Passenger exterior door handle

[PaDenali]

Hi,

2011 Denali

kid broke passenger exterior door handle off, now can’t open door from inside either. Garage looked at it and said it’s not just handle replacement, but interior parts in door are needed, $900 fix.....

I can’t fix it, but I’m not paying 900 either. What kind of places fix door handles? Body shops?

thanks

 

[Tonyrodz]

Hi,

2011 Denali

kid broke passenger exterior door handle off, now can’t open door from inside either. Garage looked at it and said it’s not just handle replacement, but interior parts in door are needed, $900 fix.....

I can’t fix it, but I’m not paying 900 either. What kind of places fix door handles? Body shops?

thanks

Imo $900 is outrageous. Body shops fix all kind of mangled stuff. I'm sure they'd be able to handle it. Get an estimate first. Bet it'll be cheaper then $900 lol!

 

[Doubeleive]

hell no way, buy a dorman door handle or buy a oem one off of rockauto/amazon/ebay and replace it yourself

 

[PaDenali]

Any idea Why can’t I open it from inside? Are the 2 handles connected somehow

 

[swathdiver]

Hi,

2011 Denali

kid broke passenger exterior door handle off, now can’t open door from inside either. Garage looked at it and said it’s not just handle replacement, but interior parts in door are needed, $900 fix.....

I can’t fix it, but I’m not paying 900 either. What kind of places fix door handles? Body shops?

thanks

Didn't one of Michael's kids do this last year? @Fosscore

 

[CaptainAmerica1]

Dude if your near Dallas I’ll help ya fix it. Sheesh I’d only charge ya a six pack...

 

[intheburbs]

I literally just replaced the front passenger exterior door handle on my 09 Denali last weekend. I think someone tried to break into it. My wife went to open the door and the handle just came off in her hands.

There is a vertical rod that connects the external handle to the mechanism, and a cable connects the interior handle to the mechanism.

Does the exterior handle com off? You should be able to grab the rod with a pair of pliers and lift it up to open the door. Once you get the door open, the rest of it is easy.

If you can't get the door open, I second the suggestion of taking it to a body shop. They'll get it open, and at worse charge you a few bucks.

 

[PaDenali]

Handle is completely off, not connected to anything

 

[intheburbs]

Handle is completely off, not connected to anything

Then that means you have two holes exposed in the outside of the door. If you look in the rearmost hole, you should see a thin, vertical rod. Simply reach in with a pair of needle nose pliers, or even better needle nose vise grips, grab the rod and pull it up. That should unlatch the door so you can open it. From there, tons of youtube videos on how to strip the door. 1aauto has some pretty good ones.

From there, you should be able to tell what parts you need. Since the door handle is plastic, and the rest of the mechanism is metal, I find it hard to believe that your kid did anything other than just breaking the plastic of the exterior door handle. You can get one at your local Chevy dealer for $100, or you can get one off Amazon for $17. I actually went the dealership route because I just wanted the damn thing fixed and didn't want to wait for a delivery from Amazon.

Amazon link: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07RD4V78P/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_pjd7EbXGQGAGG

Here's the broken one on the right, new part on the left...

 

[PaDenali]

I guess not completely off

 

[Fless]

Body shops fix all kind of mangled stuff. I'm sure they'd be able to handle it.

Ha! I see what you did there...

 

[PPV12HOE]

More than likely when the handle broke the mechanism got jammed... I would try and take a small screwdriver in the larger square hole and probe to see if you can get the mechanism to move... once it's freed up you should be able to open from the inside... then it's not to bad to replace the handle... 2 10mm bolts on the panel, 2 more 10 mm bolts on the rest of the handle, 3 t27 bolts on the latch...

I guess not completely off

View attachment 250369

 

[intheburbs]

Any idea Why can’t I open it from inside? Are the 2 handles connected somehow

I guess not completely off

View attachment 250369

There's not a lot inside the door. I don't understand why the inside latch doesn't open the door.

Try looking for that thin vertical rod in the square opening on the left. It's about the diameter of a wire coat hanger. You'll need to grab it with needle nose/vise grips and lift it about a half inch to release the door.

If that doesn't work, here's the only other option I can think of. You're not going to like it, but it will work...But I would strongly suggest at least calling a body shop, to see if they can open it first. They'd likely charge you at most $50, if they charge you at all. If you have no luck there, here's the tactical nuke option. Make sure you already have your replacement door handle, because once you've removed the handle base, the inside of the door is now exposed to the weather.

As I mentioned, the handle is plastic, and the rest of the mechanism is metal. You'll need to pry off the remaining part of the door handle, or at least the left side by the larger square opening. The intent is to snap the plastic where the bolt is holding it in. Again, this sounds awful, but you're not going to damage anything other than the handle, which is being replaced anyway. It's a metal bolt, attached to a metal door, holding on a plastic handle. There's a metal nut insert molded into the plastic handle, and the metal nut will break out of the handle. The plastic is the weakest point and will break first. Make sure you use something under your pry bar to prevent denting the door.

Once you snap off the handle, that should expose the vertical rod to pull that up and open the door.

The reason I know this will work is that it happened another time with this truck. My daughter was walking out to get into it, and just as she grabbed the driver's door handle, she slipped on some ice and went down. Well, she instinctively grabbed the door handle harder as she went down, and snapped off the handle at the bolt. Not like what you have, the whole assembly came away from the door. So I do have a little experience at this.

Here's what the back of your handle looks like, arrow pointing to the bolt hole that needs to break...

 

[2009_Tahoe_Owner]

As has been mentioned above, it is a pretty easy fix once you have the door open and have acquired the part. The handle on my 2009 LTX simply came off in my hand when I went to open it, as there is a cheap plastic part inside that broke off. I replaced mine in about an hour start to finish following a YouTube video and using a replacement handle from 1A Auto that cost about $28. Someone trying to charge $900 for that repair is way out of bounds.

 

[Denaliz]

Dude if your near Dallas I’ll help ya fix it. Sheesh I’d only charge ya a six pack...

Good to see another DFW guy. I'm in Frisco.

 

[PG01]

Unlock the door manually, lift up the button on the door panel then open it from the inside handle