The door handle mechanism can become jammed or fail to open the door. This can be quite a problem, especially when you have to crawl inside from the
passenger side.
The inside door handle can also fail, causing some headaches. Many times,
a hard to open door can be adjusted to open with light effort by adjusting the
door latch nut, see below for more details.
This article
shows how the door handle opens and closes the door and some ways to fix
it. The jetta and passat door handles are different but the
ideas are similar. Note that the front jetta handle can be swapped left-right. The passat handles are all
L/R and F/R specific and are not interchangeable
with the jetta handle.
The mk1/mk2 cars used a fixed handle with a lever on the inside of the
handle. The mk3 cars used the pull handle and the mk4 cars switched to a
paddle handle. There is a conversion kits from tmtuning.com
to convert the pull handle to a recessed paddle handle but it requires cutting, welding,
and repainting the door. Some pics from: http://chris.quietlife.net/passat/doorfix/
and http://chris.quietlife.net/passat/doorfix2/
Try to avoid using WD-40 to lubricate the door parts, especially the door
lock cylinder. WD-40 will wash away any graphite lubricant that is already
there. Try to use a lubricant in the lock that won't attract dirt.
Parts
large phillips head screwdriver
white silicone, graphite, grease or other lubricant
wrenches
5.5mm wrench
Passat front door handles, left/right are not swappable
Left front handle VW# 3A0 837 207C (optional, price may vary so see links for
current price) from tdiparts,
from Worldimpex
Right front handle VW# 3A0 837 208C (optional) from tdiparts,
from Worldimpex
Jetta front door handles - left/right sides are swappable but still
have different part numbers.
Left front handle VW# 1HM-837-207 (the "a" suffix means black,
"3fz" means satin black) (optional, price may vary so see links for
current price) from parts4vws
, worldimpex genuine
VW part
Right front handle VW# 1HM-837-208, from worldimpex genuine
VW part , parts4vws
aftermarket handle
painters tape (optional)
glue, a dab of silicone, or JB weld (optional)
Procedure
Basics of door operation
First remove the door handle. Open the door from the inside and look
above the boxy door latch on the inside edge of the door. There should be
a phillips screw that is on the
same level as the door handle. Warning: on the passat, the passenger side is a reverse screw and the driver's side
should be a normal threaded
screw but your car may be slightly different.
If you can't open the door at all, you have to figure out another way to open
the door by jimmying the lock from the window, cutting a hole somewhere to get
access to the lock mechanism inside the door, or calling a locksmith. You
can also try unlocking and locking the door to see if it makes a
difference. Read this entire article to gain an understanding of
where to poke around.
The door handle should slide forward and back and out. There is a wire
for the door alarm system (if equipped) microswitch on the driver/passenger side
- you don't have to unplug it unless you want to completely remove the
handle. If you move the wire, note it's position so it doesn't interfere
with the power window. I also suggest putting some painter's tape
around the door handle hole to avoid scratching the paint so you can leave the
handle hanging or if you are going to be
poking around the hole - a quick slip of the screwdriver can leave a nice gouge
right where you will always notice it. Here is a picture of the handle.
Once the door handle is out, pull the door handle to
"open" to see how it is supposed to work.
With the passat, pulling the handle open moves
the lever in the direction of the thin red arrows in the picture to the
right. This pushes the white
plastic part down in the direction of the wide red arrow.
The white plastic part pushes down on a smooth lever
inside the door, which opens the door. There is another lever that
locks/unlocks the door when the key is turned. Both are marked
below.
Suggestions for adjusting the door handle
The first thing is to check the large Phillips screw holding in the
handle. Open the door and check it's tightness. Remember, the
passenger side is reverse threaded.
If that does not solve it, you have to start to remove the door handle.
Check for loose pins, then try adjusting the white plastic plunger,
then try adjusting the 5.5mm nut. If the problem is internal, you have to
remove the inside door panel but this is the least likely problem. See 1000q:
passat door panel removal for more details on door panel removal.
First priority is to check for loose pins. Inspect wear spots on the levers and the pins that hold the levers in
place. Lubricate them well. Most of the time, the contact areas on
the levers have worn away and the pins have slid out, causing poor actuation of
the door handle. These wear areas are circled in red below.
Second priority is to adjust the plastic plunger. Push the plastic pin out.
Note
the worn side of the plunger, pull off the plunger, then rotate it 180 degrees
so that the worn side is on the other end. You'll see that the
pin has an adjustment range. See below pic (red arrow). Move
it outward as necessary and push the pin back in. By reversing it, you are
putting the worn side of the plunger to the other side. Someone put a dab
of epoxy on the end of the plunger but just moving it outward will give a better
range. This also compensates for any wear in the door handle levers.
Lastly, you can also adjust the door latch adjusting nut.
I suggest this last because it's an odd 5.5mm nut and will probably get mangled
if you use a wrench. Pop
the black plastic door latch cover off and you should see the picture to the
right.
Loosen but don't remove the 5.5mm adjusting nut -
beware, the passenger side is reverse threaded. Once it's loose,
press on the door latch lever pictured above. The adjusting nut will
move up and down with some play once it's loose.
Moving this nut in relation to the back piece will adjust how much play
your doors have. I found that the driver's side had to move down,
the passenger side had to move up.
Tighten it (it's only 5.5mm) to 3 Nm (not ft lbs).
If your door won't open even from the inside, you need to use something stiff to push
down on the smooth lever inside the door. Otherwise you can't get access to the large phillips
screw that holds the door handle because it's on the inside edge of the door. I suggest taping the
work area
and avoiding the window as much as possible to avoid scratches. If it still doesn't work, you
could cut a hole in the inside door panel (it's board and cloth) to get access from the inside to push
down on this lever. I would rather call a locksmith by that point.
And of course, you could also buy a new door handle. Try to avoid
reproductions because they may have poor fit and finish, this might make the
door handle hard to open. Direct
links are listed in "Parts" so you can compare prices.
Final notes: Make sure you lubricate everything, this will help prevent
wear in the future. Some other issues that the door is prone to: the
door sags with age, you can either remove the door hinges to adjust the door or
just pull up really hard on the bottom of the door. Be careful to avoid
pressing on the glass. This should realign the door with the door
latch. You could also move the door latch, it's a 14mm nut.
Jetta handle - it's similar only the lever moves in a
different direction and is swappable left-right side. It's also simpler
and less likely to fail but easier to break into.
