exterior door handles

[c12mgf]

is it easy enough to remove these as am looking at getting them painted the same as the car.

[bobada]

Not personally done it but found this.......

Front Handle removal
===============

Disconnect power to the door by disconnecting the multi-block power connector near the door hinges.

Open the (front) door & find the latch mechanism at the back edge of the door. There are 3 screws holding the latch in. Near to these screws, nearer the outer edge of the door you will see a black round plastic grommet/cover, about the size a of 5p piece. Prise it out to find a small hole in the door. If you look carefully in the hole you will see a silver coloured lever thingy. The idea is to use a short piece of wire with a short right-angled bend at one end to reach in and hook behind the end of the lever to pull the lever TOWARDS YOU (I can't remember if you pull at the top or bottom of the lever). It's not that stiff.

When you succeed in this you should find that the small back section of the outside door handle (the bit that does not move when you pull the handle i- called the lock barrel) can now be slid outwards (do it with your finders/nails so as not to scratch anything). Once out its then possible to pull the main handle out & backwards to free it from the door. On handsfree locks YOU MUST RELEASE THE WIRING TO THE HANDLE BEFORE YOU TRY TO FULLY REMOVE THE HANDLE FROM THE CAR.

To free the wiring you need to open the 'Door flap' inside the car on the door in question. You'll need to pick out the plastic plugs that cover the screws securing the inner door release handle & electric window switch housing - on the front doors you will also need to remove the grab handle and storage bin in the armrest (if you have one), remove the screws underneath the covers and free the handle and switch housing. Then disconnect the wiring from the window switch and remove it. Prise up the upper door flap (the fabric panel that goes from the bottom of the glass to the arm rest) by releasing the panel clips - you'll need to pull quite hard, start at the hole left by the window switch - start at the bottom as it folds upwards along its top edge. This is all detailed in the Megane II Haynes manual.

With this panel open you will just be able to see the wiring inside the door leading from the outside handle (moving part) - follow the wiring about 4 inches (you might need to remove a small black plastic splash panel to get access) and you wil find a connector. Release the connector and you will then be able to fully remove the handle from the door.

On close inspection you will find that the handle is in 2 main parts - a burried screw at one end (NOT under the silver domed bit in the middle of the handle back) can be removed to allow the handle to be separated into 2 pieces.

Inside you will find the lock button switch, spring, wiring and receiver antenna which are all one part.

Replacement is reverse of removal. Finally push the silver coloured lever INTO the door interior to fix in the lock 'barrel' which holds it all together.

The central locking will not need to be reset.

Reconnect the power and reset the window by winding it all the way down, then all the way up and then keeping the switch up for at least 2 seconds.

[c12mgf]

ta mate