Hi, my driver's door handle broke a while back and I have been managing since by openning the back door and reaching in to open the front using the inside handle, or asking the passenger to open it for me, or leaving the window open and reaching in that way. I'm getting fed up of that, and my MOT tester told me it is a reason for a fail so I should sort it out soon. The handle pulls out and springs back when released, but it just doesn't do anything to open the door.

It broke when I tried to open it - I heard a metalic noise of something falling down the inside of the door so I'm guessing it a metal clip or something that has sheared off. I have been reluctant to open up the door card as I will probably end up driving with it in pieces for ages until I get around to buying the replacement part, once I find out what it is. Is this a common problem, and what part is it likely to be? I'll probably just have to take the card off to have a look, but is there something specific I should look for (I'm hoping its just a clip and not a whole new handle mechanism)? as an aside my wife's VW had the same thing but it was the inside handle and it turned out to be the plastic moulding on the door card that holds the cable to the lock mechanism - so I just cable tied it back together. Hope its as simple on the Ford.

Hi, getting the door card off is only half of the problem, there is an inner panel as well, with around 10 screws holding it on to the door, plus electric plugs, and the inner door handle. you need a basic set of tools and some forked door levers plastic type to get the door card off. having an Haynes manual No 4807 will help you

Thanks, I've got the Haynes Manual but I don't always find it very good for the details and is sometimes just plain wrong. Are the forked door levers basically to get in under the trim to pull it off - bit like sticking in a screwdriver and leveraging it?

I'll just have to give it a go and see where it takes me.

yes the levers are used so that you do not damage the door card or the clips, you can use screwdrivers, you will need two one for each side of the clips, when using screwdrivers you need to take care so not to damage anything, once you have a couple of clips unclipped the rest will be easy.