door handle rod, not connected right

[BellaGLX]

i have a 1996 Passat GLX and the drivers side door handle latch from inside is not connected to the connection rod within the door panel...and i dont know how to get it back to normal to where i can open the door from inside the car.. give me some help guys...im sooo lost

[Denny G]

Originally Posted by BellaGLX

i have a 1996 Passat GLX and the drivers side door handle latch from inside is not connected to the connection rod within the door panel...and i dont know how to get it back to normal to where i can open the door from inside the car.. give me some help guys...im sooo lost

I have a book on the 90-93 cars, so maybe it is still teh same with these.
I assume it is not attached to the "activator" for the central locking system. Take off the interior panel. It is difficult to understand how things move looking at illustrations, so I don't know how well this will come across.

There is a lever-like plastic thing that is as tall as the thing the rod slips intoout. This is called a hinge in the captions. One illustrations says, "Before connecting lock rod, activator lock washer (B) must be in locked position, agains stops (arrows)."

The lock washer looks like a lever. The stops are diametrically opposed and are in line with the axis of the actuator.

The next illustration says, "As hinge (A) is closed to secure the lock rod, activator lock washer (B) should rotate and unlck mechanism." That should fix it in place.

In the locked position, the lock washer has been rotated 90-degrees clockwise from the previous position.

I hope this is helpful.

Denny G