This past fall I noticed streaks of rust running down the driver's rear door on our Envoy. Being white it was quite noticeable. A body shop estimate approaching $500 to repaint the door and the fact the door handle assy is plastic prompted me to investigate things on my own.
The short story: Neither the door skin nor the plastic door handle (naturally) were rusting - it was the steel assembly bracket that clamps the door handle in place on the inside of the door. It had rusted badly and the moisture dripped down the backside of the door handle and out on the door.
I forgot to snap a pic of the assembly so the best net pic I could find was the passenger side, so imagine the following pic in mirror image:
The red arrow points to the metal bracket in question. The green arrow shows the single fastener that mounts the handle assy. You also need to disconnect one latch rod and then the parts are free to remove. After getting the interior door panel off, disconnect one of the rods (memory is failing but I think it was the one in the yellow plastic connector which unclips if you are careful) then remove the fastener. Note orientation of the handle gasket though I think it can really only go on one way.
My bracket was so badly rusted it should have been replaced, the pic below I snapped just after starting to wire wheel it near the top. Much of it was missing once I wire wheeled the rust away (are around hole, bottom right of pic) - with the missing material, it lacked the proper structural 'spring' it once had. It may have worked but I was skeptical for its long term performance.
Not having one on hand, or the time to wait on ordering one, I grabbed some scrap sheet steel, bent it to match the angles (thus returning some of the structural integrity), and welded it on the bracket after using some rust neutralizer. I had to be very careful to not blow throw with the welder; I cared not how it looked as it won't be seen, just that there was sufficient penetration (that's what she said). Then I primed and painted the welded bracket.
While the paint was drying I turned my attention to the door. I cleaned the area thoroughly to be sure there were no issues with the door where the handle opening was. I washed and clay barred the door to remove the rust streaks and then waxed the door to protect it. I think I putzed around for about 3 hours and two beers on this project.
Assembly is truly the reverse of disassembly. It's been reassembled and working fine for just over a month now.
Hope this helps someone.
The short story: Neither the door skin nor the plastic door handle (naturally) were rusting - it was the steel assembly bracket that clamps the door handle in place on the inside of the door. It had rusted badly and the moisture dripped down the backside of the door handle and out on the door.
I forgot to snap a pic of the assembly so the best net pic I could find was the passenger side, so imagine the following pic in mirror image:
The red arrow points to the metal bracket in question. The green arrow shows the single fastener that mounts the handle assy. You also need to disconnect one latch rod and then the parts are free to remove. After getting the interior door panel off, disconnect one of the rods (memory is failing but I think it was the one in the yellow plastic connector which unclips if you are careful) then remove the fastener. Note orientation of the handle gasket though I think it can really only go on one way.
My bracket was so badly rusted it should have been replaced, the pic below I snapped just after starting to wire wheel it near the top. Much of it was missing once I wire wheeled the rust away (are around hole, bottom right of pic) - with the missing material, it lacked the proper structural 'spring' it once had. It may have worked but I was skeptical for its long term performance.
Not having one on hand, or the time to wait on ordering one, I grabbed some scrap sheet steel, bent it to match the angles (thus returning some of the structural integrity), and welded it on the bracket after using some rust neutralizer. I had to be very careful to not blow throw with the welder; I cared not how it looked as it won't be seen, just that there was sufficient penetration (that's what she said). Then I primed and painted the welded bracket.
While the paint was drying I turned my attention to the door. I cleaned the area thoroughly to be sure there were no issues with the door where the handle opening was. I washed and clay barred the door to remove the rust streaks and then waxed the door to protect it. I think I putzed around for about 3 hours and two beers on this project.
Assembly is truly the reverse of disassembly. It's been reassembled and working fine for just over a month now.
Hope this helps someone.
