1997 Ford Explorer. Driver's door won't unlock. | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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1997 Ford Explorer. Driver's door won't unlock.

Shanebrian

New Member
Joined
February 19, 2011
Messages
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City, State
Oklahoma City, OK
Year, Model & Trim Level
97 XLT
I can not unlock the door with the driver side door lock but the door will unlock using the passenger door unlock. Driver door lock will lock all doors. Replaced switches on driver side door. Can anyone help me figure this out? What could be causing the problem?
 



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+1. I have exactly the same problem with my 97 EB. However, since I am tall enough to lean across to pass side lock switch, I have been unwilling to get into the door hinge wiring bundle. You can also use your remote to unlock all the doors once you turn off engine.
 






Between the door and frame driver side you will see a rubber boot going to a large cannon plug with a 10mm bolt on top. There may be a tie wrap around the rubber boot where it attaches to the plug.
Back out the 10mm bolt to remove the cannon plug (female) from the door. It's a captive bolt which won't come out completely, you'll see the plug moving away from the male side. Pull it lose when it stops dropping down.
Remove the tie wrap and peel back the rubber boot. You may see a broken wire which will need to be resoldered with shrink tubing. There's not much room to work depending on where it's broken and little to no slack to be gained, so you may have to add a section just to have something to work with. 18 ga I believe.

Mine was a pink wire with green or light green trace. All other doors would not unlock from driver side master switch, but would lock. Close anyway.
Mine was completely broken in two so it was easy to spot.
 






Thank so much, you were absolutely correct.
 






I seem to be having this issue with my blue '97. So far the door lock unlock function and the drivers window won't work when the door is open. I'm glad I found this info with the search feature. I will also say that it is nice on this forum when you look up an issue from the past and find an old post about it and revive it, you don't get chastised for doing so. Thanks to those in the past for posting!
 






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