My DS door handle has had a crack on one end for a couple of years so took the opportunity to fix it while the door is apart. Once I had the handle assembly on the work table I disconnected the spring, washed the area around the crack, scuffed the plastic up on both sides of the crack with 400 grit sandpaper, took a small file to gouge it a bit along the crack, cleaned the area again with a solvent, let it dry, then applied Loctite two part epoxy for plastic. Held it tight for five minutes then let it sit overnight to fully cure before reinstalling.
Door handle repair and lube
- Thread starter Kernal
- Start date
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- Thread starter
- #2
Greasing door handle pivot points
Also found that the main pivot pin for the door handle had been grinding into the plastic. My guess is the torque from the spring coupled with lack of lubrication caused the pin to rotate. The second photo below shows the pin pushed all the way in from the head end and the last photo shows the pin how I found it, trying to work itself out. One end of the pin is flat like a nail head and the other end is pinched to keep it from falling out and it looks like that pinched end was acting like an auger slowly digging itself into the plastic. I used a small amount of a PFPE/PTFE (Fluoro/Teflon) grease on the pivot points, pin, and spring.
Also found that the main pivot pin for the door handle had been grinding into the plastic. My guess is the torque from the spring coupled with lack of lubrication caused the pin to rotate. The second photo below shows the pin pushed all the way in from the head end and the last photo shows the pin how I found it, trying to work itself out. One end of the pin is flat like a nail head and the other end is pinched to keep it from falling out and it looks like that pinched end was acting like an auger slowly digging itself into the plastic. I used a small amount of a PFPE/PTFE (Fluoro/Teflon) grease on the pivot points, pin, and spring.
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Nicely done.
