Help, I can't get out

[daverubberduck]

Both inner door handles have stopped working on my +2. The restoration was recently finished by Spyder and they did the doors. They worked for a while but now don't. The locking mechanism still seems to work from the inside, but when I pull the handle back to open nothing happens. When they were working I noticed that you had to pull the handle quite far back to open the door. They are the black (Marina?) type with chrome surround. Can anyone help? Is there an adjustment I can make? I've tried to peer inside but cannot see any obvious way of adjusting anything.
Dave

[john.p.clegg]

I can't help much as mine are the earlier type but Vince should be along soon with advice.....

John

[SENC]

Assuming they are the built essentially same as the S4, it sounds like the rod has dettached from the handle. Not terribly uncommon and not difficult to fix, albeit slightly tricky (I recently had to fix my driver side door).

The "nickel version" is that you'll need to remove the door panel. On my S4, that means unscrewing the interior door handle then popping the bottom of the door panel from the door (held in place by a series of door clips, male on the panel side and female on the door side). The top of the panel is held captive by the trim , and you just slide the panel down ro release after the lower end is freed from the clips.

You might want your phone or camera handy to peer into the gap and snap a few pictures of the various handle and lock rods and connections as they are.

The tricky part is reassembly as you have small spaces to work in and as you connect one thing it makes the next a little harder, but essentially the order is door lock and handle rods then slide back up under trim the find and locate the clips properly and snap back in place.

[SENC]

Screenshot of my manual page on the S4 door handle mechanism and rods.

[daverubberduck]

many thanks for the response. I've had another look and I don't think the rod has become detached. If I peer behind the door card and work the (inner) door handle, I can see the rod moving at the door lock mechanism, so the rod is still connected but I don't think it is moving enough. I will try to take some photos as you say.
Dave

[KevJ+2]

Dave,
When I did my doors, I found that there is very little (if any) adjustment for the rods.
I decided to fit adjustable extenders / shorteners which are simple barrel blocks with two locking screws.
I suppose really, that's what should have been originally fitted instead of the much cursed flimsy nylon block.
Good luck.

Kev.

[daverubberduck]

Hi Kev
Now that's a good idea, I may have to do that. Do you remember where you got those extenders or was it something you had made?
Dave

[KevJ+2]

Dave,
I had some connectors quite similar to these -
Not an awful lot of adjustment but it was enough to cure the problem, and you can lengthen or shorten the rod.

Kev.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/29068434 ... 9809538454

[daverubberduck]

That's interesting, those are electrical connectors. I will have a look at those and other options. Maybe there's a better alternative somewhere. If I find anything then I will post it. Thanks Kev.

[SENC]

That really is a nice idea, and would be very simple to make a small, adjustable block out of a piece of aluminum if you or a friend have a milling machine. Going to have to save this idea for a future project.

[vincereynard]

"The restoration was recently finished by Spyder and they did the doors. "

And they actually worked for a while? The fact they put the doors on the correct side would be a victory!

[KevJ+2]

"The restoration was recently finished by Spyder and they did the doors. "

And they actually worked for a while? The fact they put the doors on the correct side would be a victory!

OUCH!

[daverubberduck]

Do you have bad experience with Spyder?

[vincereynard]

Do you have bad experience with Spyder?

Just a bit! Would you like a list?

[daverubberduck]

Actually yes, I would be interested. Would you mind giving me more info by PM? Most of the work they did on my car (which is not a zetec) was mechanical and they did a reasonable job, although they seem very expensive. Regarding the door handles I got it wrong, I remember now that it was a previous restorer that did those, Spyder only changed the locks.