Hi, I've been trying to remove the rear door panel on my 2001 Punto and can't seem to remove the window crank handle. In other cars I've had there was a horseshoe clip which had to be removed and then the handle would come off but here I can't see a clip. I've got a repair manual but there's just a photo of the tech placing a flat bladed knife under the handle and no explanation. I tried prying it off this way but gave up as I didn't want to snap the plastic. Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Tom

hi

i just had look at my manual thing and see what you mean. may have same manual mine just shows mechanics hand holding flat special fiat tool. it does say remove handle and ring nut. so maybe its a nut ??? as oppose to a clip holding it in ??? apart from that i cant offer any more help sorry dude good luck

2001 Punto sporting in sprint blue with matching Mr Bump air freshner all together now mmmmmmm

on the brava, you use a cloth and kinda pull it behind the winder. this releases the clip behind it. probably the case for the punto as well

Met Cognac 99 Brava 100 HSX, wish it'd clean itself!

just fitted C-locking so had to get mine off. on the Mk2 its still a clip behind the plastic ring thingy. you need a small screw driver and a lot of patients. i had neither so twatted it with a chisel to crack it then take it off. crude but quick. glued it after. life it too short for dumb clips. can't see the crack easily. however, it is a normal 'C' clip on a metal shaft.

i think if you work a cloth behind it it will catch in the c-clip, the clip will catch in the spindle and will open. this is how the haynes manual says to do it!

Met Cognac 99 Brava 100 HSX, wish it'd clean itself!

yeah but the chisel is more fun....

Thanks guys, I'll give it a go this weekend. Good to know if all else fails there's the chisel trick

Well, I tried to get the thing off to no avail. I managed to pry back the plastic ring thing and really couldn't see any clip. I could see the shaft turning but that's it. The cloth had nothing to snag onto.
So for now I give up[xx(]

its hard to explain really... if you post ur email address i could send you a picture of the thing without the plastic ring on. you could see the pin and its position then... interested?

dc

Yes, that would be terrific! This has become a personal challenge. I'm really pissed that I can't get the thing off[!]
my e-mail is:
[email protected]

Regards,
Tom

will do, its gonna be tomorrow tho as i've only just got home from some stupid meeting the other side of the country....

This clip can be impossible to remove on the rear doors of a Mk2B without bending back the cup that presses against the door card.



1. The clip is about .75cm from the door card. You will never catch it with a cloth


2. The part of the clip that you need to get hold of to pull the clip out should be raised away from the centre part of the handle by two very thin plastic ridges. If these have flattened you will never get the bent wire tool under that clip - even if you can see what you are doing - which you normally totally cannot do.


3. I had an inspection camera inside the cup and could not see what was going on.


4. My solution was to place a piece of wood on the door card and use a very large screwdriver to totally lever the hell out of the cup so I could see the clip. The clip was totally flat against the handle. With difficulty I got a small screw driver under the clip and got it out. Surprisingly using a heat gun I got the cup back to its original shape.



I spent at least two hours getting that clip out!


I had previously made the wire tool for the other door and had no particular problems getting it out.

its easy to remove that clip with knitting needle or small screwdriver, you just need to know where to push

flisko said:

its easy to remove that clip with knitting needle or small screwdriver, you just need to know where to push

Click to expand...

Really? Are you putting that between the door card and the washer? Haynes or somebody has a design where the wire before the hook bends towards the handle. It works fine on one of my doors. With a straight tool you will never reach the clip on my car without bending the washer extremely forcibly to allow a straight tool to reach the clip.

i once failed to get one of these apart so just cut the top of the handle off with a grinder and got another handle from stock