i went to open side door and handle broke,so only way at moment is to lean in and open from inside,has any one ever had to fit new one ,if so how..steve

When I bought my Summit it already came with a broken handle! For weeks I had to open passenger door and reach in to open the rear door from the inside. It was a PITA!

Fortunately, my parts car came with an intact door handle, so I first removed it from the parts car to learn how to do it. I then swapped into my wagon. It is rather simple:

1. The door panel “pops-off” in a small section (about half of the door panel)
2. In the rear of the panel there are some rubber “shields”, those are held on to the door with Philips-head screws which well hidden. I missed those when I was taking apart BOTH panels and slightly ripped the rubber. So try to take that screw out before your rip it ;). You have to open the door ~2” to access it with a stubby screwdriver.
3. Unscrew 3-4 10mm hex head nuts that holding the handle on.
4. Then you need to remove linkages to the handle (there are 2 or 3 of them). A long flat screw driver can be a great aid! Having handle loose from the door can help you, as well.

If you never dealt with door mechanism linkages, here is how they work:
1. You snap the plastic clip away from the rod by rotating it (it can only be rotated in one direction).
2. Once it is rotated at least 45 degrees or so, the rod can pop out of the plastic clip. The clip stays in the handle.

Overall, I was amazed by the complexity of the that door mechanism. There are rods, linkages and cable EVERYWHERE! I would hate to have to troubleshoot this mechanism for more serious problems…

Normally, this would be a point where I can offer you a used part from my parts car, but I had to that handle on my Wagon.

thanks for the info on that,i will have a go at it over weekend,i intent to fabricate a new one from ali or stainless steal,so it wont be a piece of plastic that breaks again,i know otherwise i can get from a breakers yard in the uk,,steve

Steve,

I would stick with a second hand or new OEM units (thought, I never looked into buying a new one). I am all for making custom parts (check out my other project under www.reitmanracing.com). But you have to pick your battles and this one (IMHO) is not worth it ;).

i can get secondhand one from uk breakers for £60 plus carriage,i thought was dear,as i have a tig welding set and theres a metalworl shop close to me,i would remove and make new outer handle,it gives me something to do and i just copy shape or other piece,,steve

That seems expensive... Most junk yard in US would charge you around $10-$20. I can't imagine it being much more than $60 new.