Driver side interior door handle 17 cent fix
Recently when getting out of my solstice the door handle had a bit of resistance. When I pulled a little harder it came free but the door did not open.
After removing the interior door panel I found the chrome handle where the cable connects had broken.
Hoping I could replace the handle I quickly discovered that this is not a replaceable part and that i would need to replace the entire door panel to fix this.
I did not want to spend the $150 plus dollars for a new door panel so I decided to try to repair the handle.
The result worked very well so I thought I would post my process here.
The tools needed were fairly simple.
Metal plug, hack saw, Pliers, Wire cutters, Screw driver, round file, drill bit, epoxy, head lamp and my glasses. Head lamp and glasses aren’t necessary but my eyes aren’t what they used to be.
My first step was to get the chromed handle out of the door.
There is a plastic shaft that holds the handle and return spring in place.
The bottom end is split. Pinching this closed with the pliers allows you to push it through.
When pushing the shaft through it will hit a plastic ridge. To get the shaft all the way out I needed to cut a small section out.
Making this small groove allowed me to get the shaft all the way out.
After removing this shaft the spring and chrome handle will fall right out.
I found this little metal hole plug at my local Do It Best hardware store it cost me a whole 17 cents.
It fit the hole just perfectly.
I used the drill to punch out the bottom.
Using my hack saw I cut a a slot in one side to allow the cable to go through.
At this point I pushed it into the existing hole.
I did a test fit with the little barrel on the end of the cable.
The fit is now a little tight because of the new metal insert.
Using the file I did a little filling inside the metal insert and on either side of the swedge until it fit in nice and smooth.
I now epoxied the metal cap in place. Be carful not to get any of this on the visible parts of the chrome handle.
Once the epoxy dried I did some more filling and test fitting to make sure everything fit together nicely.
Getting the spring lined up with the handle to push the shaft through was easier than I had hoped.
I rehung the door panel, the cable fit in nicely and everything seems to work as it should.
So for a 17 cent part, some 5 minute epoxy I already had in my garage and about 2 hours on a Saturday afternoon I fixed my door with out having to replace the entire door panel.
Hopefully someone finds this useful.