What is this worn part on this door handle assembly?

Question

I've been having problems with our Kwikset front door handle. It's a lever on one side, and a press down latch on the other. When you try to open the door, it doesn't retract the bolt all the way. I took it apart, and believe that the problem is the worn grooves. (Circled in red in the first picture. ) I'd like to repair it if possible. I looked on the Kwikset site to see if I could identify that part to obtain a replacement but had no luck finding it, as there parts breakdown diagrams were not very useful.

Does anyone know what the name is of the worn part? Is it replaceable? If not, what is the least amount of parts I'd have to purchase to repair it?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Every manufacturer will have slightly different names for it - thumbpiece, rod, turn rod, whatever.

It doesn't matter. This piece has to be affixed into the handle assembly meaning you would have to take apart the handle (maybe impossible) and weld a new piece in.

These assemblies are $20. Meaning there is no reason to try to fix something like this individually. If you did it would be more around heating the element and stamping it back out into the correct shape. If you don't have skills to do that then I wouldn't suggest moving forward.

As an aside... there is no way that this should happen unless the door or door's lockset are set up really really wrong. The only possible way I can see this being deformed is that lockset was left with the screw loose for a long long time and there was a heavy amount of force used to turn (possibly because it wasn't working properly from being "loose"). Again the fact that the lockset didn't remain tight is a good reason to replace.