97 J30 Outside door handle removal

[massagegal]

Pleaseeeeeeeeeee help. Door handle needs replaced.

[swimshark]

there isnt a write up as far as i know but you will need to pull a part the whole door panel, peel back the plastic covering carefully, remove the locking mechanism arms and then there will be 2 10mm nuts i believe that hold the handle assembly in. then you have to carefully slide it out and unplug the key lock. you can then swap the key lock to new handle and install components in reverse order.

[the_jay]

Just did this and am glad I had a junkyard car to practice on. It helped me to bend the two 10mm nut tabs up to get the 10mm screw posts out of them, then you can slide the door handle out towards the front of the car. Do this while holding the handle in the open position.

You get at these things from the inside of the car so yes, you have to take the inside panel and plastic off. Be careful with the plastic tabs that hold the long pieces of metal together, they break easily. Took me 45 minutes but when I install it in my car it will be quicker, not that bad just go slowly.