How to: How To: Drivers Exterior Door Handle Replacement

[eques.fl]

I've not had any problems unlocking the driver side door yet /crosses fingers.

But my passenger front door can only be unlocked by opening it with the handle inside. Found a spring jammed in the door latch mechanism that I'm not sure where it came from but know it must be the problem. Poor old faithful finally feeling the pressure of her miles I think, lol. Not much farther before hitting 210k with no major issues

 

[vweathers]

Exterior Handle Spring

Eques --

The exterior door handles have a spring attached which is prone to fatigue failure over time, from repeated flexing. (Several good photos earlier in this thread.)

The spring's purpose is to provide enough constant torsion on the handle to keep it properly aligned with the rest of the door latching linkage. When the spring breaks, the handle is misaligned in the linkage. Replacement handle assembly (un-painted) is $31 at your friendly neighborhood Ford dealer.

 

[Bern]

$31??? I was just quoted $107 at mine. Why the difference?

 

[Doubt Incarnate]

i need to do this. is it the same part number for all 4 doors? fastpartsnetwork.com lists the thing (one part) for 31.50+s&h but i dont want to go ahead unless im sure its good for all 4 doors since it doesnt actually specifiy.

 

[sean99]

I also found a spring jammed in the door latch mechanism, and it came from the mechanism itself. I also connected a small spring to the door handle rod to replace the broken mechanism spring to help it up when unlocking the door. Both my springs on the handle were broken. I used two needle nose pliers to put a small bend on the broken end of the springs. I hooked the bent part of the spring into a channel of the handle bracket. I used a couple of zip ties to make sure the spring does not pop out of the channel. The loose handle, and the door not unlocking are two separate issues. My handle springs broke a year before I ever had an issue with the door not unlocking. I think the handle springs are there for a nice solid feel when opening the door, and so the handle does not rattle when driving. After tapping out the rivet center and breaking off the peels with pliers, insert a small screwdriver into the rivet hole from the outside of the door to pop it right out.....

 

[bnutz]

1999 ford ranger

$31??? I was just quoted $107 at mine. Why the difference?

If you have a checker auto by you it cost $28 with tax give or take a penny

 

[rwenzing]

Thanks for the how-to. Did a door handle replacement today on a friend's 98 Explorer and the tips/photos were very helpful.

 

[VinnieBoombots]

To forum moderator

Is there a way you could make very informative posts, such as this, a permanent part of a tutorial section. It is well documented and saves a heck of lot of time.

Perhaps a wiki section.

Thanks for the consideration.

 

[Barn Owl]

I also found a spring jammed in the door latch mechanism, and it came from the mechanism itself. I also connected a small spring to the manual lock rod to replace the broken mechanism spring to help it up when unlocking the door. Both my springs on the handle were broken. I used two needle nose pliers to put a small bend on the broken end of the springs. I hooked the bent part of the spring into a channel of the handle bracket. I used a couple of zip ties to make sure the spring does not pop out of the channel. I think the loose handle, and the door not unlocking are two separate issues. My handle springs broke a year before I ever had an issue with the door not unlocking. I think the handle springs are there for a nice solid feel when opening the door, and so the handle does not rattle when driving. After tapping out the rivet center and breaking off the peels with pliers, insert a small screwdriver into the rivet hole from the outside of the door to pop it right out.....

Just finished with this fix and sean99 is correct, there are two separate issues the latch spring and the handle spring. The handle spring is mostly for the feel, it is not real necessary to take the handle apart if all you want to do is be able to get into your car. fixing that is not going to make the locking mechanism work. that is the spring that Sean is talking about. I was racing daylight on my day off and my wife had to use the Explorer the next day so I elected to just pay the $45 at ford for the whole latch mechanism. After it was fixed I decided to see if I could rework the spring then post some pictures in case someone else out there doesn't want to spend $300 at Ford to have them fix it. I will post some pictures soon.

 

[Barn Owl]

O.K. here are some pictures of the fix. First is the latch from Ford, NAPA did not carry it it cost me $45 plus tax.

If you elect to fix it your self here is the step by step.
The spring, the coils are about 3/4 inch, the tail is about 1.5 inches long.

The top of the latch box is where this is conected, the green laser marks the whole.

Do your self a favor and use a nice pair of heavy forcepts, the hole where the spring goes is pretty small and a pair of neddle nose juse will not fit.

if you are trying to bend the old spring use as little of the shaft as possible, the longer the better. Bend as shown.

