Prothe door handles

[theman53]

I need some door handles. MK2 jetta. I have been looking for some and all mine really need attention. I can only lock the driver door with the key, the rest including the trunk I can't lock. The passenger side front and rear doesn't want to open anymore and the front pass is broken from the ice storm we had.

Prothe has the complete kit for cheap, but I have heard bad stuff about those ones. I was looking at his "upgraded" ones that look like they cover the door more. Kind of like the audi handle. Let me know if they are any good or if I should be a guinea pig.

[maxfax]

Are you talking about these:



Personal experience is they suck..  Nothing good to grab onto and pull the door open if say it's frozen... The little piece that you lift to unlatch the door is plastic, and also the only thing you have to pull on...

I've gotten several of his standard replacement handles and I felt they were of the same quality of any other aftermarket replacement door handle such as Dorman (aka Help).. Probably the same supplier for all I know..   Not quite as good as the genuine article but okay for the money.. 

[Rabbit79]

That 'MK1 autohaus' guy on e-bay has a lot of door handles. Don't know for sure how much MK2 stuff he has but he does have some. A lot of it is NOS according to his ads. Might be worth a look.

[Wayland]

I bought three of his MkII stock-style handles. They work, but that's about all I can say for them. The fitment is very poor. I won't be buying any more of these from him.

[theman53]

Yeah I was talking about those above. I figured it would be beefier than stock and look a little better. Guess not. I see the ebay ones but you are looking at 4x the price almost, but if they last 25 years I won't mind. Another 100.00 but maybe I go with the cheap crap to get me buy until I can get it figured out. I would just like to lock my car sometimes

[VWCaddy]

Might try opening up the door lock and see if you can fix the locking issue.  I did similar with a hard to operate door lever:
http://www.4crawler.com/Diesel/CheapTricks/DoorHandles/index.html

[rabbitman]

I buy the 10-15 dollar handles, they last plenty long.

I've discovered that for long door handle life the latch mechanism MUST be clean, just remove the two allen screws pull the white plastic lock lever off and unhook the wire for the inside latch. Let it soak if something strong the get the crusties out and then scrub it and blow it out.

After this I lube mine with spray white lithium grease, it works nice but any grease will make dirt stick worse and thus need cleaning sooner, I'd rather clean them often than buy new handles every year.

[theman53]

I should expain.
My doors lock, but I don't have keys for them. Trunk works fine as well...no key for it. 3 of the 4 outer door handles suck at opening I guess it the problem. Is there a way to find keys for what I have? If so I only need to buy 3 handles and let it rip. It is just so easy to change them I figured I would.
I guess what I will do is get the original ones and deal with it if there isn't a way to find keys for these

[rabbitman]

Are the handles on your car used from different vehicles?

The only way I know of to find the right key is IF the pass door handle is factory it should have a four(?) letter code in it and a locksmith can make you a copy off that. In the event that you need new door handles, you can get them minus the lock, swap your tumblers in and use the same key. But it sounds like it's too late for that.

[theman53]

All are used handles and only the driver door locks. I would like to be able to lock the back and then open either front door. I would really like to be able to lock the trunk. Right now I keep nothing important in it for that reason.

[mystery3]

All are used handles and only the driver door locks. I would like to be able to lock the back and then open either front door. I would really like to be able to lock the trunk. Right now I keep nothing important in it for that reason.

Having a trunk is nice sometimes-I never leave anything in my car that's worth more than the window and therefore never lock my car, if you want to break in go ahead there's not really anything in there.

[R.O.R-2.0]

take the lock cylinders out, insert your key, then grind down the tumblers to fit your keys..

thats what ive done in a couple cars.. the lock cylinders come out with 1 small screw..

[theman53]

take the lock cylinders out, insert your key, then grind down the tumblers to fit your keys..

thats what ive done in a couple cars.. the lock cylinders come out with 1 small screw..

I have looked at the inside but never knew how to do it. You should do a write up with pics so I can learn.

[R.O.R-2.0]

do you still have the same cell number? i think i still have your old number if its the same..

i gotta make sure mk2 door handles are as easily modified as mk1 handles tho. i remembered i did the mods to mk1 handles..

then i will make the write up, or call and walk you thru it..

[theman53]

I have used MK1 handles on MK2...don't know if they are interchangable perfectly but they work. Never change the cell.