Drivers door handle not working

[Hanuman]

Yes, the aftermarket door handles (supplied through the likes of GSF, etc), were not quite pattern parts. The lock barrel, as you’ve found, is slightly different, and if I remember correctly, nothing about it or the rest of the handle assembly is actually directly interchangeable with the original.
However, somewhere, I may still have the remnants of a few of these, having been through the process many years back.

I’ll take a look when I get back to Europe.

[Hanuman]

Originally Posted by Flying Frank

Ah well, I'm a glutton for punishment and the grief the car gives me is only surpassed by that I receive from SWMBO .

Thanks again chaps, CA rules ok !

Glutton indeed.
Will we be seeing some progress shots of the latest endeavour?

[K Simmonds]

As has been already mentioned, they are sided... And also impossible to say what the problem is without taking it apart.

There maybe some part interchangeability with similar age VW's... So MK1/2 Scirroco's/Golfs depending on the part required, as well as possibly C3 Audi's.

I have a box full of various door handles so if you could post a pic I maybe be able to help.

[Flying Frank]

Originally Posted by Hanuman

Glutton indeed.
Will we be seeing some progress shots of the latest endeavour?

Update : how many days does it take for geriatric pilot to change an Audi drivers-side door handle ?

Unbelievably ....3 days ! Well I guess I'll not be getting a job in the local Audi dealership as a Master Tech !

Now for the excuses....working outside in a bitterly cold wind , lying on the floor by the open car door with the biting wind in my face and down my neck was not a lot of fun.....but who ever promised working on old Audis was going to be fun anyway....of all people I should know better.
Anyway getting the damned thing out was a bit of a pig as despite what the manual says I hadn't disconnected the rod from the interior door handle. On day 2 I did do that, and found it was now possible to get the door lock far enough away from the door skin to wiggle the operating lever rod off the lock although it takes a lot of contorting of the lock to achieve this. Next time ( God forbid ) it will be so much easier. With the lock out the way it was easy to remove the handle and after close examination it was apparent the handle had failed before , part of the inner plastic support had broken and the ubiquitous cable tie had been used to try and effect a repair....unsuccesfully as the door handle was not working at all from the outside. I got my cheap and cheerful ( and doubtless Chinese ) replacement and offered it up. Only then did the reason for cheapness ( or maybe one of them ? ) make itself present as the screw hole for the mounting screw had no thread. Time to go home for a cup of tea.

Day three and my very kind mechanic friend was back at work ( the car is outside his garage , waiting hopefully for his skilled hands and knowledge to breathe life back into the old girl )
Nick I knew would have a thread tapper and in less time than it takes to write, he had made the handle useable for me. Back to prayer time at the door and with a suitable torch and a plan already thought out the whole thing went back together relatively easily.

So did the door then open? Sadly no.....well not straight away. I had taken the lock mechanism home and cleaned off 38 years of black grease and dirt and then oiled it lightly. Same with the door handle.....maybe they just needed time to get know each other but when I came back to the car after lunch it was working ok and the door even locks albeit with yet another key to go with the bunch of keys needed to operate the car.

Those sort of problems are the least of my worries.....I doubt I'll ever see this car with just a single key fitting all locks no matter how desirable that would be.

Still to do and now well in hand. Complete brake overhaul , same with fuel lines and some components, front suspension overhaul , strut inserts, top mounts and CV boots, Rust repairs, worst of which ( I hope) is an area along the rear of the boot floor about 4 inches in from the back of the car. Other small areas will need doing but the main object is to get the car through an MOT , and then it'll be an onward restoration sorting out dents in doors and front wing as well as some lightish corrosion at the door bottoms.

Maybe even a complete re-spray one day, but a stuck sun-roof awaits me.....stuck closed and the handle spins nicely on its smoothed out splines.

Thats enough from me I think ....but 3 days to change a door handle ? that must be the worlds worst record for any such work on a car.

[urquattr085]

10 out of 10 for persistence though Frank!!

Pleased to hear you've sorted it.

There was a thread on here (or it was mentioned as part of another post) that you can alter the small brass plates in the lock cylinder to make it match an existing key. Damned if I can find it though.

I did this with my glove box lock & it worked a treat - involves swapping the plates around and/or filing them down so that none project when the key is inserted allowing the cylinder to rotate in its housing. Helpful to have some spare lock cylinders to snaffle from and beware the tiny springs behind them, you will lose one.!!

Of course this involves removing said door handle