so the FD was developing a sticky door handle on the driver side, it was getting stiffer and stiffer as I open the door more frequently. and hard to pull open once it got lose . I went ahead and open the back side of the locking/handle assembly and greased it up with lithium grease ... worked like a charms , the handle freely swings open. but the problem of pulling it open still there .

now the handle works fine pulls easy. but the door it self seems sealed and the latch is not unhooking
as I pull the handle. I try pulling it hard outwards but heard a small crack on the plastic door handle so I stop doing that and just opening the car from the passenger side . where do I look or how do I fix / replace ? thanks.

 

These handles, which are plastic, are known to crack near the rods inside the assembly. Most people (including me) replace the handles with aluminum ones. But mind you, this may or may not fix your problem entirely, so sometimes it's better to just replace the whole assembly with a new OEM one (I bought one for a pretty decent price from rhdjapan.com)

 

when you say assembly you mean the door handles assembly? it isn't all that expensive. or do I need a new cable assemblies aswell?

 

Not the cables but door handle assembly only - RHDJapan : Mazda OEM Left Door Handle FD3S

In your case it might be the cable was unhooked from its pin or it no more can stay stable and fit with the pin. Quite easy to check - just unbolt the two bolts and have a glance at it.

 

right on sir thank you

 

No cables that I recall but there are rods. And when they bend/stretch you can have symptoms as described. If your latch isn't broken I recommend pulling the panel and check operation.

 

So I've had this issue since I bought my FD. I have to hold the lock open from the inside while I open the door. As soon as I let go of the lock inside, it locks. I think the rods are bent inside, is there a way to fix that or replace them? Also, if I take off the outside handle and just let it hang, everything works as normal. When I bolt it back onto the door, it stops working again.

 

I'll let you know the moment I crack it open and check it ^^

 

Guessing the rod operating the lock is stretched...or maybe more accurately, one of bends in that rod was straighten a bit. Pull the panel and check the operation. Probably as simple as putting a little more bend back in one of the already bent spots. If so go slow...don't overdo.

 

I'll check it out. thanks!

 

Edit...
Over the years I've had them both stretch AND bend. Point is, if the rods are the issue check operation and figure out which applies.

 

so I cracked it open today and took a look, I couldn't get the entire handle off because the wires for the lock and light was so tight there was no room for play I could only peek inside and work sort of blind. from what I can see, the main lever was far too back resting on the plastic piece that holds the main cable latch ( the one with the 90degree angle) so it developed a lot of play, there for when I lift up the handle even all the way up from the outside, inside it wasn't enough to pull the latch up to unhook from the door.

the way to fix this is to put a stopper ( I read on a old thread )

are there easy ways than to drill and tap in a small screw ?

 

as you can see , the rod is resting way too far back while resting . the trouble I'm having is removing the green wire ... is that the wire for the door hole lights ? how do I go about removing it , do I have to disassemble the rod first ? it's tucked underneath the rod and I'm afraid of pulling hard and breaking things . for the handle to be separated the the green wire must detach the key lock unit ?

 

i removed the green wire by removing the big screw that is on the spring, then the two smaller screws. I don't remember anything special or tricky about this to mention now..

 

I'll try that later thanks !

 

And I think the wires in the green sleeve will be for your alarm.