Write-Up: Fixing Outside Door Handle

Awesome, local dealer has ONE on the shelf. Will run me $75, but that's better than $102 retail. Will have to try to do something about painting it this spring...

Dave, the right side will never break, unless it gets used as much as the driver's side. The replacement from Rock Auto just came, t's looks like it raining now, and garages are all full of cars that don't come out til spring. but good to hear you found a new GM one, I didn't even bother, they probably have here, didn't even think about it when I saw the list price. Happy New Year, though!

My right side door gets a fair amount of use, and it's teenager use... so I'm not waiting til warm weather to do this. I've managed to get space at our shop at work on Saturday afternoon, which will give me 20-30 degrees warmer temps than my unheated garage.

Now just have to figure out all the tools I need to bring along, can't expect our non-automotive shop to have all I'll need...

Philips screwdriver, 10MM socket and torx screwdriver T30 and a small screwdriver, and patience!

1998 Riv wrote:

99Rivman wrote:

If you guys that are replacing your door handles are just going to throw them away I've got an idea! If you would be willing to ship them to me, if the broken parts are included, I would pay your shipping cost and could have a supply of repaired handles ready to go!?!
Once removed the repair I did on page 2 was only about a 15-20 minute job.
Let me know if anyone is interested.

Randall, did you ever manage to get this deal going? Need a bright white diamond driver side.

I was never contacted by anyone
I would still do it if anybody is interested in sending them to me, I would need "all" of the parts to do the repair I did on mine. Let me know.

Randall, I'm probably going to take a crack at fixing my own, now that I've got a new (black) GM handle to swap in temporarily this afternoon.

2 1/2 hrs later and it's finished. Not exactly "difficult" but a bit tedious. It's hard to fit long arms and big hands inside the door. Not sure I'm going to be in any hurry to fix the original handle and swap it back in though.

One note... don't forget to have your window UP before you pull the door panel off.

Alright, every once in a while I get humbled because I get caught in a "mental paradigm" (as in, there's only ONE way to to something). It's one thing that I'm very good at!

Here's my issue, and I hope somebody will get a chance to get a laugh and humble me. My door handle is broken on the outside & the inside door handle does nothing to help with open the door either! The lock rotational lever on the inside will not move without resistance more than 1/4 of the way towards being completely unlocked & the outside key-lock will not work. The electric door lock don't work. I bought the car like this too! I'm sure the fellow I bought it from had a good laff when I said "I'm not scared of a little problem like this, I can repair it". I just came to the realization while reading this forum last night that I can't get the door open to see what's wrong with the inside panel off & repair it! Short of borrowing the "jaws of life" from the local rescue squad, anybody have any answers?

Thanx in advance,
Jeff

This problem is most likely a result of a lack of lubrication at the latch assembly. I have opened doors in this situation without removing the interior panel. Most likely the door is not fully unlocking.

With the widow down and maybe a wooden wedge to open up the top of the door a bit, use a long thin screwdriver or something similar to press on the latch levers to fully unlock the door. You can spray PB Blaster or some other penetrant down there before and during to help. Keep wiggling the handle will probing with the long screwdriver and you will feel when it is ready to open. If this works then remove your door panel and lube the latch up and us a tool to help all the moving parts until they move freely. If you can't get them to move freely then you will need to replace the latch. Good luck to ya, Dave

Dave is right on. I had this for ages on the 98. First on the drivers side, which I took apart to fix, and then on the passenger side which I left for months. You can get around it for a bit by taking a metal coat hanger and bending a hook on the end. Put the window all the way down, and stick the hook down on the OUTSIDE(Wait, let be check that...Edit: yup outside of window glass, angled towards the outside door latch, you are aiming for just behind the outside keyhole. You can see the bit you want to pull up with a flashlight and pulling back the rubber a bit.) of the window, between the front of the car and the door handle. When its about half way down, slide it towards the door handle till it hits something. Be sure your hook is facing the way you just moved, and pull up. You will feel the door fully unlock when you can't lift any higher. Unhook, and open your door.

