Replacing a Zcar’s Door Handle

Well I finally decided I should replace the passenger side door handle. That’s the LH side for the US readers. The handle had snapped on one side from fatigue and probably weathering. This had caused it to abnormally come out when someone went to open the door. It would still open ok but it looked silly and it threw every passenger when they went to open the door.

I had bought a brand new one on Ebay some time ago and let me advise others not to bother with second hand ones because the brand new OEM ones come with the little bits of rubber and plastic clips you will need to install it properly (trust me). Plus you also get a brand new chrome plated sexy handle.

Anyway first step in replacing the handle is to remove the inner door trim. Fairly straight forward although the circlip on the window winder can give grief. Use a long screw driver and add patience with a dash of frustration and pop it comes off. You can actually get a tool for removing these but I don’t have one. Once that’s off and the other parts like the lock knob, arm rest etc. You should wind the window down (just place the winder handle on for now without the circlip). This will let you see the back to the door handle, you will see two nuts securing the handle on, leave them for now.

The hardest part of all this is removing the rod that attaches to the handle, this rod is what moves when you lift the door handle. Depending on your situation you may be able to reach into the door and up hook the handle from the rod. Mine was stuck on good and I couldn’t fit an object up there to tap it off so to remove it I burnt it off with a lighter. There is a small plastic part that the rod goes into but doesn’t like coming undone from. So the easiest way to remove it for me was to burn the plastic. Came off in about 10 seconds.

Now you have disconnected the rod, you can undo the two nuts on the back of the door handle. I think it’s an 8mm ring spanner that does the trick. Remember Anti clock wise. Now don’t do what I did and that was chip the paint off around the door handle. Although I used a rag to protect the area the handle is a tight fit into the two holes it goes into. Try to be careful but I wasn’t very successful in preventing damage (not to mind it will get painted again one day). Once you have it removed slide the new handle in. Connect the rod first before bolting in the handle. At the bottom of the rod you may need to wind it up and down using a plastic nut. If you can’t close the door properly it’s probably because this needs adjustment. The wear on the thread vs the unexposed thread will give you an idea where it needs to be again to be in proper adjustment.

If all goes well, you new handle will be in sitting nicely and firmly with all new gaskets and plastic trimmings. My passenger door and opens and shuts like new.

One good thing about removing the door trim was that I got to see how bad the rust on the outer and inner door skins to my suprise it wasn’t too bad. So I might be able to repair the my existing doors easier than I thought. On a final note I always find when you go to fix something you usually end up breaking two other things while your at it. Is it just me or does everyone else get this?

This entry was posted on Monday, April 2nd, 2007 at 9:43 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.