Driver's side Inside Door handle busted, now what?

BillySpaceman · 04-11-2003, 12:12 AM

Was sitting in my car tonight, awaiting its venture back onto the open road (clutch was blown, replacing Saturday), and closed the door. After several minutes of daydreaming (yes, I do that too!!

) I figure it's almost 1am, time to get to bed.

. So I go to open the door and the door wont open. I had heard of this problem, but I had hoped it "wouldn't happen to me"

. I roll down my window, and open the door from the outside no problem.
After doing some quick searching i realize that I indeed am the proud new owner of a busted driver's side interior door handle

. Hoping to save my precious baby from embarrassment, i start to browse PP for a replacment hopng it wouldn't cost too much. I find the part, however, according to the online catalog, it's NLA-No Longer Available....

. What do I do now? Help!!! I don't wanna be John Schnieder from the Dukes of Hazard. I never wanted to drive the General Lee

Curvie Roadlover · 04-11-2003, 03:03 AM

Did you check e-bay?

Loan Dog · Loan Dog's Garage

Billy, I have a pair of them, a right and left. E-mail me off board, I'm sure we can work something out. I never really cared for the General Lee either!
Don

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

I have lots of parts. You'll need to pull the door panel off to see what the problem is. Will it just not pull out or is the latch moving and nothing happening?

James

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

If it happened shortly after you were mucking with the door panel or anything in the door, try removing the screw that holds the plastic "cup" behind the door handle. If you use a screw that is a little too long, it will prevent the handle from pulling far enough to unlatch the door.

The window crank screw is just slightly too long.

--DD

BillySpaceman · 04-11-2003, 07:13 AM

The handle pulls, almost to a 90 degree angle

I wasn't messing with anything inside the door, just opened it, got in and sat there for about 3 minutes, then attempted to get out.

cshogen · 04-11-2003, 07:19 AM

Then it's either broken or come unhooked. Did you take the door panel off? There's plenty of used replacements around for that side of the door. You already have 2 offers....

Doesn't everyone have at least 4 spare 914 doors?

BillySpaceman · 04-11-2003, 07:26 AM

I'll take a look at it over the weekend. It happened at like 1am so I couldn't really start any work on it. Thanks for the info and offers

I will let you all know what results of it.

anthony · 04-11-2003, 11:37 AM

A nice used handle seems to go for $50-60 or so on ebay. I've seen lots of new ones listed too for $150 or so. Other vendors may have them in stock. Depending on where it broke you may be able to repair it. Often the plastic part inside the handle breaks. Last time I looked that part cost less than $15.

Loan Dog · Loan Dog's Garage

Anthony, the $15 part that breaks is on the outside door handle. I think Billy's talking about the inside handle that got the problem.

But like cshogen says, lots of us have spares we would part with pretty cheap to help Billy out when he finds out what he actually needs.
Don

URY914 · URY914's Garage

I'd be real happy to sell you one of mine for $15 clams and a couple of bucks for shipping.

Email me,
Paul

BillySpaceman · 04-12-2003, 10:09 PM

Well, here's something weird; The door now opens. It was just bending inside. Works fine now.

Oh well... i may be hitting you guys up on those offers.
BTW, i just want to thank Jared for coming by again and helping me replace my clutch! My car is back on the road and the improvments are dramatic. Took the girl out for a ride around the block and she kept saying words like "wow!" and "oh my god!"...so it was a hit!

Thanks again!

DevinStatham · 05-31-2011, 06:44 PM

I'm having the same problem but it didn't magically fix itself.

The door has been working fine but not the inside handle won't open it. The handle guard is off. The handle pulls out to almost a 90 degree angle and actuates the bar inside. The door is not locked.

The outside handle works so I pulled off the door panel. I used a mirror and light to look inside the opening near the lock. I can't see anything broken.

The handle still works. The bar still moves. Some stuff still moves near the latch.

Has anyone else had this problem? Any ideas?

Thanks
Devin

'74 Red Porsche 914, 2.0

Jared at Pelican Parts · 06-01-2011, 08:07 AM

You may need to take the latch mechanism out of the door and clean/lubricate it very well. They can stick over time.

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

Pull the panel off the other door. Compare what happens in each door when you pull the door lever. Also compare to what happens when you use the handle on the outside of the door. Don't be afraid to push the C-shaped clasp on the latch to the closed position, the handles should move it back to the open position even if the door isn't closed.

--DD