Broken Entry Door Handle

[dredel]

My 2005 Winnie Journey 36G has a broken entry door handle. The outside handle swings loose and no longer is connected to the inside handle and latch mechanism. Has anyone repaired this problem without replacing the entire unit? And also I've removed the inside door skin and don't see an easy way to remove the unit from the door and disconnect the electric lock/ unlock circuit wiring. Any advice is GREATLY appreciated.

The only way now to enter when the door is closed is by laddering the drivers window, squeezing through, using the inside door handle, and then convincing any onlookers that it really is our coach.

[Tha_Rooster]

Originally Posted by dredel

My 2005 Winnie Journey 36G has a broken entry door handle. The outside handle swings loose and no longer is connected to the inside handle and latch mechanism. Has anyone repaired this problem without replacing the entire unit? And also I've removed the inside door skin and don't see an easy way to remove the unit from the door and disconnect the electric lock/ unlock circuit wiring. Any advice is GREATLY appreciated.



The only way now to enter when the door is closed is by laddering the drivers window, squeezing through, using the inside door handle, and then convincing any onlookers that it really is our coach.

So you removed inside door lock?
Did you see a bar going from outside handle to inside handle?

[Unplanned Tourist]

Sounds like a link has fallen off. Or the shaft that the outside handle is attached to is loose.

It should be easy to see once you have the assembly pulled out.

Times like that I really like my drivers door.

[theroc]

Is that picture upside down??

At any rate, read through this thread over on the sister forum and it will give you a few tips to try especially on page 2:

Entry Door Latch Mechanism Malfunction

There are a few other thread over there too but that one above I had bookmarked.

I also have in my files that most of us now have seen on the kind of TSB of sorts TriMark issued years ago ...however, some report it doesn't always solve the problem:

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by dredel

My 2005 Winnie Journey 36G has a broken entry door handle. The outside handle swings loose and no longer is connected to the inside handle and latch mechanism. Has anyone repaired this problem without replacing the entire unit? And also I've removed the inside door skin and don't see an easy way to remove the unit from the door and disconnect the electric lock/ unlock circuit wiring. Any advice is GREATLY appreciated.

The only way now to enter when the door is closed is by laddering the drivers window, squeezing through, using the inside door handle, and then convincing any onlookers that it really is our coach.

dredel,
I didn't go over the link that The Roc supplied but, I and my daughter and son-in-law and one other friend have all that the same exact issue as you're having. The outside paddle swings but, it's not moving anything on the latch mechanism. For all three of us, it was the same exact problem. The problem we had with ours was actually quite simple to fix. You see, the paddle on the outside rotates a vertical shaft. On the inside of the total mechanism, that vertical shaft is connected to a small "L" shaped piece of material.

That "L" shape piece pushes on another piece that moves the latch mechanism to release the catch, door open. But, what happens over time is, that shaft that the L piece is on, wears some and actually drops down a tiny bit in its bore. When that happens, the bottom of the L simply skids right by the piece it's supposed to push on. Hense, no opening the door from the outside.

All that needs to be done, IF this is your problem, is to separate the two halves of the door handle. If you have electronic door locks, it only makes the issue of removal a tad bit harder, not impossible. But, you'll have to completely remove the outside handle assembly. Once you've done that, you'll see that small L shaped piece at the bottom of the rotating shaft of the paddle handle. If you take a good pair of pliers, and grab that bottom of the L and very carefully tweak it up only about 1/8" of an inch, you'll then re-set that contact points of the L and the mechanism it's supposed to contact.

Again, that L is barely skimming by the mechanism it's supposed to be pushing. So, you don't need to bend it back up by very much. Only 1/8th of an inch is all that's needed. Once that's done, re-assemble it all and, again, if this is/was your problem, you should be good to go. Keep us all informed as to what you find.
Scott

[dredel]

Thank you everyone for your advice and guidance. FireUp was particularly helpful. His description of the likely problem and its solution were exactly correct.

Dredel

[FIRE UP]

Glad I could be of some help here.
Scott

[Ghost]

This entry door handle is a recurring nightmare.

The component that always fails is the interior latch mechanism.

Have replaced it 4 times.

Got part number from Tiffin, ordered it and no - it does not fit.

Have to find a latch to replace Trimark crap.

All feedback is welcome!