[Brutalvette]

My front driver's side door handle fell off last Friday. I opened my door and the small triangle piece (metal not just the plastic cover)next to the handle fell to the ground, and the rest of the handle pulled out farther than it's supposed to. I was able to push the handle back in, and pop the door open. However, as of today I can't get in my driver's side door from the outside.I took it in to the dealership and they are ordering parts. Anyone else have a similar issue?

 

[SparkE]

http://www.chevybolt.org/forum/178-...blems/21201-door-broke-literally-day-one.html

 

[Brutalvette]

I saw that one. My issue is a little different though.

 

[borkbork]

 

[Brutalvette]

I fixed the door handle today. I got tired of waiting for Chevy. I took some pictures as I went, so I'll try and do a little walk through.

 

[quirkySquirt]

borkbork, that was a real side-splitter. Thank you for that.

 

[wes]

I fixed the door handle today. I got tired of waiting for Chevy. I took some pictures as I went, so I'll try and do a little walk through.

Can you post that walk through? I've had mine fall off 4 times now each time my car sits at the dealership for a week.

Thanks,
-wes

 

[davioh2001]

I believe the triangle piece is meant to come off if NEEDED hides the key cylinder but it should not be randomly falling off (should take effort to pry it off). Are You sure it was put back on firmly?

 

[opsdave]

I believe the triangle piece is meant to come off if NEEDED hides the key cylinder but it should not be randomly falling off (should take effort to pry it off). Are You sure it was put back on firmly?

I think the OP's ENTIRE HANDLE fell off lol....he mentioned he couldn't even open the door from the outside.

 

[Aharonmc]

Thanks, that was hilarious!

 

[davioh2001]

I think the OP's ENTIRE HANDLE fell off lol....he mentioned he couldn't even open the door from the outside.

My bad I misunderstood the nature of the problem. Hope they got it fixed up okay!

 

[jaltre01]

I realize this is a very old thread, but this exact issue happened to me today so I'll share the solution that worked for me.

First off I'll clarify what specifically went wrong for me: I have a 2017 Bolt, and when I went to open the rear driver side door from the outside, instead of the door opening, the triangle piece that's to the right of the door handle came out of the door and fell to the ground. The door handle itself stayed attached on the left side, but came all the way out of the door on the right side, and the door did not open.

I was able to open the door by pushing the right side of the handle back into the door, and then pushing the entire handle toward the front of the car. That re-engaged some mechanism so when I pulled the handle out (as you normally would to open the door) the door opened. But without that triangle piece keeping the handle from moving backward, it was easy to mistakenly pull the handle toward the back of the car, disengage that mechanism, and end up right back where I started.

To get the triangle piece back in and staying in, first follow the first sentence in the paragraph above so the handle is in its proper place. The triangle piece will slide back into the door very easily, but will slide right back out with no resistance which is the problem. With the triangle piece out, if you look into the hole where it's supposed to go, looking toward the back of the car, you'll see a bolt with a nut on it. You need to adjust that bolt. The bolt's head is accessed through the frame of the door, so open the door and look for a round piece of rubber at about the same elevation as the door handle. You can take the rubber piece out with your fingers or a flathead screwdriver. Inside the hole you've uncovered is the head of the bolt. By sheer luck, I had a T-25 star bit screwdriver with a 6" shaft (the bolt head is pretty deep in that hole), which worked perfectly. It cost maybe ten bucks at Ace Hardware, so even if you don't have one you'll save money by just buying one instead of going to the dealer. Slide the triangle piece back into the door, and tighten the bolt a few turns. I stopped before I encountered any significant resistance.

Now when I try to pull the triangle piece out it won't budge at all, and when I pull the door handle the door just opens. Problem solved!

 

[RichCapeCod]

Ya shudda bought a Tesla!!

(that was a joke, lay off me you guys!!!)

Rich

 

[MikeyBolt]

Ya shudda bought a Tesla!!

(that was a joke, lay off me you guys!!!)

Rich

Yeah, then if Tesla discovers your door handle doesn't work right, they just remove it from the car while you sleep. They'll call it an "update".

(also a joke)



Mike

 

[Dyefrog]

Ya shudda bought a Tesla!!

(that was a joke, lay off me you guys!!!)

Rich

How quickly we forget about the bumper and the mud puddle.

 

[RichCapeCod]

How quickly we forget about the bumper and the mud puddle.

They fell off the Bolt as well?!?!?!?!?

 

[Dyefrog]

No, it was part of the James Bond OTA Tesla upgrade about 2 years ago including the quick release bumper along with the sweat sock gas from the A/C.

 

[MikeyBolt]

For those unaware...

Watch This Tesla Model 3 Rear Bumper Fly Off After Driving Through Puddle

Logan Derouanna was driving in Boca Raton, South Florida, when the rear bumper of his low-mileage Tesla Model 3 decided to take off.

insideevs.com

Interesting that driving through a puddle (that isn't even very deep) is an "act of God".

Mike

 

[martinknutson]

I realize this is a very old thread, but this exact issue happened to me today so I'll share the solution that worked for me.

First off I'll clarify what specifically went wrong for me: I have a 2017 Bolt, and when I went to open the rear driver side door from the outside, instead of the door opening, the triangle piece that's to the right of the door handle came out of the door and fell to the ground. The door handle itself stayed attached on the left side, but came all the way out of the door on the right side, and the door did not open.

I was able to open the door by pushing the right side of the handle back into the door, and then pushing the entire handle toward the front of the car. That re-engaged some mechanism so when I pulled the handle out (as you normally would to open the door) the door opened. But without that triangle piece keeping the handle from moving backward, it was easy to mistakenly pull the handle toward the back of the car, disengage that mechanism, and end up right back where I started.

To get the triangle piece back in and staying in, first follow the first sentence in the paragraph above so the handle is in its proper place. The triangle piece will slide back into the door very easily, but will slide right back out with no resistance which is the problem. With the triangle piece out, if you look into the hole where it's supposed to go, looking toward the back of the car, you'll see a bolt with a nut on it. You need to adjust that bolt. The bolt's head is accessed through the frame of the door, so open the door and look for a round piece of rubber at about the same elevation as the door handle. You can take the rubber piece out with your fingers or a flathead screwdriver. Inside the hole you've uncovered is the head of the bolt. By sheer luck, I had a T-25 star bit screwdriver with a 6" shaft (the bolt head is pretty deep in that hole), which worked perfectly. It cost maybe ten bucks at Ace Hardware, so even if you don't have one you'll save money by just buying one instead of going to the dealer. Slide the triangle piece back into the door, and tighten the bolt a few turns. I stopped before I encountered any significant resistance.

Now when I try to pull the triangle piece out it won't budge at all, and when I pull the door handle the door just opens. Problem solved!

Thanks for this post. My drivers door handle (2017 premiere) failed in this exact way earlier today. I made an appointment with the dealership, but once I have daylight, I'm going to try the above, and see if I can do without them.

 

[martinknutson]

Thanks for this post. My drivers door handle (2017 premiere) failed in this exact way earlier today. I made an appointment with the dealership, but once I have daylight, I'm going to try the above, and see if I can do without them.

Sadly the main handle isn't engaging with the mechanism that actually moves the latch. It seems to have a hook that engages a drum, and the drum isn't in the right position to engage the handle, so even if I get everything in place and locked down, the handle does not move the latch. To the stealership it is.