My passenger side door handle just stopped working yesterday. I went to open the door and nothing. I can open it from the inside just fine. Its like its locked.. but unlocking/locking it makes no difference. How hard is it to pull it apart, and see what happened?


Thanks,
Matt

 

it is not that hard to take of the door pannel (just a few screws)...
not sure how much you would be able to see from there though.

 

mine did the same thing.....except it was on the drivers side. it was a bitch to fix, take off the door panel then take off the handle then go to your local junk yard and rip the new handle out of the donor car(be careful, though, I ruined two perfectly good handles before I got one that I could use out....my segestion is to masacare the donor cars door to gain access to the handle).

Good Luck

 

The handles do have a tendency to break. Sometimes just the rod that goes from the handle to the latch comes off though.

the drivers and passengers door handles are interchangeable, The plactic grommet must be swapped from front to back or vice versa to swap them. Thought that this info might come in handy.

 

You do that at a junkyard around here, and you will never be going to that junkyard again Plus you will the proud owner of a door with a big cut in it

Its not hard at all, its like a 15 minute job...

 

It is a very common problem with both first and second gens. It is a very easy, though a little time consuming fix.
Take the door panel off, there are two 8mm nuts holding the door handle on, remove the lock and actuating mechanism first, then remove the two nuts. The door handle will lift right out from the outside. Reverse procedure to install, just like the manual says.
Note: All first gen door handles are black and are interchangeable from side to side.
I have spares because they wear out. They are poorly designed.
hope this helps,
hanman

 

buy an audi that was made before 89 and then I will talk to you about broken handles.