started tinkering. The inside door handle "did" work before, but I am now in the unenviable position of having the door, panel removed, shut, with neither door handle functioning (ala permanently shut door). So far I've been unable to figure out a way, easy or hard, of tripping the release mechanism to get the door open again, much less fixing the offending latching mechanism. Anyone have any ideas? Attached is a photo of the latching mechanism as seen through the window slot on the top of the door, with the plastic "splash guard" removed: 1- the trigger for the inside door handle. As seen from above, it rotates clockwise, with the finger on the left side striking 2- the "release" arm. This "finger" gets pushed by either the inside door handle or outside door handle to release the latch. Pushing it manually does me no good -- I can push it to its stop, and no release of latch. 3- is the post the door latches to. Help!

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Thats quite a fuzzy critter.

You should be able to push the locking latching mechanism and unlock the door. That is all the door handle does. Did you make sure the door is unlocked by using the key. This could prevent it from working.

 

[Ala75Vette]

yep, a fuzzy critter indeed!

I've tried locking/unlocking to see if it'd help get it unstuck, but that doesn't seem to help. It could just flat be stuck.... I haven't really pounded on it yet, but I've avoided brute force in an effort to avoid mangled mechanisms, etc. This evening I'll clean it up a little (a little oughta go a long way), dose it good with WD40, and try again tomorrow, in the meantime pondering advice from my CAC friends, and wishing I was on the road instead of in the garage.

 

[Bob Chadwick]

When you lock and unlock the door does it actually move the mechanism that works with the door lock? If the connecting mechanism, a rod as I recall, came undone it still could be in the locked position and not allowing the door to open.

 

[Ala75Vette]

bobchad: yes, the locking mechanism seems to work fine. The actuator arm from the door lock to the latching mechanism is in place, and I can also manually push/pull the locking arm from the cabin-side lock to lock/unlock the latch. When it's locked, nothing moves. When unlocked, the "release arm" will depress, it just won't do anything useful, like release the door. I'm seriously considering paying gas, room, and board for your expert team of door mechanics (bobchad + wife) to motor on over to Bama.... but in the meantime, I did clean it up a bit this evening, and I probably OD'd it on WD40. Tomorrow evening I'll resume serious tinker mode (aka obsessed-until-fixed-mode), and I'll post an update. Thanks for taking the time to offer advice.....

Frank

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Good luck Frank. Just so happens that I'll be in B'ham on Tuesday.

 

[Ala75Vette]

Well, it was a satisfying evening, although I've still got some work to do. I wish I could claim I figured out how I got the door open, but I think it was basically the alignment of the planets and the well-wishing of thousands of corvette owners that caused a miraculous door latch release (Thanks! bobchad & CAC!). I have been able to loosen up the inside door handle again, and get it to consistently unlatch the door (latching mechanism). As for the outer door handle.... that's my remaining work. It appears from looking inside the door that when I push the outer door handle, the connector rod to the latching mechanism "twists," thus not giving as much extension as it needs to trip the unlatch. If I were 23 and prone to staying up all night until I got it fixed, I'd still be out in the garage, but I'm tired, I've got a sick baby (my 2-year-old daughter), and I need some rest, so I'll save the rest for tomorrow. It does hurt, though, cuz tomorrow's supposed to be another great top-down day! Oh, well.... my mood's improved tremendously knowing I'm on the road to recovery! More updates later....

 

[Eddie 70]

Ala75vette, I just went through this last weekend. I pulled the mechanism and used some carb cleaner and cleaned the fuzz off of mine. I have some before and after pics. I also pulled the inside part and cleaned it the same way.

 

[Eddie 70]

This is my before pic on the passengers side.

 

[Ala75Vette]

Wow! Nice looking 'after' pic of the mechanism. This has become quite the 'quest' for me with my car. I cleaned up the mechanism (with it still installed), dosed it good with WD40, then later oiled it well with light weight oil. The parts seem to move OK. The problem with my outer door handle turns out to have been the attachment of the pushrod to the actual handle actuator itself. Since my latching mechanism got old, fuzzy, and stiff, the rotating arm part that the handle itself pushes bent, the clip stabilizing the pushrod came off, and the pushrod was therefore unable to actually "push" since it'd twist freely, and the bent rotating part took away even more of its throw. Fixed all that after much contorting of fingers/hands, and removal of the outer door handle itself. So the outer door handle works again, finally, BUT.... my locking mechanism is screwed up, too. Before I put everything back together again, I tested the inner & outer door handles, and the lock. The inner & outer handles tripped the mechanism splendidly. Then, with the door open (learned my lesson the hard way), closed the latch, and locked the door by pushing on the locking arm for the inner door lock. The lock won't "unlock." Checked clearances around the outer door handle pushrod and the door lock (they're OK), tried unlocking using the key in the door from outside, no joy. Identifying how to unstick the lock will be tomorrow's project, hopefully short of pulling the whole mechanism out of the door, but it's ****ed me off enough to where that's certainly an option.

 

[Ala75Vette]

ok, some followup on this string. The door handle and lock works great! The lock problem was purely an adjustment one... when I'd been tinkering with the adjustable nut on the bottom of the outer door handle pushrod, I had adjusted it all the way down, thinking that'd help. When I fixed the 'real' problem at the top of the pushrod, that made the throw waaay too much, and even after adjusting it back up a bit, it was still enough to keep the locking mechanism from unlocking. I adjusted it back up to where it was originally, and now door handles & locks all work great. Tomorrow we're hitting the road again in Huntsville.....

Frank

 

[yakatak76]

eddie 70, that is what mine looked like before and after last saturday. i went from two handed opening to easy one handed opening. amazing what happens when 30 years of dirt is stripped away.