I have looked over all the scans for door panel removal and nothing seems to get into this topic. I have my door panel off and disconnected, and I unscrewed all the screws on the inside of the door handle "unit" but I'm not sure how to remove it in order to put the new one in! It seems to be almost integrated into the door panel somehow. Does someone have an idea or a scan for this? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Subbed. I'll respond in a few hours, gotta run to dinner with the missus. Not hard to do.

 

Let us know, I need to replace my passenger handle as the chrome has started flaking off.

 

i have my door handles in the mail right now. ordered them because of my flaking door handles. i will be doing the install next weekend and if you guys want i can report back the steps how to do it.

 

Alright, once you have the door panel removed, peel back the white padding on the upper portion of the door, this should reveale a series of chrome screws. Using your phillips head driver, remove all of the screws on the upper portion. I am adding a picture for reference, you need to remove the screws ABOVE the circled ones.



You can then slide the silver garnish / CF/WOOD paneling off...this comes off in one piece. IIRC, there is a clip that you will need to remove as well. Once this is done, you can then remove the door handle cover/door handle.

Take a look at the backside. You should see a plastic pin that has been driven through the top. NOTE THE ORIENTATION OF THE SPRING. Using a small flatheaded screwdriver at the top, press each one of the quadrants of the pin through the opening while using another flatheader on the bottom to pry the pin out. You may have to really mash the booger to push it through. Once you have this through, the spring should fall out with the handle.

Partially reinsert the pin such that is holds the spring in the proper orientation, replace the handle, and push the pin through. Remember, you should have noted the orientation of the spring, for IIRC, one arm is longer than the other.

Sounds harder then it seems, but it's not.

TL;DR - Remove some screws, a pin, and a spring.

 

Thanks to DeathMetal, this DIY turned out successful! Once I took out the rest of the screws all along the top of the door panel I was able to flex the panel a little and the entire door handle piece came out with the silver trim piece. Swapped them out, worked the new one back in and screwed everything back into place. Thanks again for the assist!

 

AWESOME! Always happy to hear of successful DIY stories thanks to the AZine! GJ, dude!