Stuck Door handle repair ?

[Intex]

A rearing problem I have is that on the drivers side door handle, once the door button (thumb mechanism) is pushed in from the outside, it stays pushed in, and will not return to regular position without force and the key.

I have tried WD40 and other lubricants to no avail.  Any ideas what the culprit could be?

[specracer]

Pull the door panel and take a look? Ironically, just this afternoon, I lubricated my door handle, as well as the interior door lock / handle mechanisms, and window operators. In the case of the door "plunger", from the backside you can really get access to where the lubrication is needed. I used a spray white lithium. 

[doitwright]

I recently disassembled my door handles to get rechromed. I even disassembled the key cylinders to clean the pins and springs. The side surfaces of the buttons tend to get scored over time due to dirt getting embedded in the plastic sleeve that seems permanently fixed inside the button hole of the handle. This could be your issue. In order to disassemble the handle you will need to remove a snap ring. This snap ring can be a challenge to remove without damaging the casting of the handle. Photograph each step as you go. Since my car is a 70, I have double cut keys. Keeping a key in the cylinder will help prevent all the springs and pins from falling out of the cylinder. If you go through this, measure each pin and keep a record just in case you mix them up. In my case. The measurements I took came in handy when I reassembled the trunk lock and my key would not turn. The measurements allowed me to get the cylinder pins back in the correct order.

[Intex]

Thank you
I will try that as soon as I get the car back from the shop

[Rhinkel]

Had the same problem but then my key ended up stuck too! Disassembled the entire handle and one of the brass tumblers had a small piece break off that jammed the cylinder. It really was not too difficult to repair. I just removed the piece, the key still worked. The most diffiicult part was the tight fitting door panel.

[Intex]

OK, got the car back from service, and they disassembled the door handle, and found that there were no broken pieces. The then tried it, and it no longer was sticking.
After they installed it on the door it worked for 1-2 times, and now it is stuck. The thumb piece is in the depressed position, and the only way to get it out, is to open the door from the inside.

Any other ideas? The service shop says there is not much they can do, and a new set is about $800

[ejboyd5]

There are some small fiddly jobs such as this that you can not trust to someone else.  Remove the door card so you have a good view of the latching mechanism from the inside and check for ease of operation.  After cycling the push button several times I'm confident that you'll find the reason for the malfunction and will be able to correct same.  Sometimes patience and thought invested in a repair is more effective than all the money in the world.

[waltklatt]

Seems that the length of the unlocking and locking shaft is either too long or short. 
Look at the interaction between the latching mechanism and the locking shaft.
I'm pretty sure your shaft is too long and jamming with the latch mechanism.

Walter

[Pawel66]

I did not do the tumblers in Pagoda's doors, I did a couple of ignition switch tmblers in W463, but I have a feeling that you will not pay $800 for anything, but you will pay $0.2 for fine sand paper and another $0.2 for some lubricant and you will spend Saturday morning bonding with your car. That's all.

[doitwright]

If you asked a locksmith my guess is you would not get recommendations to try using a grease or WD-40. While these may have been used years ago, new lock lubricants are much better. When lock buttons stick it is usually due to debris stuck in areas that cannot be accessed without disassembly and proper cleaning. Upon reassembly, an appropriate lock lubricant such as Houdini should keep things moving smoothly without providing a bedding for future debris to take hold.

[scoot]

I'm getting rid of parts, amongst them a bunch of Fintail exterior door handles which are basically the same.  I've had a few of them where the push button stays in, etc.  I've tried various things to clean and lube.  What works best for this problem for me, and I have no idea why, is CRC Electronic Cleaner.  I stick the skinny red tub just barely inside the lock cylinder and give it just one small squirt.  The result seems to be that the keyway is no longer gunked up, the push button works better, and the left-right rotation and return to center works better.   AND it doesn't leave an oily residue.

[Intex]

Doitwright

I just ordered Houdini. This will be my last straw before I pull it out and either fiddle with it myself, or send it out to be fixed.
Thanks

[Pawel66]

In communist time, which was a time of permanent shortage of everything, you could not even dream about a lubricant for tumblers. Most of us did not even know it existed. Those days when you had a tumbler with tendency to get stuck with key in, you just took a soft graphite pencil and scraped (hope it is the right word)  it for a few minutes aginst the key cuts. Then you inserted the key and turned it several times, then you just used it normally. It worked fine.

Another funny thing I remember - when our wipers stopped working in a heavy rain, my dad took the tobacco out of a few cigarettes, wrapped in a piece of cotton cloth and wiped the windshield with this cloth with tobacco wrapped in it. The effect was not as if the wipers were working, but you could see through the windshield enough to be able to drive...

[Intex]

I used the Houdini 3 times and still no luck getting the thumb piece loose

[Rhinkel]

It works, then it doesn’t. Something is getting lodged in the way. I wrote earlier about a small piece of tumbler lodging in my case. I couldn’t find it until I disassembled the entire part. Then I put the key in the removed tumbler assembly and turned it. By chance the tiny pice popped out. I removed it, put the tumbler assembly back in and turned it while in place with the key several times and it was smooth as it used to be. Your assembly worked before, something changed and I highly doubt it is worn out. Not worth $800 to fix. As a member stated above, pull it out, have a Saturday evening with it and you’ll find the rub. Good luck

[Intex]

I finally got the door panel off and removed the door lock/handle. It seems as if everything is OK with it, it pushes in and out smoothly, and locks OK so now Im thinking that it is NOT the door handle.
As I was loosening the bolt that holds the "end" of the handle to the door, I heard a pop, and the thumb button popped out from it's stuck in position. so I then tried the door knob and it worked OK as long as the screw was not tightened . Evidently , as I tighten that screw, the door handle moves more parallel to the door , and the forked mechanism at the end of the thiumbpiece moves more towards the outside edge of the door, which loosens something that was binding up.

Its hard to explain, and I can not see what is causing it to bind, or can not even move my fingers in there to feel anything

Any ideas what is happening???

[Intex]

When I look into the door hole opening, I can see the forked piece, that fits into the forked piece of the door handle.
The piece in the door is oriented in a VERTICAL orientation, with the two tangs on the top and bottom
For the door handle to fit in, it has to have the tangs oriented 90 degrees to that, with the tangs on the left and right so it engages. To accomplish this I have to put the key in the lock and turn it 90 degrees, either left or right.
Does anyone know if I should turn it Left or Right ?? to engage?