Door Handle - How to remove/replace.

Well I picked up my chrome door handles (thanks VVC Steve!) and me & Frank (The Prometheus) decided to fit them today.

Had a look at a couple of guides but was bit upset by the lack of pics (you know I love my pics!) so decided to do a guide that included pics!

Door Handle Removal Guide

Tools needed:

• Ratchet
• Socket Extender
• 8mm socket
• Needle nose pliers
• Philips screwdriver

Passenger Side Door Handle:

Begin by removing the door card (for a door card removal guide see here: https://www.the-t-bar.com/forum/54-how-tos/205-door-card-how-to-remove )

Once the door card has been removed you will see two holes in the door that give access to the two bolts you need to remove:



Now remove the bolts using a 8mm socket on a socket extender. Important: make sure the window is fully DOWN not up.

Pic of bolt one (taken looking through the hole):



Pic of bolt two (taken looking through the hole):



Once the two bolts have been removed you need to remove the red retaining clip from the lock mechanism. Just taken a quick pic of the red clip:



This is clipped into the hole pictured below (you'll find it on the left of the door) and just needs to be pulled out:



Once it has been removed there are two clips located at the bottom of the door handle that need to be levered up using a screwdriver or something similar. Pic of the two clips (see smaller red arrows):



The passenger side door handle is now completely free to be lifted out from the door. Tip: I also used a screwdriver to gently push from the inside of the handle whilst pulling on the outside - just makes life easier.

So now that hopefully your passenger side handle is out you can turn your attention to the driver's side door handle.

Driver's Side Door Handle:

Again remove the door card and you will see two holes which when you look through you will see the two 8mm sockets that need removing.

Once you have removed them undo the green retaining clip (exactly the same process as removing the red retaining clip):



You also need to pull the second rod pictured below out of the lock (note in this pic it has already been removed as has the door handle - the pic has been taken from the outside of the door):



Once this has been removed you need to remove the lock itself. Note the brown clip that goes round the lock pictured in the two pics below:





Remove this clip and you will then be able to just pull the lock off. Once the lock is off lever up the two clips at the bottom of the door handle (same process as passenger side handle) and the door handle can be lifted out again.

Reverse the process when re-fitting the door handle.

And there we have it!

If you are also intending to remove the actual handles themselves like I was you need to unscrew the gold bar, there's a spring behind it which will ease off once you've removed the gold bar. Then using a thin solid object such as one end of a needle nose plier push out the two metal bars holding the handles on and the handle should now come out.



(please ignore large red arrow)

Now reverse the process to fit the new handle. Tip: Spraying the handle with a silicone lubricant will allow the metal bars to come out more easily.

Ok that's it! Good luck and if you need any help just pop me a PM.

:yves:

Kara x

P.S. Here's a nice pic of my new chrome door handles:

I would like to add a bit of information on how to make this job easier.

1. Insert the lock clip before reinstalling the door handle (there seems to be a common misunderstanding that the clip can only be reinserted after the lock barrel is in place from inside the car - this is very difficult to do and the incorrect method!). After the door handle has been bolted into place, simply then push the lock barrel into its hole and it will snap into place. See the attached as why it works this way. This will save you a lot of time and frustration.

2. I put a bit of masking tap over the 2 bolt holes in the door when the handle was out and them put the bolts through it to hold them in place. When you reinsert the door handle, the bolts are in place and just screw in.

3. I could not succeed in unclipping the plastic door handle rod (the red plastic part in the image) from the door latch mechanism. They are designed for one-way easy factory installation but not so easy removal. I was concerned about damaging the plastic or the door latch mechanism I found it much easier to unbolt the door handle and ease it out of the door with the rod still attached. From the outside of the car, it was easy to unscrew the 'gold bar' (as described in the image) with a small ratchet style screwdriver using a posi-drive bit. When I reinstalled the door handle, I just did this in reverse - very easy.

4. Just to state the obvious, the door handle cannot be removed from the door with the lock barrel in place. The handle needs to be angled in order to come out of the door and it is not possible to do this with the lock barrel in place.

5. If you have your door panel off for whatever reason, it is good to check the door handle bolts for tightness. While the plastic on the door handles will fail eventually, I have the impression that it will fail more quickly if the bolts are a bit loose because this put additional strain on the door handle plastic mounts. It probably also helps longevity to try to not pull up too hard on your door handle when opening the door.

I hope this information helps make this job easier. Sooner or later, the plastic on these door handles break (around the bolts) and replacement is very common. Fortunately, new handles are still being manufactured by Xpart.