The oustside sliding door handle latch is broken i think. it just seems like nothing is clinging to it on the inside. I took the door of and the inside covers off but to get to the latch seems like i have to take the whole door locking mechanism off so that it will drop down? any easier way?
Yes. It is a difficult job, but not impossible. The hardest part is actually removing the interior door handle. Here are the steps.
re-assembly is the reverse of the removal
Dbonnell1972 provided the best "how to" that I could find. Permit me to share some "tweaks" that I had to deal with:
1. Removing the inside handle takes about 10 seconds once you figure out the technique. I had absolutely no luck with the metal pick idea. Here is what I did. First, remove the door lock bezel. Then pull the door panel off - you cannot remove it until the door handle is off. Then use a sturdy towel (warning: it will be destroyed in the process) slipped into the crack between the door panel and the handle. With the towel in the crack, and both ends of the towel pointed in the direction of the windshield, work the towel back and forth in a sawing motion until the clip pops off. Think in terms of flossing a tooth except both ends of the floss come out the same side of the tooth. Don't lose the clip. Here is the IMPORTANT DETAIL -- there is a nylon ring behind the handle. You have to get the towel between the handle and the nylon ring.
2. The Phillips screws that hold on the outside handle are VERY tight. Expect to destroy the head getting them out. Get replacements in anticipation. I used vice grips to get 2 of them out. For the 3rd, I used a dremel tool to cut off the old handle and used vice grips from the outside to remove it. You will see why when you get to that stage. In the process, I destroyed the gasket between the outside handle and the van door. Get a replacement in anticipation.
3. While you have the door ripped apart, I recommend replacing the rear sliding hinge (that roller that is located chest-high on the back of the door). If your slider has not started making that scraping sound yet, it will soon.
4. For me, half of the plastic door clips broke. Get replacements in anticipation.
5. Heads up on a re-assembly mistake I made. I forgot to screw the lock slide on before installing the door panel. So I had to disassemble everything again. It is impossible to screw on the lock slide with the door panel installed.
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Sliding door handle broke off. Need to find replacement.
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