Exterior door handle fail.

[GunMentalGrey]

Hi brains trust, my 07 D40 STX exterior drivers door handle has failed. Makes it a pain to get in and out! Interior handle works fine, locks and unlocks fine.



This video shows the problem. The cable stop has broken and will not stay in the handle. Currently I’m ‘pulling the string’ to open the door with the handle removed. I might try to make something similar to the video for a repair.

Can’t seem to find a cable only online. Do I need to purchase the whole lock? Does anyone know if the same lock mechanism works for front and rear doors? I’m hoping to get a wrecker part (yes, at the risk of it failing again) and having options for which bit to get seems sensible.

 

[BarneyB]

Just weld it up!

 

[Old.Tony]

If you've got a 3D printer, his solution looks pretty good.

As a "bush fix", you could get a tiny (brass, for door hinges or even for fixing picture frames in Bunnings) wood screw and, with the cable in the proper place, position the screw so that it goes between the retainer and the housing, which will hold it in place until you remove the screw (or a pothole does it for you, I guess). That's gotta be better than using a glue which could make it impossible to remove nicely if you ever need to actually replace the cable.

 

[BarneyB]

His fix in the vid is actually pretty nice for a home hack.
Where or what was the little bracket arch he added from ....?

 

[BarneyB]

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1937309...9%2B%2FNSA%3D%3D|clp:2499334|tkp:BFBM-puvpuBf

 

[GunMentalGrey]

His fix in the vid is actually pretty nice for a home hack.
Where or what was the little bracket arch he added from ....?

3D printed it himself. Think I don’t have a 3D printer so may be able to bend/shape a piece of aluminium plate to suit.

 

[GunMentalGrey]

Finally, after several weeks of opening the door with the ‘string’ I got around to fixing the door handle.

Inspired by the design from the video above I Cut a small piece of aluminium to size, cut a hole big enough for the cable outer to fit and filed a slot so it could go in from the side. Folded it into a suitable shape and drilled and screwed it to the handle body. Little hot glue to help it stay in place. Then it rained and I forgot to take photos before reinstalling. Here’s a couple from phone inside the door.

Notes: had to undo the lower window slide bolt to allow manoeuvring the handle out. Undid the latch body from the door to allow access to the cable otherwise it was too far into the door body to access. The ‘lock blank’ required a tiny torx bit to remove the grub screw hidden behind the plug in the door.

 

[BarneyB]

Noice!
That's a great hack fix if ever I've seen one.
Prolly stronger than the original design.

 

[GunMentalGrey]

If I’d made it slightly shorter and the hole for the cable a little smaller I wouldn’t have used the hot glue. As it was, the cable was a little loose and I didn’t want to risk it falling out of position after putting the door back together. Especially given the amount of knocking around it gets opening and closing the door.

 

[BarneyB]

Do you know why my D40 has a small key slot under the door handle on one side?

 

[GunMentalGrey]

Pictures? Is it the slot for popping off the cover to the key lock? Left hand side? It’s for if your remote unlock stops working. Bit of a pain if you have RHD because it’s on the passenger side

 

[BarneyB]

Ahhh....I reckon that's it. Yep, passo side.
Just never seen that before.

 

[GregMac]

Hi GUNMETALGREY - do you think you could send me the STL file please as I want to repair the passenger door on my son-in-law's Navara? Email address is [email protected]
Thanks in anticipation

 

[GunMentalGrey]

Sorry mate, the printed part was from the guy who made the video. I didn’t have access to a 3D printer I could use. As above, I used a small piece of aluminium (from a damaged street sign) cut, bent and screwed and glued into place.

 

[GregMac]

Sorry mate, the printed part was from the guy who made the video. I didn’t have access to a 3D printer I could use. As above, I used a small piece of aluminium (from a damaged street sign) cut, bent and screwed and glued into place.

Thanks so much for your quick reply. I might have to upgrade my autocad skill level!

 

[The Blue Duck]

Hi, any tips to get the handle mechanism out? I can’t seem to Jimmy it out between the door and window track.