Door handle broke!

[howemi01]

Hi everyone. I've owned cars for a lot of years and this is a first for me. On Tuesday my wife and I went to vote and when she went to shut the driver's side door of her C-Max, the lock portion of the handle popped out and fell on the ground. Then when she went to open the door the handle pulled away in her hand! We drove immediately to our dealer who diagnosed the problem as a broken retainer bracket (or similar technical term). We were quoted $600 for the repair. 

 

I appealed to Ford for a goodwill repair but was denied. The car is a MY 2013 and was bought certified pre-owned in 2015; just ticked over 50,000 miles. Any guidance on my options would be appreciated - is this a common issue and is the repair DIY-able? Can I appeal Ford's decision? Is it related to the latch recall that's out there? I haven't come up with much through search on either point.

 

Mike

 

 

[SnowStorm]

Someone with an Energi seems to have had a similar problem here.  I don't recall anything similar on this forum.  Sit tight for some more replies - there are folks here with access to service data.

[Bill-N]

New one on me.  I wonder if this is related to the recent door latch recall (16S30)?  Was this recently done?  Properly?

[howemi01]

Someone with an Energi seems to have had a similar problem here.  I don't recall anything similar on this forum.  Sit tight for some more replies - there are folks here with access to service data.

 

Thanks, yea I found that too. However that was basically a dummy piece of trim whereas what fell off our handle was the lock itself so I assume there's going to be more to it than just sticking it back in. Hopefully we are not blazing new territory with this issue. 

[raadsel]

One thought, if you have comprehensive insurance, is to see if the part had been damaged. I can't help but wonder if someone tried to break into your car and damaged the lock -- maybe even breaking in and placing the lock back into place. If so, you might be able to get reimbursed by insurance for the repair, particularly if anything is missing from inside the car.

[plus 3 golfer]

I looked at the service manual and the parts diagram and my guess is the part(s) that broke is what I have circled (probably the brown one) but FordParts shows that one must buy 219A64 which includes more than the likely broken part.  The parts circled are referred in the manual as  "Exterior Front Door Handle Reinforcement".   So, the $600 might make sense - about $300 for labor and $300 for parts.

 

Edited November 12, 2017 by Plus 3 Golfer

[plus 3 golfer]

Here's a link to the assembly I referred to above on e-bay with a better diagram.  You would have to take the inside door off and remove / disconnect some electrical components to get to the assembly to make sure this assembly is the issue.  It doesn't look difficult but it looks to be very time consuming.  

[howemi01]

Thanks a ton for posting that.

 

I picked up the car this morning since we need it this week and confirmed with the service advisor that the latch recall was indeed performed in May. I asked him point-blank whether that work involved the reinforcement bracket and if a botched job could have damaged it. He said he couldn't deny that but was skeptical that it would have taken 6 months before failing like it did. 

 

I also double-checked with him that they did indeed stick something over the hole before the complimentary car wash.  ;)

 

When I gather the wherewithal I will call Ford again armed with that info. I'm not even hellbent on having the whole thing covered, I just think there should be some give-and-take given the circumstances and timing around the recall work and the warranty expiration. We're a growing family and Ford can either give me a reason to stick with them and their dealership network going forward, or not.

[plus 3 golfer]

Attached is the safety recall attachment showing the latch which is part of the assembly mentioned in above posts.  From what I can see, a tech should not have "damaged" the "bracket" but from the service manual it appears the latch is attached to the reinforcement bracket and the exterior door handles must be removed to service the part.  But who knows what an inexperienced tech may have done. ;)  

 

I'd certainly argue that your issue was more than likely (99.9%) due to negligence on the part of the tech replacing the latch.  The bracket was likely cracked during removal / installation and took many open / close cycles before the handle broke loose.  I've also attached a few pics from the service manual.

 

R16S303S4.pdf

 

[howemi01]

Thanks very much for posting that info. FWIW they "reattached" the handle when I took it back from them and it has worked fine ever since. This is a dealership that has BSed me before on fixing stuff they broke (squeaky wheel following strut replacement), so I half believe they realized they screwed something up and fixed it without admitting anything. Not a great place to be in but I have not gotten a positive response from Ford corporate so at this point I will let sleeping dogs lie. 

[obob]

Thanks very much for posting that info. FWIW they "reattached" the handle when I took it back from them and it has worked fine ever since. This is a dealership that has BSed me before on fixing stuff they broke (squeaky wheel following strut replacement), so I half believe they realized they screwed something up and fixed it without admitting anything. Not a great place to be in but I have not gotten a positive response from Ford corporate so at this point I will let sleeping dogs lie. 

 

I just had my door latches done last week and I have been thinking about your dealer wanting you to pay to fix the handles.  Glad you got a good outcome.