Exterior door handle opening question

[ThaDyce17]

I have a 99 Camaro and the exterior door handle won't open the vehicle anymore. Now from what I remember from my 94 There is a rod that attaches to the exterior door handle and is held by a cap that's a part of the handle. And at the bottom of the rod it goes to a door mechanism I believe. My question is if in fact the cap has removed itself from the rod can I maybe super glue the cap onto the rod? And if in fact the rod is disconnected from the lower mechanism can I glue it back there? or what could be a better approach?

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: Exterior door handle opening question

Towards the end of my time with my F-body, I was able to pop a door panel off in under a minute. I'd just pop it off and see what actually broke. I wouldn't trust superglue for many automotive fixes, but depending on the break, JB weld might be a viable option. Or figure out what is broken and hit up a junkyard for a new part.

[ThaDyce17]

Re: Exterior door handle opening question

I haven't been on in forever since I sold my 94 Camaro. I ended up getting a 04 Cavalier LS Sport which I think is a lot faster than my Camaro was. Then again the Camaro had 350,000 on it. You got rid of your F-body though?

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: Exterior door handle opening question

Yeah, I sold it in December 2011. Replaced it with an Olds Aurora (Northstar) which had so much more passing power and was my first car without creaks and squeaks on speed bumps and the like. Now I'm rolling in an '04 Grand Cherokee (V8). It's similarly quick to the Camaro but a more torquey engine which makes it a bit more fun on the road (with the exception of handling, of course). The most fun with it is to be had off the road, though.

[ThaDyce17]

Re: Exterior door handle opening question

Well tell me how to remove the door panel, I was working on a Camaro today and that thing would not budge, but its for a customer and I don't want to break it. I removed the two screws in the door and the one at the interior handle. I managed to get the rear to raise up and it even raised up across the top but the section where the power window switch is wouldn't budge, what can I do to remove it?

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: Exterior door handle opening question

As I recall, there is one screw and a separate piece on the interior side of the door mirror that needs to come off. Then there is one small screw in the plastic pull handle area and another on the opposite side of the bulge where the window switch sits. Then the one large screw on the main fixed handle. Once those are removed, you can pull the switches out by just pulling out on the mirror joystick or prying the switch bezel out from one of the edges; it's just held on with two spring clips. You can also remove the lock slider by just prying out, it just pops off. As I recall, the quickest way from there is to not bother removing the door handle area bezel and just pulling up on the entire door panel. The top edge against the window tends to stick a bit but with a little wiggling, it will release. From there, you can just rotate the whole door panel about 45-60 degrees with the front part of the door panel coming up (that's counter-clockwise for driver and clockwise for passenger) until the hole for the pull handle lines up such that the handle will slide through the hole in the door handle bezel.

Like I said, I had those door panels off more times than I could count, and figured out how to remove it on my own and never broke anything. They're made pretty decently.

[ThaDyce17]

Re: Exterior door handle opening question

Bro I put the panel back on and now the inside door lock won't work ( the black part with the orange) what did I do won't in instillation

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: Exterior door handle opening question

Pull that little black and orange bit out and take a look in there. Make sure the actuator rod is exposed and the L shape is pointing at you. Grab it and wiggle it around a bit to make sure it's not hanging up on something, it should rattle around with ease. Then take a look at the back side of the black and orange indicator and note where The L shape clips in and slide it on and push in until it clicks.

When the door locks don't move those actuators, most commonly it's just because of some excess resistance due to improper installation of that black slider or that the actuator is improperly routed causing it to hang up on something.

[ThaDyce17]

Re: Exterior door handle opening question

I think the l shape may not be in the slider because when I would operate the lock I could see s tiny bit of movement from the slider. I didn't take the panel completely off I just turned it up so I could have enough room to get my hand through the plastic and install the new door handle clip

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: Exterior door handle opening question

That center bezel also comes off, but I can't really recall the best way to get it off. As I recall, there were a few slide in clips at the top and the bottom snapped in. If you pry at the bottom of that bezel, it should release, and then you should be able to wiggle the top out and then twist it to clear the fixed handle and come out. Then you'll have much better access to the locking mechanism without removing the door panel entirely. Just remember the window switches and the two smaller screws still need to be out.