Remember, this is for a rear door handle. Well, I managed to find the repair manual on-line and the repair wasn't that bad. If you have any door handle left, use a pair of needle nose pliers while peering into the door cavity (once you have everything apart) to get an idea of how it works/goes together. Recommend you read this in its entirely before beginning the repair. The steps to the repair are (roughly):
1. remove the door panel - last step to this should be removing the electrical connector, which may or may not be in your vehicle depending on what options you have on it. Mine has power windows, locks, a stereo, etc...
- The door panel has two screws holding it in - one behind the inside door handle - it is behind a small plastic cover. The other screw is at the bottom of what I will call the door pull - it's what you grab when you close the door - there was no cover on this screw. Go ahead and pull this cup out if you can. The next step is to pull out around the edges of the door to disengage the 5 or so plastic clips holding it to the door frame. The last step is to push the panel up a few inches - this will disengage the lip on the panel that runs down the window (you may have to wiggle it while pushing).
- To remove the male end of the connector, take a flat blade screw driver and press down on the tab sticking up in the slot in the middle of the connecting plug - I took a sharpie and colored it black in the photo below. While pressing with the flat blade screw driver, wiggle the plug while pulling it out. If you force it too much, you're liable to do some damage.
2. Peel back part of the plastic covering the area of the door handle. Be careful, as the black tar-like glue holding it down is difficult to get off your clothes and/or skin.
3. Looking in to the door cavity, you should see one of the torx bolts holding the door handle together. Go ahead and loosen it up completely. The design is such that hte torx should not fall out. Try to keep this interior plastic piece of the door handle from falling out - mine stayed put, but I tried to keep a finger on it when I could.
4. To get to the 2nd torx bolt holding the handle together, you must first remove the door latch mechanism. Look at the door from the side. It is attached to the door by 3 torx bolts - make sure the latch mechanism does not drop into the car. The latch mechanism is the part of the door that latches it to the frame/body of the car.
5. Disconnect any electrical connections to this mechanism, then slide the latch mechanism toward the front of the car, just enough so you can see through the hole in the door where it used to be. You should be able to see the rest of the inner door handle assembly as well as the 2nd torx bolt! You will also see a red plastic piece...take note of it, as you may be fiddling with it later.
6. Undo the 2nd torx bolt. Slide what is left of the door handle (from the outside of the door) to the rear of the car and pull it out. Watch what is going on inside the door so you know exactly where the handle goes when you install the new one.
7. Install the new door handle - make sure you put the gaskets on first, esp. since the one toward the front of the car is where the "easy to access" torx bolt screws into.
Also, you'll have to depress the lever that the door handle activates from the inside....again, install the handle the reverse way you took it off - start with it pushed toward the back of the car, then slide it forward.
8. Screw the "easy to access" torx bolt in first, then do the second.
9. re-install the latch mechanism with the 3 torx bolts.
10. Remember that red plastic "U" shaped piece? Make sure it is riding on top of a white plastic piece....if you are confused, just close the door - if it won't open, then you've either installed the handle incorrectly, or the red plastic piece is not in the correct position - that's how I discovered the problem with my first repair attempt. Now, the only way you may be able to know where it goes is by feel...moving that white plastic piece up and down is what latches/unlatches the door. The good news is that the red plastic piece is fairly flexible, so it can be easily be put back where it belongs. Good luck!!! Below: photo of red plastic piece taken by sticking camera inside door frame and pointing it toward the rear of the car.
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