The passenger door exterior door release lever is very difficult to operate. You must pull back on the lever really hard to get the latch mechanism to release. What the adjustment (or fix) for this? I don't want to break the latch.

Fortunately, the passenger side door doesn't get a lot of use. Thanks for your input.

I think cleaning of the mechanism inside. There maybe old grease and dirt.

Ditto. Clean the entire internal mechanism before you have to replace a broken handle. It won't hurt to do both doors either. You'll be surprised at how much difference it's gonna make.

Pull the door panel, pull the exterior door handle, unscrew the two big phillips screws on the door (jamb area) and reach up in there and grab that dirty, dried-up greased part called a door latch and clean the snot out of it. Re-grease/oil, and re-assemble. You will be amazed how well it will work.

Just keep pulling on it "really hard" and when the piece of crap breaks send it to me with a check and I'll fix it for you.

ok so what if everything has been taken apart and cleaned and I have to lean on the door / push it towards the interior to release whatever tension is on the latch? Works great if I do that. If I don't apply pressure to the door it almost does not work at all. How do you adjust for that?

Did you lube all the pivots and moving parts?

Sounds to me you have a problem with the door latch lining up with the strike plate. Is the car rusted at the battery and sagging therefore binding the door release?

My passenger handle is a bit stiff to pull open too. Guess I better get crackin' to clean up the mechanism. I tried squirting some silicone spray in there, but that proved to be pointless.

I replaced the rubber door wedges, and it really helped to make the doors open and close perfectly.

No rust or sag issues causing the problem. I think it is in the adjustments of the door/strike plate.

That's good to hear. You may want to adjust with door latch to the strike plate with the handle off the car. This way if you get the adjustment too tight you don't break the handle trying to open it. And clean the handle while it is off the car.

If I keep the window rolled down i can use the interior door handle to open it while fine tuning. It seems to work fine...

Weird mine works perfect.

After cleaning mine really well, I had to soak them in PB blaster for several hours to get them lubed up well. they work great now and no more leaning on the door to open them like when they were dirty and not well lubed.