Dane

I cannot say for sure without seeing yours...but the best way I can describe the process is that you need to overbend the tabs ever so slightly. Do so where you almost have to snap the plastic part of the handle in between the tabs. Once again, I did this over a month ago and mine is still just fine.
Can you post pics? Truth be known it probably wouldn't help to do so...would probably need to look at it in person. I guess if you happen to live close to someone that has done the fix before then maybe they would be willing to help out. Then again, maybe yours is damaged beyond repair? Once again, I could not say without seeing it.

jspec fd3s

i have bent the metal tabs...and they grab the plastic handle just fine.....its just when i do lift the handle to open the door....its almost as if it doesn't pull the rod that unlatches the door..........for example.....when u lift the handle to open the door you should feel the the locking mechanism unlatch from the door...and the door should open freely.....when i lift my door handle it doesn't seem to be moving the locking mechanism far enough to unlatch the door.......sorry....that sounds confusing i know.......i'll figure it out...= (

jspec fd3s

well...after taking the door handle apart again...i discovered there was too much 'play' within the mechanism itself...to the point where when i pulled the door handle up to open the door...the mechanism was not pushing the rod down far enough to actually unlatch the door...im gonna try some jb weld on a few spots to try to tighten it up(not on the joints of course)...but if that doesn't work.......a new door handle it is....dammit...

Dane

Mine was like that too...or so I thought, but once I got everything back where it should be it was actually tight and the door handle and tabs actually made the linkage feel tight as possible with no play in it at all where before they felt like total junk.
I guess I may have just figured it out a way to take care of the problem...heck my first attempt at fixing it didn't work either and ended up being exactly as you describe.
I cannot imagine yours being any worse than mine was - once again my car has an original handle with 163K miles on it. But if you feel it is past the point of fixing, then a new handle or JB it will be, I guess.
One more suggestion - if you haven't already done it this way - fix the handle off of the car - preferrably on a test bench or something. Take it completely apart and make sure to reassemble everything correctly. You will be able to then test the movement of the handle before you ever mount it to the car again. Trying to work on it while it is attached to the rods or the car in any way is a mess, as I found with my initial repair.

jspec fd3s

i agree 100%....this second time around....i disconnected both rods and the wiring harness so i could completely remove the handle...thats when i discovered there was too much play in the mechanism....im gonna try the JB weld this weekend...but if that doesn't work....i have no other options but to buy a new door handle....= (

danny hahn

Just a follow up. My jb weld repair broke beginning of june. I used jb Quick. See earlier post in this thread so I got about 5 months out of it. I think I'll use more Jb Regular goo between the metal with the tabs and the side of the door handle with a little more separation to get better adhesion. the adhesion broke between the two surfaces.