95 Camry door handle gremlin

[buck987si]

Hey, I've got a 95 Camry LE that I've changed out the front driver outside door handle which seemed to go smoothly...

Before the handle broke it seemed a little "bound" when you lifted it to open the door. I was hoping that after changing it out it would work normally again. Well it opens the door but it still does not feel like the other 3 handles.

The other 3 make a slight clicking noise and release/open the door. The driver's door when lifted makes no noises at all, kinda sneaky like no click/popping sound and does not release the door like the others.

The other peculiar symptom I've noticed that has lingered through the change, is that when fully opening the inside handle the outside handle actually moves out some the same as when you are outside opening the door.

I've searched for over an hour now, with no luck so far. Daylight ran out on me tonight and the work lamps are casting more shadows than light inside the cavity of the door. I'm left to guess that the rod system that is used to move the lock/handle mechanisms has gotten tangled/incorrectly reinstalled(by owner/mechanic before me) or truly is bound by something jammed in it.

Hopefully someone has gone through this predicament and can help guide me to a solution. Thanks for your time people.

[buck987si]

After hours more searching I've only been able to get tired of reading about broken handles, interior handle bezel removal(very tricky indeed!), and the various electrical oddities with the power lock and power window systems.

It's raining cats and dogs-surprise, surprise here in SE Alaska! So hopefully you eastern and central time zone members can help me out here.

[djb2]

Hmmm, has the lock motor / latch been removed before?

A fragile part of the assembly is the slot that allows the inside and outside handles to operate independently. The metal around slot is thin, and easily bent if you don't have push rods disconnected when removing the latch.

I swapped a driver's side door (long story), and didn't initially realize that the replacement had a burnt-out lock motor. (Two pull-install cycles to find this out.) I pulled a replacement at the boneyard, and must have bent the slot sometime in the process. This caused the parts to bind when push-rods were installed. When I straightened the slot, it broke. I spent about an hour in the middle of the night disassembling both latches to put together a single working assembly. Total latch installs and pulls: seven.

Bottom line: get a boneyard replacement latch/motor. Verify that that the slot is straight, not kinked. Test the lock motor by plugging it in before removing the old one.

[buck987si]

Thanks for the response djb2! Before hearing from you I was putting the latch assembly on my targeting list. The car is actually my Mother-in-law's and with the coldest winter the entire county has seen in a while, just trying to find a decent time to switch out the handle was the most important goal until realizing the "binding" feeling hadn't gone away with the install of the new handle.

I honestly can't even remember if the power locks worked or not, but I did grab a full set of the door switches off of ebay and am in the process of installing them next as the right rear window could be rolled down by the master switch but not up, the switch on the door itself had to be used to close that window back up.

My main goal after the handle replacement was to try and go the simple route of manual/mechanical repairs before anything electrical.

I am in need of some parts for our car and will add the latch/motor to the wish list. I haven't even read up to see if the latch and the lock motor are built in to the one unit. Is there any way at all to gently straighten the slot if it is bent, or should I just bank on replacing it to save any frustration? I will connect up the lock motor to see if it is even working.

You can see I'm up here in Alaska, I have to order my parts and have them mailed to me, so I guess my In-law will have to wait a lil' longer for me to finish up the driver door. I see you are from Oakland. California? I was just surfing through craigslist and found a wrecker advertising camry parts in West Oakland near my Grampa who lives in Alameda.

Hopefully they'll have everything we need and if they don't ship out I'll ask him or one of my Uncles to pick up and mail to me. I will try to update as each phase gets completed, thanks again.