Drivers Door Inner Handle doesn't work

[kenc195]

2002 Sport, 2wd,

Simply went to open the drivers door to get out and nothing happened. Lever pulled with no resistance and sprung back. Door opens from the outside. Is there a known weakness so I can get the parts before tearing it apart.

 

[koda2000]

The rod that actuates the latch may have come loose due to a broken/popped clip, or it may have simply come off the handle. Only way to know for sure is to remove the interior panel and have a look.

IDK if the 2002 interior door handles are like the earlier handles, but they tend to break eventually and no longer trigger the rod to move. They're cheap and easy to replace. I've bought a few off eBay for around $8 and they work fine.

 

[SoCal2V]

Removing the panel only takes about 5 minutes (maybe like 7 if it's your first time), and really the only way to know for sure what's broken or disconnected is to pop it off and look.

The handle itself is weak where they hook onto the actuating rod as mentioned in the above post, I had to replace the same one in my driver door a while back on my '96 Explorer (basically the same handle). Think it was about $6 at rockauto.com.