The riv door inside latch is a bit odd. You can have the outside latch pushed down, but it won't lift up the rod inside to unlock the door. That rod will only move by the spring power on the back of the outside door latch handle.(if that makes sense) The movement gets corroded over time and eventually the spring can't overcome it to fully unlock the door. That in-between state causes the door to not open from inside or outside. Sometimes you can jostle the inside lock back and forth to get it to open, but its only a matter of time before it needs fixing properly.

To properly fix, the inside panel needs to come off, and the door latch removed. Its a bit convoluted the first time, but not really too bad if you take your time. With the outside door latch removed you will see the rotating part and spring assembly that needs freeing up and lubing.

Dave and Andrew, thanks for this healthy and wealthy advice! I poured over the write-up part of this great forum to find mention of this problem with the door latches and locks .....found nothing (doesn't mean it's not here somewhere). Great, now I've got a starting point with your help. Thanks again.

Jeff

Our door handles are fine so far, but I have noticed that they seem to be pretty flimsy plastic..... way too flimsy for the job they are doing IHMO. So it wouldn't surprise me at all to have them break at some point.

I wonder what it would cost to have someone CNC a copy of the handles out of aluminum? It would be costly especially for low volume, but if someone had a machine or a buddy, I bet they could make a copy that would never break again and maybe give a break on price

Check these out!

http://www.amazon.com/1997-2005-1997-1999-Oldsmobile-Exterior-Passenger/dp/B006G2JOB2/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_6

How is that any different than the Riviera handles? Lol

69GSColorado wrote:

How is that any different than the Riviera handles? Lol

To start with they are missing the holes for the lock tumblers.

It just doesn't seem worth the hassel

I think those look better than the stock ones with the locks in them, and ive never used my key to get in the car before, so i would almost consider doing that just for the look of it... Then again it would totally suck if the remote unlock thing failed and i had no way to get in the car haha

charlieRobinson wrote:

Check these out!

http://www.amazon.com/1997-2005-1997-1999-Oldsmobile-Exterior-Passenger/dp/B006G2JOB2/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_6

Good to know that there is an aftermarket replacement, although they really aren't rare as GM used these on several models in the late 90s, and perhaps beyond??

What would be ideal is if there were an aftermarket option that is more durable. Unfortunately for the aftermarket, teh opposite is usually true. OEM is usually better made. I can't speak for the example above though.

There are tons of these in salvage yards on various Buicks and Olds though.

They are on eBay all the time too.

Al

Getting parts (new handle) to embark on this journey. I dont want to be part of the passenger side entry club any more.

My girl has to open the door for me from the inside and i feel like a bitch.   

charlieRobinson wrote:

I dont want to be part of the passenger side entry club any more.

You've got a sunroof don't you?   

Today I got home from school and thought I'd take a crack at this. I had a little trouble getting the door panel off, but I did with a little persuasion. I took out both of the 10MM bolts, but didn't know where to go from there. There was a Philips head screw holding something into the handle, but I wasn't able to fit a screwdriver in there to unscrew it, so I put everything back together. I also saw some rods that looked like they had to be removed, but I didn't know how to do that. Do they just pull out? One of them looked like it was through the hole, and then folded over it. All of that is supposed to come off right? And then I can pull the handle out?

Here's to hoping nobody breaks their handle trying to pull their frozen-shut door open this winter!

Sir Psycho Sexy wrote:

Here's to hoping nobody breaks their handle trying to pull their frozen-shut door open this winter!

Already lubed my door seals! LETS ROCK N ROLL!

charlieRobinson wrote:

Sir Psycho Sexy wrote:

Here's to hoping nobody breaks their handle trying to pull their frozen-shut door open this winter!

Already lubed my door seals! LETS ROCK N ROLL!

Did the same. I sprayed a VERY liberal amount of silicone and still got a little stickage on my driver door, but I think that was from ice on the outside.

What type of silicone do u guys use?