I am trying to replace my interior door handle because the plastic lock tab broke on my old one. I can't seem to get the angle correct to be able to hook the lock rod and the handle rod onto the new handle. If I get the handle rod into the handle then its impossible to get the handle to move enough to be able to get the lock rod into the lock tab and vice versa. Anyone do this before?

 

you trying to do this with the door panel still on?

and what car is it?

 

Noo of course not. Door panel off, got the old handle off both of the rods. Now I am trying to get the new handle on both of the rods. The rods are hooked at the end so the handle needs to be moved to a vertical position to get on one of the hooks, then moved back horizontally but its really hard to get it to reach the other rod. Its a 92 hatch.

 

This is what I am doing if you need a picture:

 

You have to unhook one of the rods from the latch itself to have enough freedom to get both of those on at the same time. It's a pain in the *** and you'll have to remove some of the plastic sheeting to get to it.

 

Ahhh really? How do you remove it from the latch itself? And which one should I try to remove, the door handle rod or the lock rod?

 

How did you take off the old one?

Also it seems you have it detached off the door, you can't just slide it towards the rod?

What if you lift the handle like opening the door from the inside would that help?

 

to remove the rods at the other end, you just unclip it, and pull out. You'll see what I mean when you look at it. its super easy.

 

Yeah, I have it detached from the door to give me more freedom to wiggle it. So it looks like I must remove the rods at the other end. It looks like I am going to have to completely remove basically all of the plastic sheet? ****, this sucks because the passenger side was so OEM and the plastic sheeting was never even teared.

 

Well I ripped open the plastic cover and I see where the rods connect to the actual latch assembly but I can't see exactly how they attach and they are not just pulling out when I unclip the rod midway on the door. Any more advice? I can't find a section on how to do this inside the 92-95 Civic service manual.

 

So... I still can't figure out how to get the rods off of the latch assembly!

 

Can you take a pic a little more closer of the rods itself?

 

 

How the hell are those rods clipped in?

 

You can see the clips in the last pic. The one on the left is tan/green-ish colored, the one on the right is purple-ish.

Push those clips off the rod (they'll pivot), lift the rod out, and voila. Same as the door handle side really, just harder to see (and reach) thanks to the confined space.

BTW, I'd roll that window up, should give you some more room on one side.

 

Wow, it sounds so easy but I am pulling every direction and its not budging. I'm just focusing on getting one rod off, for example the lock rod. I rolled the window up as well. Can you try to give me some more explicit instructions? lol, I suck..

 

Pivot up on the clip in the door past the clip holder and then slide to left or right depending on the one you are taking out.

 

So you have to be able to freely move the rod? Right now, I have it clipped in the other clips on the door and its actually stuck in place by this little foam piece under the plastic sheeting right now.

 

Look at how the clips work on the handle side, those clips look identical to the clips on my door handle (note: I have a Del Sol).

Grab ahold of the rod and then push the clip off the rod - it'll rotate off. If you use a screwdriver be careful, you don't want to break the plastic.

After the clip is off you lift the rod out of the hole it's inserted in.

BTW, in Sols you have to disconnect/connect with the door handle while the interior panel's installed, because it latches into the panel as well as screws into the door. Every time I take it off I swear a blue streak.

 

To make it easier you should snap off the rods in the middle of the door in the pic there are mid clips just pull off to give you leverage.

Not to sound like a dick but you got the old one off, did you notice how it clipped on?

Here is a video for an Accord but similar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkssZxvfE0M

 

The clips on the door latch side (the ones pictured) are not the same as the clips for the actual interior handle. On the handle side the hooks on the rod ends just hook into the black plastic of the handle and lock button, not in any plastic clips.

 

Did you try what I posted before, maybe you have to lift the handle in the door piece to hook it? same with the lock part unlock it or lock to make it work?

Take a pic of the backside of the handle.

 

push down on these points here, down and off the rod. the rods will just slide off after that. then you can hook the rod to the lock switch.

 

Nice! Got it. Thanks a lot for the picture. I knew what to do before you posted the picture but it was hard to get my hand in there, so I finally tried again after seeing that picture.

So this is what is I have now.. I had to rip up my plastic cover which was so mint before my door handle needed replacing =(. I think the purple clip broke though.. Its really hard to see so I had to take another picture of it to see better. I still can't really tell if its broken or all the way in.

 

I am surprised you had to deal with the clips by the latch ? You would think you just had to clip on the new handle?