Loose door handle fix?
- Thread starter Flib
- Start date
I have a 97 tj with the same loose paddles on both door. doors open ok, but paddles rattle around. is it just easier to get replacements or see whats inside like broken clips/springs? I only ask since if I go through all the trouble to tear door apart and find I needed new parts than I have to order and wait with the tj torn apart and undrive albe.
while we are on the door issues I have another question which I could not find in the forum: It seems that there is a lot of wind noise coming from either the door seals or up front from dash. I can not feel any cold air/wind yet It is really noisy wind noise. Is there a gasket or something that is missing?
while we are on the door issues I have another question which I could not find in the forum: It seems that there is a lot of wind noise coming from either the door seals or up front from dash. I can not feel any cold air/wind yet It is really noisy wind noise. Is there a gasket or something that is missing?
Neal
TJ Enthusiast
Reviving this old thread to provide some new pics and my fix for the issue. My passenger side door latch actuator handle (I can't find the names of the individual parts so I'm just gonna call 'em whatever I want to...) was loose, although the door still opened and closed more or less as it should. I removed the door panel and dug around to see what I could do. My first considered action was to cut an access hole (circled in red) over the door handle assembly in case I needed to get in there and remove the whole handle. There's nothing in that stamped area (like the one below it) that removing it will compromise the strength or function of the door, so I went for it. It worked out so well that I will probably do the same thing on the driver door in the near future, just because I can. Also, keep the actuator link rod (yellow arrow) with the threaded part at the upper right end of the rod in mind for later.
It's pretty much impossible to see in the next pic, but after moving the door latch handle back and forth from the outside I noticed that the cam-shaped piece (yellow A) on the bottom front of the handle assembly had about a quarter-inch gap between it and the bellcrank (red B) when the handle was where it normally should be. When I moved the latch handle to the point where I could begin to feel resistance I could see that the cam engaged the bellcrank and pulling the handle further caused the latch to open. Simple. All I needed to do was to eliminate the gap and the latch handle should work normally.
I spent a little time playing with the actuator rod and noticed that there was some slack in the assembly. If I pulled the rod to the left (toward the top of the door) the bellcrank moved into contact with the cam. Moving the clip a few threads to the right tightened things up nicely (I believe that @tworley mentioned this in a previous post on this thread) and the door handle stayed in place without my holding it there.
After that it took only a few minutes to replace the door panel, pull strap and window crank and hang the door back on the Jeep. The door handle now stays put without flapping and the door opens, closes, and locks normally. Since I was able to fix things without removing the door handle assembly I didn't really need to cut the access hole in the door frame, but I'm glad I did. If or when I ever need to replace the handle, or if I decide to reverse them, that hole is going to come in handy.
It's pretty much impossible to see in the next pic, but after moving the door latch handle back and forth from the outside I noticed that the cam-shaped piece (yellow A) on the bottom front of the handle assembly had about a quarter-inch gap between it and the bellcrank (red B) when the handle was where it normally should be. When I moved the latch handle to the point where I could begin to feel resistance I could see that the cam engaged the bellcrank and pulling the handle further caused the latch to open. Simple. All I needed to do was to eliminate the gap and the latch handle should work normally.
I spent a little time playing with the actuator rod and noticed that there was some slack in the assembly. If I pulled the rod to the left (toward the top of the door) the bellcrank moved into contact with the cam. Moving the clip a few threads to the right tightened things up nicely (I believe that @tworley mentioned this in a previous post on this thread) and the door handle stayed in place without my holding it there.
After that it took only a few minutes to replace the door panel, pull strap and window crank and hang the door back on the Jeep. The door handle now stays put without flapping and the door opens, closes, and locks normally. Since I was able to fix things without removing the door handle assembly I didn't really need to cut the access hole in the door frame, but I'm glad I did. If or when I ever need to replace the handle, or if I decide to reverse them, that hole is going to come in handy.
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Good info. My threaded rod will not stay put. I've repaired it 3-4 times now and it will work great for a few weeks then it pops right back off. I haven't been able to open my driver side door from the inside for a couple of years now 
Wrap the threaded rod in Teflon tape...a couple of three wraps will increase the OD and might make it grab.
-Mac
-Mac
Before you button it up put some grease on yellow A where it contacts red B.
This will help to reduce shear pressure on the threaded rod.
This will help to reduce shear pressure on the threaded rod.
Neal
TJ Enthusiast
Thanks for adding that detail. I sprayed some white lithium grease in there but forgot to mention it in the writeup. It may be that I just assumed that everyone does it and I don't need to remind them, which is a bit arrogant on my part, considering some of the ridiculously elementary Jeep repair/modification mistakes that I have made over the years (no, we are not going to discuss that Lock-Rite locker in the rear diff debacle...).
Thanks for adding that detail. I sprayed some white lithium grease in there but forgot to mention it in the writeup. It may be that I just assumed that everyone does it and I don't need to remind them, which is a bit arrogant on my part, considering some of the ridiculously elementary Jeep repair/modification mistakes that I have made over the years (no, we are not going to discuss that Lock-Rite locker in the rear diff debacle...).
Sounds fair. We won't talk about that.
But in a month take off the door panel and check out your grease situation. We can talk about that at that time so you get the right grease.
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