Something inside the door snapped when I was opening the door from the inside today
 

Something inside the door snapped when I was opening the door from the inside today, ugggg as I am driving to Atlanta tomorrow for a DE at Road Atlanta.

Here is what happened:

Parked car, shut off ignition
Lifted inside door handle, window dropped, and then I opened the door (I do it in two phases to give the window time to drop).
Somewhere during/after this, something inside the door snapped. The inner door handle can be returned to the closed position, but it is there loosely.

Here's what works:
I can open the door from the inside or the outside
I can roll the window up or down using the controls inside the car

Here's what doesn't work:
When the window is fully raised, it does not drop when lifting either inner or outer door handle, and does not drop when door is opened.

Here's what I haven't tested:
Locking or unlocking the door
Opening the convertible top to see if the windows will drop

I can live with this for now, by opening the window slightly before getting out.

Does anyone know what it is? It doesn't seem to match any of the symptoms I have seen.

If it was an inner door handle microswitch I would think that the window would drop when the outer handle was lifted.

If it was the cable to the door locking mechanism I would figure the door wouldn't open from the inside.

If anyone knows what this is, is it safe to take for the weekend? I guess as long as I can lower the window (works) and latch the door (works) I should be fine for DE :)

Thanks

Steve

Found this:

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/58711-interior-driver-door-handle-broke-sort.html

Sounds like my loose door handle but doesn't explain the window not dropping. Hmmm

It really does sound to me like what is described in that thread. (http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/58711-interior-driver-door-handle-broke-sort.html)
...and that spring seems like a common problem. It is fairly easy to pull the door panel off and either bend the end of the broken spring and reattach it if it is long enough, or replace it.

Updates:
The window does not fully roll up, that's why it is not dropping. I can.lock the car but it beeps to let me know something is up (window partially down)

I think the inner door handle microswitch is in the "door handle pulled" position so the computer keeps the window partially down.

Probably the door spring, if the inside handle won't stay in it's correct position. Cheap and easy fix, just a nuisance.

Yep that is it. I found if I push and hold the inner door handle closed, the window will go up.

Short term fix, a piece of blue painters tape to hold it shut :)

Mine did this
 

the hook on the spring just snapped off....easy fix....just bent a new hook in the long end of the spring.

Tension spring inside the door snapped. It's a one dollar spring or so, Pelican has them. Easy to fix, just don't forget to disconnect the battery whern taking the door panel off, otherwise the door airbag can blow up in your face.

I never had to fool with the airbag, never had to disconnect or unbolt it

And make sure to let the car sit with battery disconnected for 30 minutes before messing with the airbag. Otherwise easy to remove/replace.

It was the spring end that hooks onto the handle just like in these threads. I bent a new end and hooked it back up, super easy. I could do I again in 10 minutes I bet.

Tools needed:

Plastic trim tool
Torx 25 & 30 for 3 of the screws
Phillips screwdriver for the other two. The plastic screw goes back in the door pocket and the metal one under the door handle.
Pliers to bend the broken end of the spring.

Once the trim is off and the screws remove, the door panel clips can be released by prying the door panel with your fingers. I had only one break but I had spares.

Disconnect an electrical connector and the door release cable (if you have speakers or courtesy light you may have to get those too)

The the door panel.lifts off and the spring is on the backside of the door panel ;)

One of the easier repairs to date.

Now my door handle is nice and tight....

Thanks for the update, Steve! I've got this problem on my driver's side door in my 2001 boxster and have a replacement spring on order to fix. Will be looking at replacing the inner door moisture barrier seal at the same time to fix a problem with wetness coming in at the bottom of the door panel. I don't believe I thought to order any replacement door panel clips, so hopefully I can manage not breaking any.

My moisture barrier was loose too from a previous repair of the window regulator I believe. I have been.lucky not to have any moisture. Maybe you can find some "butyl cord" and just reseal your existing moisture barrier? I'm not 100% sure what a butyl cord is but I read it in a manual somewhere ;). Pm me your address and I will shoot you some clips, I bought a ton of them.

Thanks for the kind offer on the panel clips, Steve!

Refreshening the "butyl cord" is exactly my plan, although sometimes plans are known to need changing once the job is started. This stuff I got in preparation for this job might be too thick, but I figure I'll probably be able to figure out how to make it work.

(Living in the greater Seattle area and parking a Boxster outside, having it be waterproof is very important! :) )

Thanks everybody!
My handle spring broke last night and I could easily fix it thanks to the forum :)

Here's what the replacement springs look like. (Part number is 99952201500)

Just got in my 1999 Base Model and noticed the window didn't lower as usual. Then I noticed the inside door latch was loose and didn't spring back into the correct position. It sounds like I have the same problem. Thanks for all the posts.

When I replaced my inner door handle spring, I noticed the old spring had worn a groove in the end of the door handle where the spring mated. The grove would twist the hooked end of the spring each time the inner door handle rotated (eventually causing fatigue failure of the hooked end). I fixed this by removing the door handle from the door panel and filing the spring mating surface smooth using a small round file to eliminate the grove - shown in attached picture.

I also had to shorten the metal on the end of the hook a bit, so it would not bind on the mating door handle. This was easily done with dykes. (The spring metal was not that hard.)

Finally, I added a bit grease during reassembly to help the spring's hooked end to pivot across the mating surface of the handle with less friction (and hopefully, to prevent the new spring from wearing another groove in the mating surface).