Door handle.

[Alex from GA]

'99 electric door locks. The drivers side spring is either broken or came off somewhere, the outside handle flops. Sometimes the key or fob won't open the door I have to get in the passenger's side and use the inside handle to unlock the door. What's the problem and how do I repair it? Thanks.

 

[swshawaii]

How To: Drivers Exterior Door Handle Replacement | Ford Explorer and Ford Ranger Forums - Serious Explorations

 

[koda2000]

You can either replace the exterior door handle (which isn't that hard to do) or add a spring (search floppy door handle fix) to re-tension the handle. The springs in the handles, usually the driver's door as it's used the most, almost always break. There's a good STICKY with pictures on the "add a spring fix" in the section on the first page of this forum (Forum's Best Threads).

 

[ImpactF0nt]

Same exact problem here, I temporarily Jerry rigged it to lock and unlock, but only electronically, and sometimes the unlock sticks and i have to open the door from the inside through the back door. It works though, not sure how, I just like removed the top black plastic ring and tinkered with some of the inner workings of the door. It's only a temporary solution until I can get it fixed the right way. EDIT: The key doesn't turn when you put it in the door BTW. Also before I made it work, it wouldn't lock at all.

 

[koda2000]

Here's the link to the "add a spring" door handle fix. I did it on my '01 EB 5 years ago. Still works. I've also replaced a few exterior door handles on other Expl's. See post #19 for a good pic.

door latch problem solved - temporarily maybe??

 

[vroomzoomboom]

if you cant or dont want to do that, all the exterior handles are the same from side to side, and front to back.

 

[koda2000]

if you cant or dont want to do that, all the exterior handles are the same from side to side, and front to back.

This is true and I've found the cheap ones off eBay seem to work just as well as the OE and are equally durable (which is not saying much) but you have to paint them to match if that's important to you. There also seems to be a choice of smooth or satin finish. At one time you used to be able to get them from Ford already painted, but that seems to have been discontinued. I install mine with SS pan-head Phillips screws and SS nuts with star washers or Nyloc nuts w/flat washers. If you use SS hardware, be sure to put a little anti-seize on the screws to prevent galling. The front handles are quite easy the replace, the rears are a little harder due to limited space to get the washer/nuts on.

Tip #1: I've managed to get excellent results painting the smooth replacement handles using a light grey primer, touch-up spray paint and several coats of clear. Once dry, a little rubbing with polishing compound will get the paint looking like OE.

Tip #2: Through '97 the door handles were made of metal and they can be substituted for the plastic ones.

Tip #3: Keeping your door handle linkage and latches lubed helps to prevent the plastic handles from breaking. The handle springs are a different matter though.