W201 / 190D driver door handle no longer works!
 

OK, so I've had my Euro W201 / 190D in the driveway for far too long while I replace delivery valves and injectors. Along the way I decided to test compression and test the glow plugs - it turns out that you can see whether they glow cherry red by looking down in the chamber with the injectors out! However, here's a funny / sad / alarming side note: I had all the injectors out, reconnected the battery, and turned the key to 'glow' position. Then I quickly hopped out of the car and ran around to the front to check for plugs glowing red.

So, they all glowed a nice red in a few seconds, so it was time to turn the key off. In my haste to get out of the car the door had swung shut. I pulled the driver door handle - nothing! :eek: The handle swung outwards per normal, but it did not disengage the latch! Try again... nope. Panic! Plugs are glowing! Battery is running down!

I finally opened a rear door, and reached through the front seats to turn the key off.

So, obvious question: could this be related to not running the car for six weeks (and having no vacuum)? Or do you think that something just is getting sticky and needs to be lubed? I guess when it rains I'll have to dig into the door and find out if it is broken, but I wouldn't mind hearing opinions...

Kurt

PS My 9 year old daughter wants to see a smiley in this posting, so here it is:

:eek:

The door handle function has nothing to do with vacuum, its a mechanical connection. Something is not right with the mechanism if the handle does not activate the latch. Was it unlocked all the way?

From my limited experience with these cars, this is the one failure you can always count on.

The good news is, it just needs lube!


Bad news is, it is nearly impossible to properly lube with it installed in the door.


-door panels come off
-latch removed
-oiled all over and worked in
-re-install without breaking anything and cursing your favorite deity

wait a minute is that

-reinstall without breaking anything and without cursing your favorite deity

or

-reinstall without breaking anything and while cursing your favorite deity

I gotta get this right!

Kurt

Whatever makes the rain come, man. ; )

Door panel reomoval is first ,2 screws ,one at the top of door handle behind a plastic snapped in cover ,to remove this you simple get a screw driver at it ,10mm, one philips head screw also.Your handle is not attached probably to the rod anymore most likely ,or, the handle is broke .Its NOT A SNAP PANEL SKIN ,it lifts and lowers into slits so lift on the panel to remove ,youll need to remove the handle before removal.Its a bit trickey these 190 door panels so take your time ,once you get it figured out its a cake walk.These door panels ARE CHEAP AS THEY COME ,PRESSED CARDBOARD WITH VINYL ON TOP.Good luck.

Thank you for the mini-DIY, chasinthesun!

Kurt