DSMblue

Crack is obvious


What it looked like once removed from the handle assembly.


What it should look like!
Got home from Cars & Coffee this morning and went to shut door, notice that trigger on door handle stayed depressed. Hmm, time to take door apart (again) to see what's wrong this time. If anyone experiences this issue, you should probably check the lever assembly. The pot metal portion that attaches to the trigger had broken in two. Luckily, I had a new assembly sitting in my box of parts in the basement. Cleaned things up, door back together, problem solved!

Otto Mechanic

I can't say I envy you in any way. I've taken the driver's side door appart on my '89 S2 at least 4 times fixing this problem. That horrible pot metal casting was the culprit and I have scars on my hand in testimony.

That said, it isn't really "hard" to fix in the sense of requiring special tools, it's hard only because Porsche did a very poor job making this procedure even possible; there are some very serious access problems that you'll need to overcome. I suggest you start with a thorough search of this site and read all the material that applies.

There is a technique that involves running a thread through the mechanism to hold the white plastic coupler in place while you rotate the outside door mechanism into place. Study it and use it. You don't mention the model year you're working on? That's important since there may be an electrical connection you need to pay attention to.

You'll find a log of my personal trials and tribulations on this subject if you search using my handle ("Otto Mechanic"). Within those records you'll find references I found useful to other people's work.

It can be done. It's difficult and unfortunately painful. I recommend buying some athletic tape to cover the parts of your hand that will come into continuous contact with the sheet metal of the door while you're making this repair. No joke.

I've found no easy way to do this, and I assure you I've done my damndest. Good luck, I hope some of the stuff I wrote about my experiences will be helpful.

Best Regards,

FRporscheman

A tip - don't use a hammer or any kind of tapping to remove the roll pin. I tried that my first time and I broke the tab on my handle.

Use pliers or some kind of clamp to lightly press it out/in.

Swenny

This is an easy repair but the piece is a bit more pricey than it should be.

There are ways around paying Porsche its reichsmarks.

DSMblue

Scott,

This really isn't much of a problem for me, I have had the door apart numerous times. With no scars! The secret as I learned is to take the security guard off, remove the rear window channel, then access is easy. The inner door panel presses on the skin, but hasn't cut me (to date). Mine is a 1987. Here is an additional question - I have converted to 968 handles, but still have the old script handles in the basement. I wanted to take the triggers off to get them powder coated, but am having problems removing the pin for the triggers. Any great ideas on how to do that?

87Nine44

I know this thread is over 3 years old but is there anyway to repair the tab? Ours broke and I can’t/don’t want buy a new left script door handle.