I can't remove my driver's door handle

[Jelly Jim]

A bit of background...

My remote central locking no longer works for my driver's door, so I'm having to manually lock it. Apparently this issue also causes the car to not go in to 'sleep mode' (according to the parts guy I spoke to at my local VW dealership), which causes a parasitic drain on the battery. I found out that the door harness suffers from being too short, which can cause symptoms like mine when the harness is damaged. Sure enough, when pulling back the boot cover for the harness, some of the wiring is frayed (also looks like there's some water ingress due to oxidation of the copper). The alternative suggestion I'd seen was that it's the door lock module, but I'm inclined towards it being the harness to start with.

So I want to buy a replacement harness, but first I want to check the part code on the harness's label, which meant removing the outer skin. I followed the instructions here - http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/door-skin-removal-and-door-handle-replacement-mk5-vw/ - and this video for visual guidance - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwLEefcJQp8

The problem...

I can remove the door lock barrel, but the actual handle itself just won't slide out the way that's described and shown in all the guides I've seen. It's as if it's being held in place by something behind it. I'm wondering if I've missed out something really fundamental, but I've no idea what. I've detached the cable from the side of the handle and have tried the pull-back-and-out movement.

To give some idea of the issue, I made a crappy video (quality improves in the second half): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H7YcHWkqyY

Any ideas anyone can offer? I'm completely stumped by it.

 

[707Stang]

slide the handle to the rear of the vehicle and THEN pull out in then like a rolling motion toward the front of the car.

Check it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj6tUpobCcY

 

[707Stang]

or at bout 1:30 he shows exactly what im taking about

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2MbKYxP5Go

hope this helps!

 

[Jelly Jim]

Thanks - it looks like it actually requires some force when sliding it back. When I tried the slide-and-pull motion, I didn't give a great deal of pull because I didn't want to break something. When I've seen it in other videos, the handle just seems to slide out without any resistance at all.

 

[707Stang]

Sometimes they can drag a little but the're pretty stout

 

[pb4ugoout]

Make sure you pay attention to the size and order of the screws that hold the door skin on. There are 3 different sizes and they are not all interchangeable.

 

[Jelly Jim]

Make sure you pay attention to the size and order of the screws that hold the door skin on. There are 3 different sizes and they are not all interchangeable.

Can that result in difficulties with removing the handle? I did group (three) the screws when I tried to remove the skin, although I noticed that a couple of screws seemed to be different to what they should be.

 

[pb4ugoout]

Can that result in difficulties with removing the handle? I did group (three) the screws when I tried to remove the skin, although I noticed that a couple of screws seemed to be different to what they should be.

Probably not. But if you install them incorrectly you can end up bending parts of the door skin that will show up on the outside.

 

[vwomac]

Hi,

Did you end up figuring out how to remove your stuck door hande?

I have the exact same problem and cannot remove the door handle by sliding it to the rear and then outward. All the videos and DIY make it look easy to do, but it just seems that something has it bound up. I can get the handle to slide at most 1/8" to the rear, no where near enough to clear the black plastic mechanism to allow it to swing out. I have exerted considerable force to slide it back and worried I'm going to break the black plastic mechanism that's part of the mounting bracket.

I did mistakenly back out the torx screw too much and the black circular ring that holds the lock cylinder fell inside the door, but i don't think that would impact my issue. I do realize I have to buy a new mounting bracket as a result.

Hoping you figured this out as I am stumped !

 

[vwomac]

As luck would have it, I decided to try one more time just after posting this and then head off to bed.

Rather then trying to SLOWLY and forcefully slide it to the rear to clear the mechanism AND then swing it out, I just QUICKLY and repeatedly slide it to the rear and pulled outward in one motion and it just magically popped out ! Probably took 5 consecutive trys.

I hope this helps someone else that runs into having issues removing the handle.

 

[Jelly Jim]

Hi,

Did you end up figuring out how to remove your stuck door hande?

I have the exact same problem and cannot remove the door handle by sliding it to the rear and then outward. All the videos and DIY make it look easy to do, but it just seems that something has it bound up. I can get the handle to slide at most 1/8" to the rear, no where near enough to clear the black plastic mechanism to allow it to swing out. I have exerted considerable force to slide it back and worried I'm going to break the black plastic mechanism that's part of the mounting bracket.

I did mistakenly back out the torx screw too much and the black circular ring that holds the lock cylinder fell inside the door, but i don't think that would impact my issue. I do realize I have to buy a new mounting bracket as a result.

Hoping you figured this out as I am stumped !

Hi there,

Unfortunately, I never did get it figured out, so I quietly gave up on the door and the car, trading it in for a Mk6. I suspected it might have been an issue with how far the Torx screw had been unscrewed, but it's hard to say for definite.

Good to hear you got it figured out in the end, though! A YouTube video of what you did might be helpful for anybody else with the same issue.

 

[vwomac]

Additional update in case it helps anyone else.

The reason the handle was so difficult to remove is that when you back out the torx screw in the back of the door, there is a retaining ring that the screw rotates. Backing out the torx screw rotates the retaining ring to free up the lock cylinder and hold down the black plastic mechanism (spring loaded) that is holding in the door handle to free it up. Then its very easy to pop out.

In my case the retaining ring fell out so the spring loaded black plastic mechanism was binding up the door handle. Luckily I managed to get the door handle out.

I actually fixed my mounting bracket and correctly assembled the retaining ring so that it held the spring loaded plastic mechanism so that I could reassemble the lock cylinder and then screw in the torx screw so everything is back to normal. This thread on page 3 has the pictures that detail how to fix the mounting bracket if you backed the torx screw too far out and had the retaining ring get loose. Also shows how it should be (retaining ring) when its holding down the spring loaded black plastic mechanism and open for the lock cylinder.

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86472&page=3

 

[GTIF]

Adding to this thread to help others who are seeking a solution to this problem as I was. The handle would not move to the rear no matter how hard I pulled on it. I even put masking tape on the end and tried hitting it with a plastic mallet. Finally I tried pulling on it and hit the forward end with the mallet straight on and the handle popped to the rear and could then be removed. I discovered what was interfering. At the forward end, the handle had to get past the metal frame, but was butting up against it. When I struck it with the mallet, it slipped past the frame.

 

[GTIF]

Adding to this thread to help others who are seeking a solution to this problem as I was. The handle would not move to the rear no matter how hard I pulled on it. I even put masking tape on the end and tried hitting it with a plastic mallet. Finally I tried pulling on it and hit the forward end with the mallet straight on and the handle popped to the rear and could then be removed. I discovered what was interfering. At the forward end, the handle had to get past the metal frame, but was butting up against it. When I struck it with the mallet, it slipped past the frame. View attachment 204725

It’s that little notch on the black part of the handle below and right of the “mouth” that makes the pivot, nearest the tip of the orange part. That was getting stuck and hitting the handle end inward toward the door got it past the frame. Sorry I don’t have photo editing on my phone to circle the two interfering parts. Hop this helps.
Toby