The driver's side "outside door handle" became totally inoperative after I used the key to lock/unlock the car from the passenger's side door. Every thing else is working OK.
Any idea or suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
You have not given us very much to go on, but you are going to have to remove the door panel from the inside of the door, then remove the door latch mechanism.
Sounds like the locking motor has jammed half way. But that's a guess - it will need the door stripped out to find the true cause. Was there anyone in the driver's seat at the time? It happened to me once when someone was opening the door at the same time as the central locking was operated by another.
Thanks for your opinion. The key does properly lock/unlock all the four doors; and that is from either door.
I did remove the door cover from the inside . . . the parts that are behind the door outside handle are hidden . . . Also the master locking also works properly . . . when the incident happened, no was inside the car.
So, the doors all lock and unlock okay, but the Driver Side door does not open from the outside?
The linkage between the door handle and the latching mechanism is either broken or stuck. You need to remove the latching mechanism to determine what the trouble is.
Yes, that is the problem. The latching mechanism, after all the back of the door is stripped, still can not be seen!!! In the shop manual, there is no picture . . . .
I have a '94 E36 convertible. I do not recall exactly how the latching mechanism comes out, but I took mine out because the car was not making the drive side window drop and raise properly -- on my car, and the 2-door cars, the window drops about 10 mm when the door is opened so that the glass will clear the rubber seal -- and I figured out that the trouble was physically located inside the door latch.
The latch and the handle come out separately. I do not recall if one must come out before the other, but getting to them is not all that difficult.
HANDLE With the door open, you will notice a rubber cover at the top rear edge of the door. Peel this cover back and an access hole will be exposed. You can use a screwdriver in this hole to release the tab holding the trim plate on that goes around the handle. When the trim is off, you will find the screws that actually hold the handle on.
LATCHING MECHANISM With the door panel removed you will find two small screws that are covered by the panel, and two more screws on the edge of the door (below the rubber cover that you lifted earlier). With these screws removed, you can jockey the latch around inside the door and get it out.
The mechanism has switches inside that activate the other door locks and do some other stuff. On my convertible, the linkage that operates one of these switches was sticky and would not work correctly. There are mechanical linkages between the handle and the latch, I would guess that your trouble is with these linkages. The linkages are held on with plastic clips, my guess is you have broken a clip and the linkage fell off.
If you can get the door panel off, and follow my directions to remove the latch and handle, you will be capable of fixing the problem with a zip tie. I would encourage you to get the proper clip thingie, but a zip tie could do the trick.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.