98ExplorerGuy
Member
- Joined
- May 12, 2007
- Messages
- 44
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- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1998 Explorer XLT
I'm not sure if this has been reported before but ought I would mention it.
The driver's door latch assembly on my 98 Explorer XLT has been acting up for a while now. When I unlock the doors with the remote or the inside rocker switch, the door lock button only pops up 1/2 of normal or less and I had to use great force to try to lift it the rest of the way or push it down manually. Thankfully, it always worked well enough that I was able to open the door with either the inside or outside lever. I knew this was going to probably get worse and was waiting for warmer weather to arrive before attempting to open the door panel and have a look inside.
Well, last Friday it got much worse to the point that the button would barely popup at all and I had to climb in from the passenger side and unlatch the door from the inside. Expecting the worst, I prepared to remove the door panel when, at the last moment, I noticed this:
(click to expand)
The door button as you can see above is so badly mangled that it was hanging up in the guide hole. With the button removed, the latch lock assembly works perfectly. I temporarily stole the button from the passenger door and all is good now.
So, in short, sometimes the cause of a "broken" latch/lock is not in the door latch or the linkage but something much simpler.
The driver's door latch assembly on my 98 Explorer XLT has been acting up for a while now. When I unlock the doors with the remote or the inside rocker switch, the door lock button only pops up 1/2 of normal or less and I had to use great force to try to lift it the rest of the way or push it down manually. Thankfully, it always worked well enough that I was able to open the door with either the inside or outside lever. I knew this was going to probably get worse and was waiting for warmer weather to arrive before attempting to open the door panel and have a look inside.
Well, last Friday it got much worse to the point that the button would barely popup at all and I had to climb in from the passenger side and unlatch the door from the inside. Expecting the worst, I prepared to remove the door panel when, at the last moment, I noticed this:
(click to expand)
The door button as you can see above is so badly mangled that it was hanging up in the guide hole. With the button removed, the latch lock assembly works perfectly. I temporarily stole the button from the passenger door and all is good now.
So, in short, sometimes the cause of a "broken" latch/lock is not in the door latch or the linkage but something much simpler.
