Community Forums

docbrown · 02-10-2017, 10:57 AM

2004 Inspire. Entry door not locked but will not open. The grab handle is very sloppy. Using the key does not free the mechanism to open the door. Any suggestions?

dons2346 · 02-10-2017, 11:02 AM

I would give a calll to Oregon Motorcoach, Bob Vinson, or Kevin Waite

Samdon · 02-10-2017, 02:57 PM

If the inside handle is very sloppy; it's likely that the 3 or 4 bolts that hold the mechanism fast inside the door have severely loosened. You cannot get to them until the door is open, unfortunately. Two of the three times I've dealt with this were fairly simple. The outside latch handle still had enough purchase on the mechanism to open the door. We were stuck inside and no one should ever ask my oldest daughter what she thought about me opening the passenger window and lowering her down there to turn the handle.

Once open it was easy to tighten the grossly loose bolts....with some Loctite blue for good measure. The third time required a locksmith who opened the door within 30 seconds.

This happened on both of my Eagles and once on the Magna. I'm pretty sure it has at least a little to do with my kids slamming the door continuously.

dons2346 · 02-10-2017, 08:57 PM

There is also the case of a small spring breaking in which case, you cannot get the door open from either side

smlranger · 02-11-2017, 06:06 AM

I had a Trimark door handle fail on my 2002 Journey. Fortunately I was at home and had an open window. I climbed in and opened the door. I replaced the entire handle and mechanism.

The Trimark on this Allure looks identical and it is always a hard pull on the handle to get it open. I am always thinking those pot metal parts will break any time so I leave the large window over the sofa unlocked.

I seem to remember a thread about drilling a hole in the handle from the outside to get the thing to release in the event the mechanism fails. Does anyone know of that procedure?

docbrown · 02-11-2017, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by docbrown

2004 Inspire. Entry door not locked but will not open. The grab handle is very sloppy. Using the key does not free the mechanism to open the door. Any suggestions?

Since the door handle assembly was broken and needed to be replaced I called Tri-Mark and they sent me drill sites to allow quick removal. One drill hole required and it all came apart. Sounds like easy break in procedure! Anyway, it came off easily and the new one will go in on Monday. I purchased it for $200, Oregon Motorcoach wanted $350. Thanks for the reply. The door handle had been acting up for the past four years getting more difficult to open, but it open with a good pull.