Door lock repair '87 cabriolet

[olyamalgam]

Help please,
I bought an '87 cabriolet about 2 years ago. Love the car, but the driver's side door started not opening from the outside about a month ago. Not so bad now, but I would like to fix it before the next rainy season in Oregon.

Looking it over I thought I would try a forum or two before wildly ripping off body parts, especially since it seems the door is still "sealed" with a plastic barier over most of it's innards, possibly still from the factory.

I would appreciate any help w/ ideas on where to start. I am not a complete idiot wen it comes to working on vehicles, but I must admit I'm not a gearhead either. Also, any reccomendations on good manuals wold be appreciated.


Thanks,

OLY

[sixsracing]

You can remove the outer door handle w/o removing the inner panel.
There is a phillips head screw under the weatherstripping at the end
of the door above the latch. Remove it. There is another screw under
the trim on the handle itself up front. Remove it. Slide the handle back
and forth a few times and you will be able to pull it out from the rear first.
Most likely the problem is in the handle itself. Either lubrication or the
white metal it is made of has finally fatigued and snapped at the pivot point.

Let us know how you make out.

[sixsracing]

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum. Before anybody else asks, post some pics.

Bentley manuals are held in pretty high regard. AllData has an online service
that is also very good.

[Briano1234]

You can remove the outer door handle w/o removing the inner panel.
There is a phillips head screw under the weatherstripping at the end
of the door above the latch. Remove it. There is another screw under
the trim on the handle itself up front. Remove it. Slide the handle back
and forth a few times and you will be able to pull it out from the rear first.
Most likely the problem is in the handle itself. Either lubrication or the
white metal it is made of has finally fatigued and snapped at the pivot point.

Let us know how you make out.

Then look here viewtopic.php?f=27&t=2024
for greasing the mechanism..