rwo

The inner door handle return spring on my 2001 Boxster gave up the ghost on a Sunday and here's a quick synopsis of the repair. Scotch tape will work to keep the handle flush, but those pesky German engineers would undoubtedly frown. Being cheap and since Porsche was closed....... Remove the door panel, I followed the directions in Bentley but figure there's a link on RennTech as well. The spring broke at the door handle, losing approximately 1" of length plus the "U" shaped end that connects to the door handle and pulls it flush. Without the spring the door handle lies off the flush position and the window drives down to the "door open" position. Disconnect the other end of the spring and pull the sleeve off. I figure the sleeve is to reduce vibration/noise. Secure the spring (GENTLY!! don't crush) in a vise. With a propane torch heat a few top coils cherry red and stretch out straight with a pair of needle nose pliers. I estimated the length needed and added a little extra to form the "U" Here's the not very scientific part, a little knowledge and the internet are dangerous things when combined! Springs are tempered and I was afraid heating the spring would reduce temper and eventually allow the spring to stretch and fail to work. Reheated repair area and top few coils to "cherry red", plunged into oil to quench Placed the spring into a toaster oven at broil for 40 minutes and let cool naturally (no quenching) . Reassemble 6 months and 30,000 miles later it's still working. Don't know if the whole reheating/quenching/heating was needed but it hasn't appeared to hurt. Hope this helps someone, RennTech has been good to me... Rich