Home How To How to Fix a 2G Eclipse Broken Handle

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How to Fix a 2G Eclipse Broken Handle

August 19, 2013

The second generation Eclipse / Talon / Laser platforms have been an industry staple for sporty import vehicles since they entered the scene in 1989. Powered by the 4G63T, a robust 4 cylinder powerplant these vehicles made for awesome bang for the buck turbocharged fun.

While the engine was certainly stout, there’s no doubt that other components of the car haven’t exactly been top quality. One such common area is the driver side and passenger side door handles.

We’ll be repairing them today in a 1999 Mitsubishi GSX, for a straightforward procedure that can be performed by most shadetree mechanics.

The Mitsubishi part number for this replacement door handle is MR712045.

For this repair, you will need :
10mm socket
10mm open end wrench
Flathead screwdriver or spatula
needle nose pliers or pick to remove the retaining clips.

Step 1 :

Take off Door Panel

First undo the screw located behind your door handle.

Next, remove the screw thats located in the door panel handle.

Next up are these 2 screws holding the interior of the door panel in place.

Now take off the exterior pins, located here

Now your door panel should be ready to come off, gently pull from the top and bottom as to not break or tear any push pins. Make sure to unplug your window switches.

Step 2: removing the handle

Peel this sheet back by pulling away at the plastic, try not to tear or get any of the weatherproof sealant anywhere on your body.

Now loosen the 10mm bolts here.

The second bolt is located behind the window, as shown here with this arrow. Use the 10mm open ended wrench to slowly and carefully loosen this 10mm bolt.

Another shot of this elusive bolt with the window raised to the topmost location.

Take extreme care not to drop or loose this 10mm bolt, as it may fall into your interior door assembly if you aren’t careful.

Your door handle should now be loosey goosey and ready for the final removal step, the lock.

Next locate the pushrod on the inside most part of the door, located here :

This rod locks and unlocks your door, take care when removing it from the door handle assembly.

Try to rotate the rod so that the plastic guide clip is not disturbed or broken, this will make your life a lot easier when you are putting the door handle back together.

Step 4 : Removing the keylock

Slightly remove your door handle to expose the circlip that holds your lock assembly in place.

Remove the clip with Needle Nose Pliers as shown here, the clip is easy to move, then the keylock just slides out,

Now with that rod removed, you can remove your entire door handle assembly.

Now you must prep the new handle with all the parts you from your old unit

Step 5 : Putting the new handle in

Take your new handle and line up the lock assembly, as a quick tip we recommend you leave the circlip on loosely so that you can snap it in place easily when the handle is all together.

First slide in the lock ( step 1 ) and then push down on the circlip to lock the unit in place (2), once you have done this, you are just about home free.

Put back the screws and bolts that hold the handle assembly into your door, make sure they are snug and not tight in case you have to slide stuff around or adjust any fitment issues.

And now comes the tricky part as you must finagle your fingers behind the glass, while holding the lock rod in place and guiding it back into your clip that hopefully you did not damage. Remember that loosening your door handle completely will help in rod removal the first time as you are allowed the space to rotate the handle.

Step 6 : Putting it all together