My drivers side handle no longer opens the door from the outside and I took the interior panel off and the plastic sheet, but cannot for the life of me figure out where to begin to remove the door handle without fouling it all up. I can see where the handle lifts and has a hole for a piece that appears to be missing, but I can't get there from the interior so I think I need to remove the outer handle. I just don't want to mess up the outer lock possibly, the window, or more.

Any tips?

Thanks and long time no see, just moved into a house and it's been nuts.

 

I've googled it plenty of times also with no results, I don't think anyone knows how to remove the door handles from an ES

 

It's been a while since I took mine out and replaced them but its a PITA. Once you take off the door panel, lift up the plastic sheeting and you should be able to access the handle. It's being held in place by 2 bolts if I'm not mistaken. It took me a good while to get it off so good luck. And be very careful not to break any other plastics in there. Took me close to 2 hours to change the door handle because of the tight space and you can't really see much in there.

 

Does the locking mechanism where the key goes in come out easily? Or is it also attached to something back there I should be very careful of?

I twisted the wrong bolt slightly (the one most apparent) and the dang window almost fell down. :/

Thank you for the time for the response!

 

I honestly can't remember but I think it should come out pretty easy. The hardest part is removing the actual handle itself. It's been over 2 years since I last replaced it. Good luck with it.

 

So the actual handle has to be replaced? Mine just broke and I figured it was just some linkage in there that either broke or came undone.

 

No, it appears to be the linkage but I can't seem to get to the linkage from the inside of the doorpanel. There is the metal door itself and the window in the way. If I can get the handle out, I think I can find out what has come unhooked or broken. I can barely see the mechanism the door handle uses when pulled up on and I think I see a hole where something was once attached.

I'll take a pic really quick of what the inside of the door looks like once taken apart.

 

Ok, here's a pic of what I can see, I hope this helps. I'm still not sure where to unbolt the handle and if I need the window up, down, or completely removed which would suck



The bolt I'm saying do not adjust is somehow tied to the window and adjusts it I think. I've already turned it, screwed up the window alignment and need to adjust it more to fix it back as it was.

 

I think this Toyota removal is going to help alot:

http://autorepair.about.com/od/other.../aa092504a.htm

 

Thanks for posting this stuff AndyG. Seriously, I have to tackle this very same thing on my driver's side door. I also have to take the passenger side and rear driver's side door panels off as well to diagnose a window issue (not sure yet if it's the regulator, motor, or both) in those two doors. This is going to help me alot.

 

Not a problem, for the time being, I've put it all back together until I can get the proper tools. When I do, I'll take pics of the process and post them. Now that we're all moved and I have a garage to do work in, I'll be posting more work I'm doing to this '95 ES300 including a full stereo removal and installation, interior trim, and more.