Hey guys my door latch didn't open the drivers side door anymore so I took off the door panel and found the problem..

The door handle is connected to a rod that goes strait into the actual latch assembly. I puty the rod back into the hole but it looks like I might have to spot weld it into place or glue it. I don't have a welder to keep the rod in the pivoting hole but could I JB weld it? Or is there a set screw thats supposed to hold it in.

(looks like a small spot weld held it in but broke.)

Thanks in advance (sorry for all the type)

 

there should be no spot weld of any nature in that assembly. It's supposed to fit in there, be free flowing, not bind or be attatched really by anything other than it's placement. If you can take pictures that would be a big plus, otherwise i would suggest getting another rod from another car, but first remove the rod fully so that someone or myself can compare it to a full rod to make sure that yours hasn't been repaired or shortened for whatever reason.

 

Ok I wil try to take pictures tomorrow. Wow, if thats the case my rod is too short to reach far eneough into the latch to trip it. Wierd.

 

Actually Is the rod supposed to be perfectly strait because mine has a nice bend to it....

I am guessing this is the problem then....

 

from memory, there is about a half inch that sticks in to the handle...goes 90* down about maybe...5-6 inches...then 90* towards the interior of the car for maybe 1/2 an inch...and then 90* down maybe...an inch to an inch and a half...this is going from memory...i may be incorrect, but as you can see there are a series of 90* angle bends so that is normal...i'm not understanding why yours won't stay in unless it's not properly seated in the first place. Let me try and take a photo to show you how it should be seated.

 

here is the best shot i could get...follow the green plastic piece at the top (door handle) as it goes down into the latch. You can see the shape that it's supposed to be. From there there is as i said about an inch and a half that fits into the latch and it should stay in there on it's own once it's locked onto the handle with the plastic piece. Also make sure that your handle is in good shape (not excessively loose...spring in back isn't broken, door handle isn't hanging on by a thread it's so broken...ect.) This is a shot of my passenger door by the way, just flip it for driver door application.

 

Yep, mine is even more bent than that, to the point where it will go into the hole but the 90 degree bends dont trip the latch. If you hold the exterior handle and open the interior handle it moves the latch far enough to dislocate the rod from the lock...

I will bed it straiter then see what happens, I will post pics tonight,

 

yea thats what a good rod should look like. Try beding it, otherwise try a junk yard. I really can't picture a guy charging more than a $1 for on if not for free if you do the work of getting it out yourself. Then again they may try and sell you the entire latch just to make it profitable on their part. Try bending it first and see whats it do. I can try and find one of my extra ones and make almost exact measurements between angles and lengths to try and get yours back into proportion. Just let me know which door.

 

Anyone have a spare clip for the same rod? Its the clip that holds the rod to the door handle. I snapped mine the other day.

 

hey man don't go that far out of your way for me... I will get it bent strait tomorrow, (just got home)

Will let you know how it goes.