I am having door handle/lock problems with my driver-side front door, and would like to remove the door panel to investigate.
Can anyone provide me with the details on how to remove the door panel? It seems that it should come out in specific steps, and I am not sure which steps are first. Thanks in advance.
The interior door panel "hangs" from a channel that runs under the window opening, and is held primarily with plastic fasteners. First you need to unscrew the two philips head screws under the door handle, then use a putty knife to gently pull the door panel off the door starting in a bottom corner. You will need to take out the light at the bottom right of the door, which you twist and pull out, and you need to take out the door handle from the panel. If you are careful with the fasteners, you can reinstall them on the panel and reuse them to install it back on the door. It really isn't very hard, I had all 4 doors off to replace the speakers and and reinstalled in an hour or 2, including time soldering connectors.
=Vic= Bear Gap, PA
Bob wrote:
Take out the two screws just above the inside door opener.
Put your fingers around the bottom of the inside panel and start to gently ease away from the door. Watch for little white things pinging off onto the garage floor. Save them.
Don't put at the top of the door as the panel is set into a channel at the top.
You objective at the top is to lift the door panel over the door lock plunger and not pull the cables off the switches. Lift the panel with firm but careful force. Start at the rear and work forward. The main switch panel just slides out to dangle on its wires, the top mirror switch just disconnects and comes away with the panel.
My 98 XLT doesn't have a light.
If your having trouble with your door handle (springs bust?) ask away, I just fixed mine.
Jethro
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