Busted outer door handle

Not with 95k on it, at least not the door handles.

Turns out most of the panel is pop clips and just the very top edge hook on the sill. Had fun in the rain when I got home making the handle functional till its replacement gets here. Should be here tomorrow, next day delivery from rockauto for $61. $45 of it was shipping.

So here’s how my adventure went. Hooked the window crank clip with itty bitty Allen wrench, removed crank handle. Already soaked from the rain, located all screws and attempt to pull up to remove panel, no go. Pull free all the pop clips and remove panel. Peel back the plastic liner and prepair to cut my fat hands shoving them into tight spots with sharp metal bits. Disconnected the latch rod, removed two 10mm nuts, remove handle, release clip holding lock cylinder, handle is now free. One of the little arms that holds the moving part of the outer handle snapped off with the other is still intact. The broken arm was holding the rest of the handle from being able to be pulled far enough to release the striker. I just cut the piece that was hanging up off and started to reassemble. Fast forward, handle back in panel off, window open, I close the door and open the door with the now functional yet still broken outer handle. Roll window up reassemble everything else, lock door, close door, try key to unlock no go. Cuss like mad, climb through cargo area attempt to unlock and open from inside, not happening. Much louder cussing, neighbor staring now. Partially remove panel while door closed, to give me just enough room to jam my and into a bunch of sharp metal and plastic to open door. Adjust rods, check, double check, triple check to make sure its working properly and reassemble. That was fun, time for a beer and some dry close and wash the wounds. I left the door panel off till tomorrow when the new handle gets here.