Interior Door Handle Problem - 1994 C280
 

Hi Everyone,

The car is a 1994 C280, and the door in question is the front driver's door. I removed the interior door panel in order to fix an air draft issue by installing the plastic rain guard that had been left off by a bodyshop in a previous body repair. After putting the door panel back on, the interior door handle is no longer sitting flush in the hand-recess. It sits up about a half inch. And when I pull the handle, the door no longer "pops" away from the door catch. I now have to physically push the door to get it to open. I have tried removing and replacing the door panel a few times to see if perhaps I installed something wrong, but I can't find the problem. The door sits flush against the body, and the lock mechanism works properly. Pulling the interior door handle will still get the door lock to unlock, as it should. The only problem is that the door doesn't pop. I'm sure it is related to the fact that the interior handle is no longer flush.

Is there perhaps a way of tightening the door-release cable that connects the interior door handle to the door lock mechanism? Is there something I've missed? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

This just happened to me on my cousin's C280.....

At the back side of the interior door handle "frame" is a groove where the cable rides. There is a white plastic stopper around the cable that will limit its travel (create tension). Make sure the cable is inserted into this groove and that the stopper is seated towards the rear of the door.

This is easy to miss with all the rat's nest of power seat wiring attacking you, so hopefully this solves your problem!

Good Luck!
Klaus

Thanks Klaus, I'm going to give this a try on the weekend. I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience on this.

Hi Klaus,

That fixed the problem, thanks again for pointing me in the right direction. And you're right, I never would have noticed that recess unless I had been instructed to look for it specifically.

Jonathan