nll714

The exterior drivers side door handle on my 95 LS400, made of fiberglass, had a small crack in it that progressively got worse each time I opened the door putting stress on it. There is now about a 1.5 inch crack in it that runs vertically. If I go to open the door "normally", putting 3 fingers underneath and pulling up, it seperates and I'm afraid its going snap off. To open the door without doing more damage, I have to use one finger on the far right hand side, which isnt a big deal, but its a pain in the as.s.

Is there any sort of epoxy or something that I could apply to the crack that will work or does this require a full replacement?

If it does need to be replaced, any idea what kind of expense I'm looking at to get this done? I refuse to go to the dealer for this fix, unless necessary. Any suggestions of where I can take this / what kind of shop will do this work?

Thanks for your help.

edtbjon

It's possible to find them on salvage yards etc. If not available there, a new door handle assembly will probably cost around $80-100. The thing is to find one in the right color, so maybe getting a new one is the way to go. (On the other hand, my dark green metallic 95 looks black to most eyes nowadays, while it's a nice green inside e.g. the trunk space.)
It shouldn't be too difficult to fix it yourself. There is a tutorial on how to remove the inner door side on LexLS.com (which describes a gen.1 car, but the door sides are just about the same). After that it should only be a matter of some patience and working in the limited space inside the door.
A quick and dirty way of fixing it would be to use some epoxy and also glue some kind of reinforcing bar on the back of the handle. That will sort it for the moment and unless you want the car to be in an immaculate condition, maybe that will be enough.

//Björn

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

the door handles are NOT fiberglass, they're pot metal. a new one from carson costs ~$120-140 and comes pre-painted.

toxictv

I'm in much the same boat as you are, op. One side of my handle is broken (the inside part that actually bolts up) so it grinds on the rest of the door handle whenever I open the door. I cruised google shopping and ebay a month or so ago and found good results..

Search eBay. I've found em for anywhere from $29 to $80.

Also try Google Shopping..I've had a lot of luck there, several door handles listed.