www.86garage.com

Are sticking door handles an issue? Both outside door handles always stick in the up position after opening the door.

yes. when they get old. mine do, my little brothers do. and they do on both my older brothers ae86s.

Is there not a fix for this?

new handles? i m sure if you took it apart you could figure it out. maybe a broken return spring retainer or something.

I have searched this topic and am stunned that there is nothing about it, that is why I asked whether this was a common problem. I was sure that someone would have created a DIY by now.

sounds like the return spring is strectched out???

I am going to take it apart today and see what happens.

Yea with age the door handles will stick and the hinges will sag. You have push on the door to help lift it to open it. Best fix saddly is buy new parts from toyota

i think nst had a fix for the hinges.

Initially I thought the sagging could be remedied by readjusting the hinges, but the problem appears to be in the hinges themselves. I do not see how there can be a fix for the hinge other than replacing the actual hinge. I read somewhere that the some model Tercels have a suitable replacement hinge for the AE86 since they had a smaller/lighter door.

I think that the sagging door problems also contribute to some of the door handle sticking issues. The sagging door probably requires the owner to use their door handle to "lift" the door in order to close it. That most likely results in the door handle experiencing unusual stress and fatigue.

Just my thoughts.

the fix is adding new brass collets to take up the slack.

To me the door handle fatigue would seem to come form opening the door. My hinges are bad om my sr5 but the door handle works fine on both sides. However, the trick to open the doors is to use my knee to push the door up just enough it clears and opens. Its kinda funny when my friends try to get in the passenger side and they keep asking me to unlock the door when its already open. I do say you are correct and that the stress from the hinges are transferred to the plastic door handles, thus causing a premature failure.

mooreofit wrote:the fix is adding new brass collets to take up the slack.

Can you elaborate?

I never have had an issue with any of my doors. Seems to me drilling out the hinges so a larger pin could fit in them would be a pretty good fix. 1/2 inch dia. pin would have alot more surface than the little pins that come stock. I may take some of my extra hinges and do this....hmm I now have a lunch project at work haha.

GamblerZ wrote:

mooreofit wrote:the fix is adding new brass collets to take up the slack.

Can you elaborate?

pm dr.occa for more info on this. this is for the door hinges only.