HELP get door open!

[palallin]

Hi, folks. It's been a while since I psoted here because our '98 Ex hasn't been giving me problems till just this month. I've got some engine headaches, but those are for another time and place.

I have a door problem, and I hope someone can give some advice because I am STUMPED.

Passenger front door. Since we've had the Ex, the door lock ocassionally sticks. I turned off the auto-lock so it wouldn't have the chance to and forbidden anyone in the family to lock the thing. We've had to hit the switch many times to get the lock to open.

About 6 months ago, someone accidentally locked it. In trying to get it open, my son pulled the interior handle unit out of its place. About 10 minutes of trying to fire the lock finally got it to open, and I then sort of jimmied the handle unit back into place. I should have done more then, but I kinda lost track of it.

Then, a couple weeks ago, I had it at the dealer for the engine isse, and I told them: DO NOT LOCK IT. Naturally, they promised they wouldn't and then locked it anyway

To their credit, they tried to "break in" with a strap, but they couldn't pull up on the mechanism. We tried pulling the lock button up, and it simply pulled out of its bracket. I have tried to get the lock to fire 100,000 times but no joy.

If the door were open, I'd pull the interior off it and start digging, but the door is closed. It's locked, and I can't get it open to work on. My wife is tired of crawling over the console to get in.

HELP!

 

[FIND]

You can pull the door panel off with the door closed, it is just difficult to do, and that is what you are going to have to do. Otherwise, you can unbolt the seat and slide it out of your way. Once you have the panel of, you can reach inside and actuate the door lock or latch mechanisms. The lever for the lock on the latch mechanism isn't hart to find, just trace the rod to the latch from the actuator.

 

[JCat]

You can pull the door panel off with the door closed, it is just difficult to do, and that is what you are going to have to do. Otherwise, you can unbolt the seat and slide it out of your way. Once you have the panel of, you can reach inside and actuate the door lock or latch mechanisms. The lever for the lock on the latch mechanism isn't hart to find, just trace the rod to the latch from the actuator.

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I had to perform this on the left rear door. Same situation as palallin.

 

[palallin]

OK, thanks. Some direction on pulling the panel off? I guess start at the bottom and work up?

 

[Vic_Ferrari2002]

Start in the middle by carefully prying off the trim ring around the inner door handle. Then take out the 2 Phillips head screws just above there. After that you can start at the bottom and work your way up with the plastic pop clips that hold the rest of the pane on. The door lock/window controls will slide in and wont need to be disconnected.

 

[FIND]

You may also find it easier if you remove the kick panel in front of the door so you can get a good place to reach in. removing the bolts from the seat so you can move it out of the way makes it a breeze, but it is not necessary. Just move it all the way forward to pop off the back side of the door panel, and all the way back to remove the panel. Otherwise, the rest is just the same as Vic described.

 

[palallin]

OK, thanks to everyone's help, I have the panel off and the door open. I don't really know HOW I got the door open: I just pushed and pulled and pried till it popped.

Now, I could approach this two ways: one is to disaaemble the innards of the door, replace what needs to be replaced will OEM stuff from Ford (after robbing a bank to get the $$$), and fix it all up gooder than new.

The other method is to diable the electronic lock in that door to prevent it from being accidentally locked and wait till I can find the innards in a junk yard and then fix it.

I choose #2. Can anybody then help to make sure I do that correctly? I could go in and snip every wire handy, but I don't want to make things worse. I can see a pair of wires with a disconnect near the lock, and I can see some other wire(s) near the key cylinder. I *assume* these are the wires to disconnect, but I don't want to pull the wrong ones and disable the window.

Can anyone verify that the wires I am looking at are the ones to disconect? Can anyone verify that doings o will not disable the wondow motor?

Thanks for all the help so far and for any further advice!

 

[Turb]

WHy don't you just disconnect the lock actuator. If you have the panel off it will be on the bottom left corner inside the door(drivers side door that is). If you unhook the connector to the actuator you won't have to cut any wires, window will still work, and the electronics will no longer lock that door. Just don't accidentally push the little lock indicator pin down ever(obviously) or you'll have to start this process over.

 

[PitCrew]

I too am having a problem with the door lock sticking. The passanger door would lock fine but would not always unlock. Just jiggled it a few times while unlocking and it would eventualy unlock.

Unfortunatly the problem has spead to the drivers door now, I tried the jiggling trick again but was a little too eager and pulled the door lock off the door.

Currently not locking the door, but going to fix now. I have searched the forum and found some good links that might help other.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=216605&highlight=unlock+sticks

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=189495

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165081&highlight=door+handle

 

[JCat]

Surprisingly, the whole door latch mechanism is cheap at your local Ford dealer.

I think that Ford is keeping it cheap for legal reasons.

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[palallin]

WHy don't you just disconnect the lock actuator. If you have the panel off it will be on the bottom left corner inside the door(drivers side door that is). If you unhook the connector to the actuator you won't have to cut any wires, window will still work, and the electronics will no longer lock that door. Just don't accidentally push the little lock indicator pin down ever(obviously) or you'll have to start this process over.

That's the plan; I just want to make sure I disconnect the right wires. I would have to reinstall the lock knob/pin for it to be a problem, and I am not likely to do so. Locking the doors would simply make some yahoo smash the windows to get in.

 

[palallin]

I too am having a problem with the door lock sticking. The passanger door would lock fine but would not always unlock. Just jiggled it a few times while unlocking and it would eventualy unlock.

Unfortunatly the problem has spead to the drivers door now, I tried the jiggling trick again but was a little too eager and pulled the door lock off the door.

Currently not locking the door, but going to fix now. I have searched the forum and found some good links that might help other.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=216605&highlight=unlock+sticks

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=189495



http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165081&highlight=door+handle

EXCELLENT; thanks!

 

[palallin]

Surprisingly, the whole door latch mechanism is cheap at your local Ford dealer.

I think that Ford is keeping it cheap for legal reasons.

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Have yet to find much "cheap" at the local dealer!

 

[Turb]

That's the plan; I just want to make sure I disconnect the right wires. I would have to reinstall the lock knob/pin for it to be a problem, and I am not likely to do so. Locking the doors would simply make some yahoo smash the windows to get in.

Inside the door, bottom left corner, only one plug connects to the actuator and middle of the door left side is the bar for the lock pin.

 

[palallin]

Inside the door, bottom left corner, only one plug connects to the actuator and middle of the door left side is the bar for the lock pin.

Since I'm int he passenger door, do you mean right corner?