replaced door handle

[tripod]

i replaced my front passenger door handle today. it was fairly easy taking everything apart and replacing. putting it back together was the hard part. once i figured it out it was easy though. took about three hours. i can probably do it in an hour now. i changed it with the window up. 10mm wrench and ratchet, phillips head screwdriver, door panel tool and/or flathead screwdriver, silicon and grease. there are 8 bolts of one length and 8 bolts of another length, pay attention where you removed them from
- remove interior door panel and disconnect harnesses
- unbolt door panel which holds window tracks and motor.
- unsnap small rod on inside of handle and unbolt both bolts. handle comes out with a little pressure.
- install new handle opposite of disassembly
- put some grease on window tracks
- there are 2 poker chip sized stickers in the center left and center right of the door panel which are held on by adhesive. remove these stickers carefully youll reuse them. they cover holes in the panel
- do not completely tighten bolts, allow some play for alignment
- bolt the window motor back to the panel.
- bolt the top of both window tracks to the panel
- there are pegs centered on the right and left of the panel put the pegs in the holes on the door frame. youll use the holes the stickers covered to lift the panel
- install several of the top bolts to keep panel aligned.
- bolt the bottom on the window tracks to the panel remember to reinstall the circular spacers
- reinstall the remaining bolts.
- put silicon around sticker holes and replace stickers
- reattach harnesses and tighten bolts
- make sure window and handle operated properly
- reinstall panel

i took some pics, but dont have the patience to resize them. if someone wants to do it, PM me and ill email them to you then you can upload them.

[Tarik]

Originally Posted by tripod

I replaced my front passenger door handle today. it was fairly easy taking everything apart and replacing. putting it back together was the hard part. once i figured it out it was easy though. took about three hours. i can probably do it in an hour now.
I changed it with the window up.
10mm wrench and ratchet,
phillips head screwdriver,
door panel tool and/or flathead screwdriver,
silicon and grease.
There are 8 bolts of one length and 8 bolts of another length, pay attention where you removed them from
- remove interior door panel and disconnect harnesses

- unbolt door panel which holds window tracks and motor.

- unsnap small rod on inside of handle and unbolt both bolts. handle comes out with a little pressure.


- install new handle opposite of disassembly
- put some grease on window tracks
- there are 2 poker chip sized stickers in the center left and center right of the door panel which are held on by adhesive. remove these stickers carefully youll reuse them. they cover holes in the panel

- do not completely tighten bolts, allow some play for alignment
- bolt the window motor back to the panel.
- bolt the top of both window tracks to the panel
- there are pegs centered on the right and left of the panel put the pegs in the holes on the door frame. youll use the holes the stickers covered to lift the panel
- install several of the top bolts to keep panel aligned.
- bolt the bottom on the window tracks to the panel remember to reinstall the circular spacers
- reinstall the remaining bolts.
- put silicon around sticker holes and replace stickers
- reattach harnesses and tighten bolts
- make sure window and handle operated properly
- reinstall panel

i took some pics, but dont have the patience to resize them. if someone wants to do it, PM me and ill email them to you then you can upload them.

Updated with pics from tripod.

[UzumakiNaruto]

nice..i had to take off my door panel yesterday to fix something. pretty good to know.

[wild willy]

Just revived a thread I started about my broken door handle. It was the rear Pass side. I fixed it by removing the door pannel, cutting a slit in the plastic, repairing broken handle with plumbers putty from Lowes. Duct tape slit back up. Did not want to peel off plastic, it would have ruined it in my case....it was really stuck on there. However^^^^^^Tripod did the the right way......Mine was easy and cost about 2-3 dollars

[tripod]

thanks for posting the pics tarik

[Tarik]

no problem .

[Blubird]

Nice job... i have to pull both front doors apart to see what rattling inside them...

[Old Guy]

Thanks for the photos and instructions. The exterior driver-side door handle froze and broke off when trying to open. Have part on order. Looks doable.

[Tarik]

3rd gen Altima door handels are poorly designed. good luck man and make sure to take memory or physical pics to aid in reassembly.

[Old Guy]

This job is straight forward. Just keep track of which nuts and bolts go where when disassembling the inside door panels. The one issue is that the inner-most bolt holding the handle to the door frame is not accessible. I could not find a ratchet wrench adapter combination to get at it and there is no access hole through the inner part of the door frame. Solution. Drill a hole through the inner door frame to gain access. Yeah it sounds crude, but hey, I can't figure out another way to access the bolt. This job is also great for your quads since you will spend a couple of hours on your knees leaning into the inside of the door.

[dvs1]

Originally Posted by Old Guy

Solution. Drill a hole through the inner door frame to gain access. Yeah it sounds crude, but hey, I can't figure out another way to access the bolt. This job is also great for your quads since you will spend a couple of hours on your knees leaning into the inside of the door.

Assuming you have gotten to this point. I must stress, unclip & unseat the rod secured with the pink fastener before proceeding. I bent the rod & wasted an hr trying to get it "straight".
Push the handle out (unclip it from the door) from inside of the door. It will leave just enough space to use a ratcheting closed-end box wrench to loosen the last bolt (the 2nd key lock bolt) from the outside of the door. It will not seem like enough space, but I did it with a closed-end without ratchet. The old handle can easily be lifted out & then replaced. Put the lock bolt back in place & tighten it. Pop the new handle in place. The rest is a reversal of removal. I started to cut & had an epiphany.

[Old Guy]

Congratulations! When you say pushing the door handle out, do you mean like you are opening the door? Did you reach the inner bolt by putting the wrench and your hand inside the door frame? Impressive piece of automotive work.

[BT]

My handle snapped on my car about 2 weeks ago and I was going to use the one off of the spare door, but one of the metal inserts in the handle spun out

Anyways...about that inner bolt on the handle. There is a way to access it fairly easily with a socket and ratchet with extension. There is an access hole covered by a piece of clear plastic on the door on the right side of this photo. The plastic piece that is inside of the door is flexible enough to move out of the way.

[black2.5alti]

What plastic piece are you talking about? I'll be replacing my door handle before too long.

[HuskerAltima87]

Originally Posted by black2.5alti

What plastic piece are you talking about? I'll be replacing my door handle before too long.

There is supposed to be a plastic "splash shield" or w/e you want to call it that covers around the window motor and track and stuff behind the door trim panel.

Mine didn't have that either. And I've had my car for over 4 years and nothing has happened.