[smudgersmith]

I have a Kia Carens on a 52 plate....I cant open the door from the outside and have to reach round from the rear to open it...I have no problem with it from the inside,its just the outside that doesnt work.
I am pretty sure its the door mech that has snapped as I have heard its a common fault but my question is......has anybody any tips on how I can have a go at fixing myself or is it going to be an expensive trip down to the local Kia dealer to get them to fix it????



Hey any help would be a help.



Cheers,



Smudge

 

[mr rusty]

It's a common fault and not difficult to fix- you can either repair the mechanism you have or get a replacement. The door handle mechanism is plastic and breaks off, what breaks is the inside part of the silver bit you pull outside......get the interiordoor panel off and you'll see what's broken.


Mrs Rusty broke hers, rather than mess about fixing it I bought a replacement from Kia for less than £30 if I remeber correctly, you get a new handle and escutchion plate-simply swap them over, dead easy once you get the door panel off.



As the escutchion wasn't painted and I couldn't be bothered to spray it I swapped only the broken part over, again easy and I would've had to remove it to paint the escutchion anyway.

 

[Jim Worner]

I had the same thing on my y reg carens.. If you strip the mechanism out of the car, you will see a plastic (nylon?) block cracked across.
1: put the halves together and superglue them.

2: Drill down through the block at right angles to the crack, and reinforce with a piece od threaded metal. I used an 8ba bolt and cut the excess off.2 years later it is still working.

Good luck

Jim W

 

[smudgersmith]

well I have just had the door panel off to fix the broken part and for reasons to long to go into I couldnt get the mechanism out.
I havemanaged to "fashion" a bracket whichbypasses the broken piece andis working fine(dont know how long for though) but as it didnt work at all before i wont be losing out if and when it stops working.

Looks like a trip to Kia though some time in the futurethough.

 

[smudgersmith]

Well just for those who were wondering....3 months on and the self styled bracket is still there and its working fine....touch wood