2007 Silverado Broken Door Handle Linkage?

Hexa Fox · May 29, 2019

Hey guys back again with more work to do to my truck. So today I went to go get in my truck and the door handle did not work. To be clear it would not work from either side. However, after I started to roll down my window it clearing hit something and lodged it back into place. So right now my door handle is working but can tell something is still screwed up. The door handle seems loose and is making noises which is telling me it probably will not last much longer. I have to go on a trip tomorrow and hoping if I be extra gentle it will last until I get a second to look at it.

By the way my truck is a new body style Silverado that only has power door locks. Anyway is this an easy repair? Anyone have any clue what might be wrong? I was looking online at replacement kits for GM door handles like mine and looks like they can cost hundreds of dollars.

sefiroxx · May 29, 2019

There are rods inside that connect the door handles to the latching mechanism. The rods are held in place with a plastic clip. A clip may have flipped up or broken. You'll need to pop the interior door panel to get to the clips or rods.

Hexa Fox · May 30, 2019

17 hours ago, sefiroxx said:

There are rods inside that connect the door handles to the latching mechanism. The rods are held in place with a plastic clip. A clip may have flipped up or broken. You'll need to pop the interior door panel to get to the clips or rods.

I have been watching videos to try and get an idea of what I will be dealing with. Does not seem too difficult, but it is tough to justify tearing it apart since it is working now. However, it would suck to have to start climbing in through the passengers side until I get it fixed. That is if it does start acting up again, which I am certain it will. I have to replace my PTO belt on my mower Thursday so if that does not take too long I might tear it down then.

sefiroxx · May 30, 2019

I typically can get door apart in 15-30 minutes. Some screws, possible electric, pop a few clips and the panel lifts up/off. Then weather seal has to be peeled back and easy access.

You want to investigate while the door is working. Otherwise you might have to cut the panel and weather seal to repair

Hexa Fox · May 31, 2019

9 hours ago, sefiroxx said:

I typically can get door apart in 15-30 minutes. Some screws, possible electric, pop a few clips and the panel lifts up/off. Then weather seal has to be peeled back and easy access.

You want to investigate while the door is working. Otherwise you might have to cut the panel and weather seal to repair

That is a good common sense point I did not think of until just now lol.

Hexa Fox · June 3, 2019

Okay so I got the plastic door trim off and it is just as I feared. Everything was working properly and nothing was noticeably out of order. So my father looked at it with me and we are almost certain that it is either the door locking mechanism or the actual latch release. Because when the problem occurred neither the inner or outer door handle worked at all. Therefore, the problem could only be in the door locking mechanism or the actual latch release that everything ties into.

My father is betting that it is the locking mechanism because rolling down the window definitely connected with something and caused it to start working again. Also the locking mechanism is really close to the frame that rolls the window up and down, so he may be onto something. However, this would probably still mean something is wrong with the actual latch mechanism that everything else ties into right? Mine is held into the door with three screws.

sefiroxx · June 6, 2019

There are plastic latches that lock the metal linkages into the handles etc. One of these may have lost the part that "snaps" to lock and thus could shaking loose. The window may have pushed the linkage back.

The interior handle to latch is all mechanical as a safety mechanism. In case of accident with complete power loss, the door handle can still open the door.

Hexa Fox · June 7, 2019

On 6/6/2019 at 5:30 PM, sefiroxx said:

There are plastic latches that lock the metal linkages into the handles etc. One of these may have lost the part that "snaps" to lock and thus could shaking loose. The window may have pushed the linkage back.

The interior handle to latch is all mechanical as a safety mechanism. In case of accident with complete power loss, the door handle can still open the door.

I am going to put it back together as soon as I get some two sided tape to adhere the weather guard back. I will take one last look and play around with the cables a little bit to see if I notice anything. However, whatever sort of failure I had caused the both the outside and inside door handles to fail. I am sure you already know this from mentioning it before. It would really suck to have to take it to the dealer or cut the panel if I encounter the same failure again and cannot get it resolved.

Hexa Fox · June 9, 2019

Thanks for the advice Sefiroxx. I went out today and jiggled around as much as possible and looked for any kind of fasteners that might have been missing. I could not find anything. I guess this is the part where I put it back together and hope for the best.