Technical Faulty door latch

[blueh2steve]

Has become faulty on the inside, works fine from the outside, the question is how the f**k do i get the door cards off to see what the fault is, its the prestigio model.
I have got so far but cannot get the actual thing off the door itself. I have taken off all the fixings i can see and some of the brown plastic and the cover with the electric window switches.

 

[keithglos]

Did mine recently, the inner "chrome" handle cracks because of the stupidly strong spring. Cost about £15. I thought I put instructions on here, but old age means I could have imagined it. At least it's not like the Alfa GT, which eeds the whole door card for an inner handle.

 

[keithglos]

This might help: https://www.fiatforum.com/croma/190538-croma-interior-door-handle.html

There are steel clips holding flat plastic tongues, and are very tight to remove. Ease the tweeter off first, and you will get the idea. The bit with the switches lifts from the rear edge, and has 2 self mangling soft stainless clips. The actual card I eased off at the bottom front corner, and got fingers in to give it a tug.

 

[blueh2steve]

just been to local fiat dealer and they want nearly £25, is this right

 

[s130]

The price in May 2008 for this handle was £13.70.

Phone/Email Desira in Diss Norfolk and ask them for a price.

Contact info here: http://www.desiragroup.com/group/locations?dealerId=061

 

[blueh2steve]

Right then, got the part req (£25) from dealer and was really easy to fit when i got in the right mood, lol, but would you adam and eve it the passenger side has now gone, will get one ordered and get in the mood again, one good thing out of all this was the brown external speaker cover rim that had never stayed on since owning the car is now fixed on solid. Good old brown silicon sealant, lol.

 

[keithglos]

Got to rip mine off again sometime, I think the cable from the inner handle has slipped off, hope thats all, I'll secure it this time with a bit of wire.

 

[keithglos]

Replaced it correctly this time, took about 20 minutes to have the door panel off and reconnect the wire.

 

[tarquin1867]

Just had to get my drivers side front handle off as it has broken . I agree that the spring is for Swartzernager applications only and if I can`t find out a way of doing the return bit without running the risk of busting a£25 rip off piece of plastic, i`ll have them out in the Woolies pick n mix!!!
Another tip is to take off the armrest top cover before the window switches , I did it the other way round and shall have to resort to the glue gun to stop the switches being pushed thru .

 

[tarquin1867]

I have finally got round to fitting the new door handle and I think I have gone a long way to stopping it happening again . The main problem as I see it with the spring being very strong and the plastic arm being constantly under pressure from it even when its "at rest".
The way i`ve got round this is by bending the spring to reduce the pressure when the handle is closed. Ive got a picture of the springs to compare before &after but i`ve no clue how to upload it onto here, anyone help me here?

Other probs I found was that the hinge pin is kept in place by a splined end which pushes into the outer"frame" of the handle, on the original handle this had been fitted through the wrong way and pushed through the full width spline first which had scoured the chromed plastic making it even weaker!!
Also the design of the handle ensures that the arm of the moving part of the handle has a gap behind it when the handle is closed due to the opposite side of the chromed moving part being hard up to the frame, this is what causes the arm to be under pressure even when its at rest.

My new handle is a lot less "hard" to pull and still closes fully against the rubber bung placed over the top screw which holds the door cover in place.
Hope you can understand my rambling explanation but anyone who has had to do the job will know what i`m on about.:yum: