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Loose driver’s door handle

Joined
27 December 2023
Messages
7
The upper right side of the driver’s interior door handle is loose. Has anyone fixed something like this and can explain some ideas on a fix.IMG_1061.jpeg
 
It's probably missing mount screws near that area- there should be eight screws: 4 gold and 4 black. You need to remove the trim panel behind the lever to check.
 
It is really hard to tell what is 'flexing' in your photo.

Door handle 2.jpg

This above shows the door handle assembly removal in the service manual. If the part that is flexing appears to be the complete handle assembly as shown in the diagram then Honcho is probably correct. Somebody lost or forgot the two screws at the very front of the handle assembly. You have to lift the release handle to get at those two screws.
Door handle 1.jpg

The worst case is that somebody attempted to remove the inside door handle without referring to the service manual and missed those last two screws because they are not visible unless you know to 'lift and look'. After removing the 6 obvious screws they may have attempted to complete removal of the assembly by just yanking in which case they may have broken the area around the mounting holes.

Download the 1991 service manual (links in NSX Prime library) and in the body section covering the doors you will find instructions on how to remove the trim piece on the inside of the door handle that Honcho is referring to. With some soft plastic wedge style trim tools it only takes a minute (once you have figured out where the retaining catches on the trim piece are) and this will expose the mounting screws and you can see whether anything is missing / broken.
 
4 gold and 4 black
@Radarnyc if you remove any of those screws, remember where the gold and black go. They're not interchangeable, but they're not different enough to prevent you from damaging a mounting hole by forcing the wrong screw into it.
 
It's worse than that for OP, as the whole assembly and fasteners are highly suspect. And swapped and subsequently buggered retainers might very well be this issues root cause.
Thanks guys. I’ll open it up and see what’s going on in there
 
Indeed. Given where the fracture line is, it does look like somebody tried to remove the door handle with those last two screws still in place. Don't need a service manual, just pull harder school of disassembly.

Without knowing what the EBay Japan vendor price was, the lowest cost reliable source for NSX parts is usually Amayama.com. Amayama supports the complete NSX parts catalog for right hand steer cars. Fortunately, 99% of the right hand steer parts and part numbers are identical to the North American parts.
 
It's worse than that for OP, as the whole assembly and fasteners are highly suspect. And swapped and subsequently buggered retainers might very well be this issues root cause.
Were OP's installed wrong? Ironic that this thread has multiple notes to put them back as they were, but no clarification on the right way to do it. "Back the way they were" is not always correct in my experience, unfortunately. The SM is similarly unhelpful, as are the parts diagrams as near as I can tell. My recollection is that the 4 gold screws are rearward, holding the gold metallic section of the handle assembly, and the black screws go into the plastic (forward) section. But my '01 right door was the opposite, probably done wrong by the window tinter 10 years ago?

The plastic inserts in the door panel that the screws screw into seem the same for both screws, (72124-SL0-003 as near as I can tell). My screws still seemed to have good purchase after a previous owner put them in backwards. OP should probably check them carefully as well, and replace any suspect inserts. It's hard to tell from the pictures at:
but it appears that some screws are #4 and some are #5. (90132SE3003 (6 pieces?), and 90131SL0000 (8 pieces)?). I have them here to check, but since they're self tapping, I have nothing to compare them to. Holding them up, they look the same diameter to me.
 
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I believe the interior door handle fasteners are cadmium/yellow on the sheet metal part and black ones are for the front (black) plastic
 
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