It finally happened - pulled up on the driver's door handle and nothing happened. So I ordered a new handle and, following the posts on the Forum, also the lock cylinder arm which it turned out I couldn't use but didn't need (the part number I found must have been for a Gen 1). Today I tore into it, and found some things a bit different from what's posted on the Tech Help, and want to share some details.
I used the search function and read or printed off everything I could under door handle repair, door handle replacement, broken door handle, etc.
The tech article on removing the inner door panel helped, but there are some difference on my '98 from what was listed. Basically, on a Gen 2 (or at least a '98) here are the differences:
Door Panel Removal for 1997-1998
Home www.markviii.org
To remove the door panel:
1. Remove the rear view mirror mounting hole cover. NOT NECESSARY
2. Pull out the inside door handle cup, and disconnect the connector. CORRECT
3. Pull out the door interior (courtesy) lamp. CORRECT
4. Behind the lamp there is a hidden door trim attachment screw. Unscrew it. CORRECT
5. Remove the seat regulator control from the door trim panel and disconnect the connector. NO SEAT CONTROLS ON A MARK 8 - I THOUGHT PERHAPS THIS MEANT THE WINDOWS/LOCK PANEL, BUT IT DOES NOT NEED TO COME OUT.
6. Remove the outside rear view mirror control from the front door trim panel and disconnect the connector. NOT NECESSARY ON A GEN 2 - LEAVE IT IN PLACE
7. Remove the fuel filler door switch from the front door trim panel and disconnect the connector. NOT NECESSARY - leave it alone!
8. Pull out the luggage compartment lock switch and disconnect the connector. NOT NECESSARY
9. Look under the armrest below the power window switches. There is a small rectangular interior colored panel. Pop this off to expose the hidden door panel attachment bolt. Remove the bolt. CORRECT
10. Lift the door panel straight up about an inch. This will release the door panel. Now you can remove it by pulling it towards yourself. Remove the connections that are now visible to the speaker, door lock, power window switches, etc. CORRECT - FOUR CONNECTORS
The right door is easier to remove, because it does not have as many switches. The speakers can be easily removed once you have the door panel out.
THE ONLY CONNECTIONS TO UNDO ONCE THE LIGHT ON THE DOOR HANDLE IS DISCONNECTED AND THE COURTESY LIGHT AT THE REAR BOTTOM OF THE DOOR IS UNDONE IS (1) TWEETER CONNECTION AT TOP (2) MULTIPIN CONNECTOR AT BOTTOM REAR NEAR COURTESY LIGHT (3) POWER WINDOW SWITCH (4) MULTIPIN CONNECTOR NEAR PW SWITCH GROUP.
Now for my tips: Before disconnecting the door panels, raise the driver's window fully. Also, once the door panel is removed, the passenger's window control will not work either.
After disconnecting, I removed the battery cable because of the number of wires still in the door.
When you peer in through the various openings, try working the key in the lock and the inner door handle to get some idea of how the various rods work. To repair the handle, you need to remove the handle assembly. It is held in place by two 6mm nuts (use 10mm socket), two rods (lock rod attached to the key cylinder and latch rod attached to the broken handle) and a set of electrical wires attached to a switch on the lock cylinder (the one which locks/unlocks both doors when the key is turned.)
First, remove the keypad assembly. This is another 6mm nut, lower middle of the lock. I dropped the nut inside the door and never did find it. Drop the keypad into the bottom of the door. LEAVE THE OTHER TWO BOLTS IN PLACE FOR NOW. Now, if you look over to the left (outer edge of the door) you will see two rods going up and down. One is the key (lock) rod - turning the key in the lock will show it working. The other one comes down from the door handle and releases the door catch. When you open the outside door handle, it pushes down on the latch assembly. This one is threaded on its lower two inches or so, and is held inside a yellowish plastic nut at the lower end. If you look very carefully, you will see that this clip has a hinge on the interior side (towards the driver's seat) and the other side, toward the outside of the door, actually has a little catch. I finally used a churchkey, (for those of you who remember drinking beer before pull tabs) also known as a can piercer. I put the churchkey along the outside of the door panel with the pointed tip pulling the latch open. Once this is popped open, just push and the rod will come loose easily but it will stay attached to the broken handle at the top.
On my '98, if you look up at the inside of the door handle, there is a thick pin up on the inside of the door toward the hinge side. Mine was bolted on with an 11mm bolt. You can't remove the handle with it on there, so I loosened the bolt and unscrewed it. My new handle had this part cast on as a single piece, so I didn't need to replace it. Still don't know what it was there for.
Before removing the two nuts which hold the handle assembly in the door, find the wires which go up to the lock cylinder. They are clipped to the inside of the door frame with a little plastic clip to keep them from getting tangled up when the window moves. There is a multipin connector on the outside of the door frame which when disconnected gives you important slack in the wires, along with freeing them from the clip. Now remove the two nuts. The handle assembly will move a little bit, but it still won't come out. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get this sucker out, and what finally worked was an 8" electrician's screwdriver. Here's how I did it.
