My driver's side door handle quite working last week. Went to get in and lever pulled with minimal resistance and did not return. I ordered linkage parts guessing that one of the plastic bits failed, but no such luck. The cast aluminum handle housing itself is broken.

Any advice as to how best to proceed? I assume I need to replace the whole aluminum housing. Anyone selling them already painted and ready to instal?

The interior door handle works fine as do the power locks. Just can't open the door from the outside of the car.

 

You'll have to buy the handle part and swap over the rest of it. I didn't find any that were painted and ready to go, just primered ready for paint. I'm guessing it will be easier and cheaper to have it painted bare before you swap the parts on.

Swapping the parts isn't terribly hard, but lots of small parts to account for. Unfortunately this is the easy part, the hard part is getting it all back on the car. That was such a pain in the butt job I hope I never have to do again!

 

Mine broke in the same location, part is available Sunset. You will need to drill out the pin, the replacement pin has a head that you need to strike to set it in place.

 

As stated, happens..
New levers are available thru dealer. You will need a punch to install the new pin. The 2 sides are not interchangeable. Make sure you get the right part.

 

change the gaskets while you are there....

 

Thanks guys. I have in stock just about every part in there except the cast aluminum handle. I'll order one up from the dealer and see if they can put some paint on it, then attack next weekend. It does look fiddly. Any particularly good how-to's?

 

Mine broke a while back also. All fixed. There are some good assembly tips in a couple threads here. In the end, I just rattle can painted the new handle. Found a close match to Amazon Green at Auto Zone. Besides, my car needs a respray and you can't tell the difference anyway. If the dealer painted mine, I could see that the cost might exceed the sum total spent on parts.

 

Just take the time to really look at the parts and how they go together, outside of the car, that way when you're trying to work and see through the two TINY holes in the door, you'll know what and what cannot be twisted/turned/moved to get everything where you need it.

take your time and try to be patient. It does go together no matter how much it may seem like it doesn't at times.

 

Noted, thanks for the tips!