Hook the short side up around the body of the latch that was highlighted by the laser, using the forcepts. Then using a dental pick hook the bottom around the tab that the pencil is pointing to in the next photo. note that you can see the top of the spring hooked around the top of the latch body.

This is what the finished spring placement will look like. If you can find a new spring, it will not be so stretched. The mechanism worked fine and is ready for install.

Hope this is helpfull, it was a principle thing for me that I could not see paying ford $300 bucks for something that should have been recalled.

 

[sean99]

This is a great thread that is only getting better...The detailed pics make this repair so easy!!!...Why it is sticky-proof, I do not know??

 

[julio1946]

Door handle springs

Hello Gentlemen! I have utilized this forum today to remove my drivers side exterior door handle on 1997 Explorer. Can any one help me with locating springs for this handle. I'd rather replace the springs than buy a new handle. Thanks!

 

[sean99]

I haven't seen the springs for sale anywhere online. I was able to fix my handle by putting a new bend on the old springs using two needle nose plires. Let us know if you find them.

 

[Barn Owl]

I am not sure what kind of automotive stores are in Lebanon but it is a pretty basic spring. NAPA has them or can get them. It is not for this specific application but it can be made to work, it just has to have a straight tail that can be bent. I do not think anyone sells the exact spring for this fix, you will just have to find something that is pretty close. The bend is real easy to put in the tail end. Just make sure that you buy one with a long enough tail. NAPA had a picture of the one I needed but had to order it in, and I couldn't wait a day for delivery. If you have the old spring you be able to tell the tension that you will need. If you don't have the old spring the wire used is about .025 of an inch, which is the size of the wire used in a safety pin. And has, what I would say, is a light to medium tension for that sized spring. All it is doing is keeping tension on the lever that controls the locking "knob", but allowing it to move when the latch mechanism is activated.

 

[Barn Owl]

I guess I need to read the whole post before I reply. Sorry I was talking about the latch spring and then reread and saw you were looking for handle springs. Cannot hlep you there, only one of mine was broken so I left it the way it was because I didnt have a rivit tool that would pull that sized steel rivits. sorry

 

[julio1946]

Just to let everyone know. This thread saved me a lot of money in repairing both the exterior drivers handle and lock set on my 1997 Explorer. The pictures and instructions were excellent. I was able to bend a new hook on the small spring that had broken in the lock set. Thanks to my wife's help, I was able to get the spring reinserted and hooked up. I got everything reassembled and it all works! Man, it sure is a job to get it all out and back in! Thanks again to this site and this particular thread.

 

[dllb]

Does anyone know before I go digging into my 1st gen if this is the same ? Or is there another wright up on the 1st gens ?

Thanks

 

[Barn Owl]

Glad we could help julio, this is exactly why I added to an already detailed fix, I nearly punched the guy behind the counter when he told me that it would be $300 to fix it. What got me so mad was the fact that he wanted to charge me $100 bucks for the initial diagnosis. WHAT!! they had it for all of five minutes!, but ford has a base fee for all service work just to look at it. This is where the principle thing came in, I know that ford sees this problem every day, I gathered that from how fast they ascertained the problem, and was not about to pay $100 for a diagnosis that 50 people before me had already paid for. But since it is not a "safety" issue they will not recall it. They prefer to just make money hand over fist fixing every explorer out there. My hope is that more and more people can use this fix. Sorry I climbed on such a soap box, sheesh

 

[sean99]

Cannot hlep you there, only one of mine was broken so I left it the way it was because I didnt have a rivit tool that would pull that sized steel rivits. sorry

No special tools are needed for the door handle rivets. Tap out the rivet center and break off the banana peels on the back side with plires. Insert a small screwdriver or punch into the rivet hole and pop it out.

 

[Barn Owl]

No special tools are needed for the door handle rivets. Tap out the rivet center and break off the banana peels on the back side with plires. Insert a small screwdriver or punch into the rivet hole and pop it out.

I meant to reinstall the new rivets. I have a tool for aluminum pop rivets but it is pretty light duty and wouldn't pull those big steel rivets in the door handle. Also what I found is that my handle spring was not broken it had just slipped off its track and was not conected. So I just refit it back into place and it has been working fine for a month, but even if it pops off again I am fine with a little reduced back preasure, the one still works fine.