1990 Door Handle Replacement

[Xtacular]

Hey all,

New member here, and I don't own a Pathy. I do however own a 2002 Xterra, 4x4 5 speed with an ARB front bumper and 1.5" SL. Glad to meet other Nissan enthusiasts. I am active on clubxterra.org, and I think forums and the information in them are invaluable. I'll post some pics of my X at the end of the post.

Now on to what brings me here: I broke the outside passenger door handle off (I'm a total brute right? lol) a friend's 1990 Pathy. I bought a replacement that I am going to put in tomorrow, and I'm just looking for any tips, pics, or anything else. I've removed door panels before but none with electric controls in them (no c clip yea!). My plan right now is to just undo every screw I can see, and pop off the bezel around the interior handle.

Thank you for any help you can provide, and it's good to meet you.

Here is my X:

[mar1]

welcome, you may also want to check out thenewx.org

[Simon]

Hey, that's a nice looking truck.. we never got that model in Australia (well, not that I recall anyway)... shame.

Is ARB stuff easy to get in the US? - or is it everywhere like it is here (which of course it is everywhere here as it's all from here, but it's just bloody expensive!)

I can't really offer a lot of help with replacing the door handles on it as I've never even seen an Xterra, though I'm guessing it's probably the exact same handle as on the Pathfinder (though I've never had to take one of mine out).. but as far as advice goes I'd simply say that you need to note EVERYTHING you unplug, unscrew, or remove, place it all in an orderly place like a tray in the order you take it out.. and if unsure take photos on your phone as you go so that you can reverse the process and put it all in easily.

I'm sure it'll go on well.

Hey, if you are in to your 4wding take a look at my forum, trying to get more people from around the world to join up and post pics and stories to get things happening.. it's not model specific or a 'help' type forum, it's just for 4x4 enthusiasts (so hopefully it won't upset the moderators on this forum by my mentioning it - because I certainly am not interested in stealing users, just encouraging a few enthusiasts to join me as well)
4x4forums.org is where you should go, or through the link in my sig/profile etc.

If you really like your 4wding I've got some stuff (though most of it could've been done in an Cadillac!) info on a recent trip I did to Lake Eyre, the great inland salt lakes in Central Australia, lots of pics and stuff as the lake is almost full now, which is one of those rare occasions.. and you can see my Pathy in all it's glory.

Anyways, good luck with the door handle problem, I'm sure it'll be easier than it might look from the start, just take it slow, and when something doesn't go right stop, take a few minutes break and start again. (can you tell I used to be a mechanic? hahaha)

[Hermit]

If the 1990 is anything like my 1988 inside the door, it's not that hard, really. Roll the window down, *edited: pop off the window crank and any other stuff that might be in the way* remove the lock knob thingy (it just unscrews)remove the door panel. Roll the window up. Then, you can unbolt the backing plate off the outside bit of the door handle. Remove the broken bits and stuff. Try not to drop any of the rods, I dunno for sure, but I'm pretty sure they could end up being hard to impossible to reach. IIRC, I then got the bent plastic bit around the rod and then attached that to the lever arm of the new door handle. Once you get that all back together, then replace the nuts on the studs through the door skin and you're good to go. This would work better with pictures, I'm sure, but I don't have any. Keep in mind, I did this on a 1988 with manual locks, so if the 1990 is different and has power locks, this info may not be terribly applicable, heh.

Good luck! And good on you for fixing what you broke! Good man!