Left ext. door handle loose?

[cherrybomb]

2003 Beetle H/B GL TDI. Left door handle becomes detached except for cable when pulled too hard when opening the door. The lock cylinder stays in the door but can be removed w/o loosing the T20 screw in jam. Have removed both the cylinder and the door handle completely but unable to determine what or if anything is broken or missing? Have no idea what a GOOD Handle looks like. Have watched several U-Tube videos but none reveals what or why the handle comes out of door shell. Any good guides or pics that could reveal why this is occurring? Maybe remove the Right side and compare the two handles?

 

[Nuje]

It gets pretty involved, but if you remove the inner door card, unplug everything, then support the window glass and remove the window regulator card, you get a nice look at what exactly is going on with the door handle. My guess is that if the handle is popping out, something broke and you're going to have to do this anyway to fix / replace, but it'd be good to take a look at an intact one so you know what you need to have on hand to replace before you go in.