How to Replace Front Exterior Door Handle 2003-08 Honda Pilot

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In this video, we're going to show you how to remove and reinstall / replace the front door handle. We show you the driver side front, but it's similar to the passenger side front as well. The rear doors are similar, but the door panels are a little different and there's no lock cylinder. You'll need a new door handle from 1AAuto.com, small flat blade screwdriver, a longer Phillips screwdriver, a utility knife, 10mm socket and ratchet with an extension, flashlight, and a small hook tool.

Start with a flat blade screwdriver. I just like to pry the bottom of that lens and pull that light bulb out just to save the battery. You can use your hands or a flat blade screwdriver, pry out the top of this triangle piece at the top near the mirror, and the top pops out. Then the bottom kind of goes in and out and now the switch panel, pry at the bottom of it and it comes out and there is three harnesses to disconnect. They all just have little tabs that you press with your thumb or your finger and then pull the harness connection out.

There's a small trim panel behind your inside door handle. Use a small flat blade screwdriver or a pick and pry the top of it out first. There's two black Phillips screws behind there and then one gold screw behind that blue connector and then one gold or cad plated screw down there. Use a Phillips screwdriver and remove those four screws.

Now take your door handle and pull the top of it out first. You want to pull the top out and rotate it out so you can get to the connection that's behind the door lock switch. Again, that's just a little tab that you press in with your thumb and pull it off. The door lock rod is connected, so there's a little white clip that you have to push off with your finger, or you could use a flat blade screwdriver, you push the clip off and then pull the rod up and out. The door handle comes off.

Now firmly pull around the outside of the door handle to release the clips. I mean the door panel, and lift the door panel up and off. There's one more harness on the drivers side there. Carefully pull back your water shield and use the razor knife to cut the adhesive, makes it a little easier. Sometimes they come out without using the razor knife, and for the door handle you just need to pull the top left section of your water shield back so you can access behind the door handle area.
Take off the small clear sticker that's over this hole and try and set it aside. I actually ended up losing it and it fell on the floor and lost its stickiness. Then there's a bolt at the bottom that holds the rear window track in. Take that 10mm bolt out, and then you can reach in, pull forward and down on that track, it comes out.
Looking through that hole, you'll see a small Phillips screw. We'll point to it right there, you'll want to remove that. Just go right through the hole with the screwdriver, remove that screw, then you'll need a hooked tool, and actually if you have a little smaller one than the one I have, you have to reach up underneath and pull the walking clip out of the door lock. You can see me with the tool right there, reaching up through and pulling the clip down. Takes some force, and the clip comes out, and that's what the clip looks like.

Two 10mm bolts hold the handle in: one you can access right through that hole and one is further forward that's easily accessible. Remove those two bolts. There's a bracket on the back where the lock cylinder was. You have to pull that off and there's the bracket. Now unclip the lock rod, this is right in the back of the handle, and you just push that white clip up and use your finger or go get a flat blade screwdriver. Then it takes quite a bit of force to pull the lock rod out. It comes off both clips, which is okay. You work the handle out, you pull it out some, then pull on the handle, and then actually, if you release the handle at this point, it will come out somewhat easier. Took me a second to figure out how to do it.

Our original handle's in good shape, so we're going to reuse it. A new handle from 1AAuto's going to fit exactly like the original. We're going to put the clip back on, but we're not going to install the lock yet. You just put the clip on one side and then pry it over and get down into place on the other side. Your new handle most likely will come with that clip installed, and reinstall, reverse the procedure, put the front end first, and then start with the handle not pulled out, push that down in and then just pull the handle out lightly a little bit to feed it the rest of the way in. Clip it into place, put the front bracket back on, and then you can just start the 10mm bolt into place there.

Feed that rear clip black into place, and it takes a little bit of work to get it on there correctly. Then kind of look through the hole and get it into place. Then start that 10mm bolt in there and then tighten it up as well as finish tightening up the front one. Put the lock rod back in place, get it into the clip at the top, and then flip back down and lock it in place. Then you just push the bottom onto the lever. That's what it should look like once it's all on correctly.

Put your lock cylinder, feed it back into place and get it in there roughly. Then you can better position it looking through the hole, and then use your socket and extension and just push on it from the back. You'll snap it into place. Then reconnect the harness, again looking through the hole, flashlight will help, get it into place. Then use a little bit of glue, put some glue on the tip of your screwdriver so that that screw will stay on when you put it in there, and get the screw into place and tighten it up.

Anything will work, a little bit of regular paste glue, or if you're in a shop and you have some gasket or anything that's sticky just to help keep that screw on the screwdriver. Now we're going to put the window track back in place, flashlight, get it up into the upper track, it feeds in pretty easily, and line it up and put that 10mm bolt back in place. Make sure you're door lock rod, it if fell down goes back up in place, and then put your water shield back up in place. Again, you probably didn't need to remove the water shield to this point, you just need to do that top left corner.

Reinstall that clear circle over that hole if you still have it. Get the panel close and reconnect that lower harness. Then make sure your three harnesses come up through the bottom opening and then your door lock harness comes up through the top opening then lift the panel up into place. It slides down into the window ledge, get the door lock in place first, usually actually if you kind of pull the bottom out and push it down over the lock, it will go on a little easier. Set the door on the door window ledge and then push it down and help that lock through. Once it's on there right, the clips around the perimeter of it line right up and you can just give it a tap around the perimeter and lock it in place.

Put the bottom of the triangle trim piece in first, and then rotate the top up and lock it in place. Put your door handle in place, bring it around, you'll actually want to reconnect the lock rod first, you just got to work the rod into the hole, and then flip the clip around and lock it back on. It's almost impossible to video so you just kind of see me here working it. You can hear it snap in place there, then reconnect the power door lock harness and then slide the bottom of the door handle in first and then push the rest of it into place.

Fast-forward as I put the four screws back in the two that hold the door handle and if you see me, I put that trim panel back in place as well. The two larger cad plated screws that hold the door panel in place. Make sure your door's unlocked so you don't lock yourself out accidentally and reconnect all the harnesses in the master switch and the mirror switch. Put the front of the switch panel back in place first and then push the rear of it and the middle of it down into place. Replace your bulb and lens.
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