rhkwon

OK got the handle loose from the door but still haven't pulled it out. Now you can see why those door gaskets are so important. After 20 years, they become dry, brittle and cracked, which allows water, dirt, grime, soap and all kinds of junk into the assembly. I can't even make out anything. Next week I'm going to undo the vent assembly and the lock mechanism and fully remove the handle from the door. The manual says to unclip the intermediate section from the door outer handle? How do you unclip?

Tom Carson

most of the 'gunk' in there are remnants of the disintegrating gasket.

touareg

If you can clean and lubricate without removing it, I would do that.

Trust me these can be a bear to get back on.

You should order new gaskets while you are at it.

I have also heard with soap and warmth, you can stretch the new gasket over the handle to get it in place rather than slit it.

biosurfer1

Tom, hard to see in your pictures, but if you spray some cleaner in there to clear things up, you'll see a couple ball joints that you pop off, that will get the handles most of the way off, unless you have auto-locks then you'll have to remove that wire (just the small screw on the top, not the whole thing, made that mistake)

Getting those ball joints apart can be difficult, but the hard part is getting them back on. If you have very long but small needle nose pliers, they might work, otherwise I worked at it for a long, long time with two flathead screwdrivers until I got enough leverage. I wish there was an easy way to do it, but just pay attention to how they go together so you have an idea of how to put everything back. When mine finally slipped back together, I feel like I was doing the same thing I had tried 20x before and it failed, so I don't know what was different about #21 but it worked.

Let me know if you have issues along the way and I'll try to help out as much as I can.

rhkwon

Ok thanks for the advice. I'll let you know if I run into any difficulties which always happens.

rhkwon

OK I popped off the two grommets and have also taken the door panel off in hopes of better and easier access. The only thing now is the white wire that controls the door locks that is attached to the door handle. How do I disconnect the white wire? It's attached to the handle and then snakes down the side to along the bottom of the door. I don't see a wire disconnect point anywhere?

RajDatta

If you trace the cable, it has a round connector towards the middle/bottom of the door. Just pop it off and the handle can be removed with the wiring in place.

rhkwon

I traced the white cable and it's held on by a clip that's screwed onto the door by an 8mm bolt. Still does not give me any slack to pull the door handle out. And even if it did, I would not be able to pull the door handle out and replace the handle seals without cutting them. There is a small screw that holds the white wire to the door handle but I don't think that would free the wire from the handle. This is just crazy.

rhkwon

Here is a pic of the wire attached to the inside of the door with the bolt. The wire is held onto a support that is bolted onto the middle outer area of the door. I undid the bolt but still does not give me any slack to pull the door handle out. And even if I were to pull it out, how do I disconnect the wire?

rhkwon

Here is the pic. The wire snakes down the outer edge of the door along the bottom and I don't see anywhere to disconnect it.

mbardeen

There's a black plastic piece that attaches to the wire (it's actually a sensor). If you remove the screw, you can remove the plastic piece and wire all at once.

rhkwon

Is the black plastic piece hidden in the support piece that is circled above? I don't see the black piece.

968gene

Looks to me like the forward mounting tab is broken off. You should replace this door handle if that us the case.

rhkwon

The tab may be broken. This thing is so frustrating. I'll take another look at this tomorrow.

968gene

The termination of the white wire (at the lock cylinder) has a very small screw the attaches a bracket. Remove the bracket and then gently pry the "C" shaped housing from the outside of the cylinder. This is the heating element for the door lock. Once you have removed the ball and socket connection (gently prying) for the locking arm (white) and the actuator (black) you should be able to manipulate the handle from the door.
Now the bad news: you need a new door handle. If you can find a used one, be careful of the condition. If you can't, then you will need to buy the handle and a few other parts (as well as the gaskets) and rebuild your handle.
The worse news: attaching the ball and socket joints are even more frustrating.
I just did both handles and I found it easier to remove the glass and the rear window channel to have full access to the door mechanism. Maybe overkill, but it avoids damage to the ball sockets.