Exterior door handle (driver’s door).

[Neo Fender]

Mine came off in my hand. I can see that the previous owner has been in there. A hole was drilled in the handle and I can see a zip strip inside the door – signs of a shade tree rigging.

Has anyone done this type of repair before? What am I in for? (1998 LE V6).

[BigPete]

When somebody broke mine, I went all out and pulled the inside door skin off, unbolted the handle assembly, detached the rods and connectors. Took everything inside, superglued the hell out of it, let it sit for about 2 hours and then put it all back together. Haven't had any problems since. Don't know about how yours will work, after the custom engineering job.

Overall the job was easy, I've been inside the door before to change speakers. Only problem was the clips that connect the rods to the latches, be careful or go buy some extras.

[BadChicken]

pretty straight forward job
get a new handle and everything should just kind of fall into place once you pull the door panel off

[Cyorke]

YEah pull teh door panel and it should be a pretty straightforward job. SHould be two or three rods with clips that work the outside door handle in conjunction withthe inner nad the key lock. SHould be two 10mm nuts that hold the handle onto the door itself.I think if you go with the OE replacement the clips come with it. IF so try not to damege the old ones and save them, they may come in handy later on dowen the road sometime. Check ebay for prices on aftermarket. I know they are all over the place for the Gen3. Probably can find them for yours also.

[BigPete]

Originally Posted by Cyorke

YEah pull teh door panel and it should be a pretty straightforward job. SHould be two or three rods with clips that work the outside door handle in conjunction withthe inner nad the key lock. SHould be two 10mm nuts that hold the handle onto the door itself.I think if you go with the OE replacement the clips come with it. IF so try not to damege the old ones and save them, they may come in handy later on dowen the road sometime. Check ebay for prices on aftermarket. I know they are all over the place for the Gen3. Probably can find them for yours also.

I only needed a phillips head screwdriver, not even a socket. I was looking at around $180 for a new assembly, I couldn't get the handle seperately. I ended up just spending about $2 for super glue, and $1 for a bag of heavy duty rubber bands.