Uber-Sticky Door Handles `84 240 DL

Discussion in 'Volvo 240' started by myren, Nov 9, 2004.

  1. myren

    myren Guest

    The outside door handles are getting worse and worse. They're old, and
    getting crankier. More and more, you have to pull up rather than out,
    to the point where I have to help some of my friends get in. Is there
    anything I can do about this?

    sorry for the rapid fire posting. i've been meaning to ask these q's
    for a month now and kept forgetting.

    -Myren
     
    myren, Nov 9, 2004
    #1
  2. myren

    Jim Carriere Guest

    Have you tried taking off the interior door panel to oil the door
    handles and their linkages?
     
    Jim Carriere, Nov 9, 2004
    #2
  3. myren

    Rob Guenther Guest

    Open up everything in the door and re-assemble the mechanism (only if you
    are mechanically inclined though) and use a heavy white grease for all the
    joints... My friend did this to his old Jetta with handles that wouldn't
    open, or that were about to fall off, and now his doors open almost like a
    new car! (Still has some hinge sag...)
     
    Rob Guenther, Nov 11, 2004
    #3
  4. You can buy new hinges from VW, mine came unpainted so I just threw rust
    primer on them. Drive out the old pins, bolt on the new ones and drive the
    pins back in. Fixed my sagging 86 Jetta. Pneumatic tools help. I also did
    the dissasemble and lithium grease all the parts, it helps a lot.
     
    Franz Bestuchev, Nov 11, 2004
    #4
  5. myren

    Robert Dietz Guest

    A common failure of the door handle mechanism is that the two rivets
    that allow the lift bar to actuate the latch rust away. Typically the
    rivet closest to the rear edge of the door breaks or falls out. If you
    remove the door panel you can easily see and understand the way the
    latch operates. Although lubricating everything is a good idea, no
    mechanical part ever died from overlubrucation, if the rivet is failing
    you may replace it either with a new rivet, a new handle, or tap it 5mm
    and install a screw and washers using locktite on the tapped portion to
    keep the crew from turning.

    Tighten all the stuff that has worked loose over the years, window
    regulator, for example.

    Bob
     
    Robert Dietz, Nov 11, 2004
    #5
  6. myren

    Rob Guenther Guest

    Yah, you can buy new hinges for just about any car... They're not free tho
    and the door still closes... So he never changed them.
     
    Rob Guenther, Nov 11, 2004
    #6
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