You can partly remove the handle housing assembly by lifting the bottom and sliding it forward, just enough to get the screwdriver in there from the outside. The lock rod is held in the end of a lever on the back of the key cylinder by a plastic clip which is real easy to snap the rod into, but little fingers keep it from coming out. By putting the flat blade of the screwdriver in from the outside between the two fingers and rotating it, the fingers move back. This is done with the left hand from the outside, while from the inside you push the rod out of the clip.
Now the assembly is only held in place by the wires on the lock switch. You might be able to just pull it all out, but I pried off the little C clip from the back of the lock cylinder, took the arm (metal with a plastic clip on the end) off, and slid the switch off the lock. Now everything came out, including the rod which goes down from the broken handle to the latch.
Once you disassemble the latch, the latch rod just rotates out of the old handle if you turn it the right way. I put the new handle into the housing, moved the nylon bushing from the broken handle to the new one, put the rod back on, and went back to reinstall it. Also lubed the pins with white grease.
To reinstall, you have to get the lock cylinder rod back on. By turning the key in the lock, the arm drops down enough to put the assembly back in, but I found a problem; because the new handle had a casting instead of the removable thick pin, it wouldn't go back in. There is a spot where it hangs up, so I took my 10" channelocks to the offending portion (it's inside the door and completely hidden by the handle assembly) and bent the edge of the sheet metal enough to let the assembly back in. Then I put the switch back on and the arm and C clip. You might be able to do this ahead of time if you pull the wires out completely, then thread them back into the door. Once the handle assembly is in its place in the door, the lock rod snaps back into the plastic clip on the end of the lock arm. Now go ahead and mount the assembly with the 6mm nuts to get it in the right position. The latch rod dangles at the right length near the yellow hinged plastic clip; just push it back into place until it snaps into place, then close the hinged clip until it snaps. You're practically done at this point. I ziptied the wire to the lock cylinder back where it was so it wouldn't get tangled up in the window regulator, washed my hands, carefully cleaned the door panel and leatherwiped it, reattached the multipin connectors and the tweeter, put the door panel back on, put the two screws back in, plugged the courtesy light back in and snapped it into place, hooked up the door handle light, snapped it back in, hooked the battery back up, fired her up and everything works again. So now I don't have to leave my driver's window down when I park any more.
Hope this helps. It took me several hours, because I was going very carefully because I didn't want to break anything I couldn't replace on a Sunday. I could probably do it in 90 minutes now that I know how. Oh year - a sixpack of cold Guinness helps!
Bob H
I used the search function and read or printed off everything I could under door handle repair, door handle replacement, broken door handle, etc.
The tech article on removing the inner door panel helped, but there are some difference on my '98 from what was listed. Basically, on a Gen 2 (or at least a '98) here are the differences:
Door Panel Removal for 1997-1998
Home www.markviii.org
To remove the door panel:
1. Remove the rear view mirror mounting hole cover. NOT NECESSARY
2. Pull out the inside door handle cup, and disconnect the connector. CORRECT
3. Pull out the door interior (courtesy) lamp. CORRECT
4. Behind the lamp there is a hidden door trim attachment screw. Unscrew it. CORRECT
5. Remove the seat regulator control from the door trim panel and disconnect the connector. NO SEAT CONTROLS ON A MARK 8 - I THOUGHT PERHAPS THIS MEANT THE WINDOWS/LOCK PANEL, BUT IT DOES NOT NEED TO COME OUT.
6. Remove the outside rear view mirror control from the front door trim panel and disconnect the connector. NOT NECESSARY ON A GEN 2 - LEAVE IT IN PLACE
7. Remove the fuel filler door switch from the front door trim panel and disconnect the connector. NOT NECESSARY - leave it alone!
8. Pull out the luggage compartment lock switch and disconnect the connector. NOT NECESSARY
9. Look under the armrest below the power window switches. There is a small rectangular interior colored panel. Pop this off to expose the hidden door panel attachment bolt. Remove the bolt. CORRECT
10. Lift the door panel straight up about an inch. This will release the door panel. Now you can remove it by pulling it towards yourself. Remove the connections that are now visible to the speaker, door lock, power window switches, etc. CORRECT - FOUR CONNECTORS
The right door is easier to remove, because it does not have as many switches. The speakers can be easily removed once you have the door panel out.
THE ONLY CONNECTIONS TO UNDO ONCE THE LIGHT ON THE DOOR HANDLE IS DISCONNECTED AND THE COURTESY LIGHT AT THE REAR BOTTOM OF THE DOOR IS UNDONE IS (1) TWEETER CONNECTION AT TOP (2) MULTIPIN CONNECTOR AT BOTTOM REAR NEAR COURTESY LIGHT (3) POWER WINDOW SWITCH (4) MULTIPIN CONNECTOR NEAR PW SWITCH GROUP.
