Hello there Accord Forums,

I own a 1996 Honda Accord LX 4-Door. I found that the passenger interior door handle became chipped and resulted in a hole in the plastic cover. Later on, another hole appeared.



The interior well plastic is quite strong and a passenger probably could not make a hole with his thumb alone. I have no explanation to how these holes appear. I wonder if the community has seen this occur in the past. I am not looking to fix it, but I am trying to figure if I am the only one experiencing this.

 

I have the same issue with mine.

The handle has a large plastic J shaped hook on the back connected to the handle cover it slides into a metal slot on the door, holding the handle to the actual door. Usually when you pull on the door handle too hard it which is attached to the cover it breaks that little hook on the back that keeps the cover in place. Since the hook is all plastic and part of the cover itself it takes a big hole out of the face. Common problem for this generation. They get old and brittle over the years. It probably pulls off the door panel alittle if you try to open the door also. Usually any self picking junk yard should have one for cheap

 

On the plus side, replacements are readily available cheap on ebay. I just replaced my driver's side inside door handle assy when the handle broke (plastic also). It cost ~ $8 including shipping. Unit worked OK, but actuator arm retainer grommet did not fit (ID too small) and I had to reuse grommet from previous door handle assy.

The replaced unit was a replacement itself, so I'm on my 3rd door handle assy.

good luck

 

I'm actually in need of replacing the door handles on both the driver's side door and the passenger side door in mine. Is it just a constant thing to have to replace them? Is there a different type of door handle that I can get that would last longer, i.e. a metal one?

1994 Honda Accord EX

 

It is very common for the inner door handles to fail. You can look on ebay and there is a wide selection (perhaps all made at same Chinese factory!) and there is OEM. I can't say that aftermarket was better or worse than OEM.

I managed to repair one of my 90 Accord door latch assy's (same as 94) which split vertically. I used J&B epoxy w/ ripstop nylon (old umbrella material) to make a reinforcing patch after butting/gluing the crack seams w/ J&B. It was still holding when I sold the car. This will only work if the plastic is broken and crack is accessible.

good luck