Now for my tips: Before disconnecting the door panels, raise the driver's window fully. Also, once the door panel is removed, the passenger's window control will not work either.
After disconnecting, I removed the battery cable because of the number of wires still in the door.
When you peer in through the various openings, try working the key in the lock and the inner door handle to get some idea of how the various rods work. To repair the handle, you need to remove the handle assembly. It is held in place by two 6mm nuts (use 10mm socket), two rods (lock rod attached to the key cylinder and latch rod attached to the broken handle) and a set of electrical wires attached to a switch on the lock cylinder (the one which locks/unlocks both doors when the key is turned.)
First, remove the keypad assembly. This is another 6mm nut, lower middle of the lock. I dropped the nut inside the door and never did find it. Drop the keypad into the bottom of the door. LEAVE THE OTHER TWO BOLTS IN PLACE FOR NOW. Now, if you look over to the left (outer edge of the door) you will see two rods going up and down. One is the key (lock) rod - turning the key in the lock will show it working. The other one comes down from the door handle and releases the door catch. When you open the outside door handle, it pushes down on the latch assembly. This one is threaded on its lower two inches or so, and is held inside a yellowish plastic nut at the lower end. If you look very carefully, you will see that this clip has a hinge on the interior side (towards the driver's seat) and the other side, toward the outside of the door, actually has a little catch. I finally used a churchkey, (for those of you who remember drinking beer before pull tabs) also known as a can piercer. I put the churchkey along the outside of the door panel with the pointed tip pulling the latch open. Once this is popped open, just push and the rod will come loose easily but it will stay attached to the broken handle at the top.
On my '98, if you look up at the inside of the door handle, there is a thick pin up on the inside of the door toward the hinge side. Mine was bolted on with an 11mm bolt. You can't remove the handle with it on there, so I loosened the bolt and unscrewed it. My new handle had this part cast on as a single piece, so I didn't need to replace it. Still don't know what it was there for.
Before removing the two nuts which hold the handle assembly in the door, find the wires which go up to the lock cylinder. They are clipped to the inside of the door frame with a little plastic clip to keep them from getting tangled up when the window moves. There is a multipin connector on the outside of the door frame which when disconnected gives you important slack in the wires, along with freeing them from the clip. Now remove the two nuts. The handle assembly will move a little bit, but it still won't come out. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get this sucker out, and what finally worked was an 8" electrician's screwdriver. Here's how I did it.
You can partly remove the handle housing assembly by lifting the bottom and sliding it forward, just enough to get the screwdriver in there from the outside. The lock rod is held in the end of a lever on the back of the key cylinder by a plastic clip which is real easy to snap the rod into, but little fingers keep it from coming out. By putting the flat blade of the screwdriver in from the outside between the two fingers and rotating it, the fingers move back. This is done with the left hand from the outside, while from the inside you push the rod out of the clip.
Now the assembly is only held in place by the wires on the lock switch. You might be able to just pull it all out, but I pried off the little C clip from the back of the lock cylinder, took the arm (metal with a plastic clip on the end) off, and slid the switch off the lock. Now everything came out, including the rod which goes down from the broken handle to the latch.
Once you disassemble the latch, the latch rod just rotates out of the old handle if you turn it the right way. I put the new handle into the housing, moved the nylon bushing from the broken handle to the new one, put the rod back on, and went back to reinstall it. Also lubed the pins with white grease.
To reinstall, you have to get the lock cylinder rod back on. By turning the key in the lock, the arm drops down enough to put the assembly back in, but I found a problem; because the new handle had a casting instead of the removable thick pin, it wouldn't go back in. There is a spot where it hangs up, so I took my 10" channelocks to the offending portion (it's inside the door and completely hidden by the handle assembly) and bent the edge of the sheet metal enough to let the assembly back in. Then I put the switch back on and the arm and C clip. You might be able to do this ahead of time if you pull the wires out completely, then thread them back into the door. Once the handle assembly is in its place in the door, the lock rod snaps back into the plastic clip on the end of the lock arm. Now go ahead and mount the assembly with the 6mm nuts to get it in the right position. The latch rod dangles at the right length near the yellow hinged plastic clip; just push it back into place until it snaps into place, then close the hinged clip until it snaps. You're practically done at this point. I ziptied the wire to the lock cylinder back where it was so it wouldn't get tangled up in the window regulator, washed my hands, carefully cleaned the door panel and leatherwiped it, reattached the multipin connectors and the tweeter, put the door panel back on, put the two screws back in, plugged the courtesy light back in and snapped it into place, hooked up the door handle light, snapped it back in, hooked the battery back up, fired her up and everything works again. So now I don't have to leave my driver's window down when I park any more.
Hope this helps. It took me several hours, because I was going very carefully because I didn't want to break anything I couldn't replace on a Sunday. I could probably do it in 90 minutes now that I know how. Oh year - a sixpack of cold Guinness helps!
Bob H
