71cutty455
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- March 16, 2008
- Messages
- 151
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- St. Louis, MO
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1998 XLT 5.0 V8 AWD
I ran into this problem a little over month ago. I was leaving the gym and hit the button on the remote to unlock the doors, heard the normal clunking sound but when I pulled the door handle nothing happened! Driver's door was still locked! Hit the button a million more times and watched the plunger move a bit each time but still locked out. I had to open the rear driver's side door and stick my arm up to the front inside door handle to open the door so I could get home.
Once I got home you know the first thing I did was come here to see if anyone has had the same issue and I found plenty of posts talking about the same problem. Some people have replaced the door handle completely and some just add a spring to the handle as a fix. I decided to just dive in and see if I could figure out another way to fix it.
So it seems the problem is there are springs on the door handle assembly that eventually break. Those springs keep tension on the door handle and on the door lock actuator rod. Once they break it creates some play on the actuator rod so when the lock actuator is activated from you hitting the unlock button it can't move the rod enough to unlock the door. You also end up with a flappy door handle.
Basically to fix the unlocking issue you have to remove the play on the actuator rod, here's how I did it -
First step - Remove the door panel, make sure the window is up first! This has been covered many times so I won't go into too much detail and I have no pics but you pretty much just remove the 2 screws above the inside handle, then remove the small trim cover from around the inside handle. Then starting at the bottom of the door and pull the panel away from the door to release all the clips along the bottom and sides then pull up on the panel at the bottom of the window to release it from the door. Then just undo the electrical connectors and set it aside.
Second step - Remove the rear window channel. First remove the clip holding to yellow and black wiring to a bracket on the channel then remove the 11 mm bolt attaching the channel to the door near the bottom of the door. Then you can just grab the channel and pull straight down.
Next - Take a look inside the door at the latch area. This is what you will see.
Basically the fix is undoing the yellow clip attached to the lock rod and moving it to a higher point on the rod to remove the play. Notice how the clip is attached near the middle of the threaded portion of the rod.
You will need some type of pick or small prying tool in order to unlatch the clip. Here is what I used -
Then pry forward on the clip to unlatch it -
Unlatched -
Now pull the rod out of the clip -
Now move the clip to the highest point of the threaded portion of the lock rod and relatch it -
Test the lock a few times to make sure it works correctly, you will have to temporarily replace the door panel and electrical connectors to do this. If everything works fine then slap it all back together, you're done!
Unfortunately this does NOT correct the flappy door handle but I can live with that as long as I can open my door lol.
Anyway I hope this helps if you're having this problem!!!
Once I got home you know the first thing I did was come here to see if anyone has had the same issue and I found plenty of posts talking about the same problem. Some people have replaced the door handle completely and some just add a spring to the handle as a fix. I decided to just dive in and see if I could figure out another way to fix it.
So it seems the problem is there are springs on the door handle assembly that eventually break. Those springs keep tension on the door handle and on the door lock actuator rod. Once they break it creates some play on the actuator rod so when the lock actuator is activated from you hitting the unlock button it can't move the rod enough to unlock the door. You also end up with a flappy door handle.
Basically to fix the unlocking issue you have to remove the play on the actuator rod, here's how I did it -
First step - Remove the door panel, make sure the window is up first! This has been covered many times so I won't go into too much detail and I have no pics but you pretty much just remove the 2 screws above the inside handle, then remove the small trim cover from around the inside handle. Then starting at the bottom of the door and pull the panel away from the door to release all the clips along the bottom and sides then pull up on the panel at the bottom of the window to release it from the door. Then just undo the electrical connectors and set it aside.
Second step - Remove the rear window channel. First remove the clip holding to yellow and black wiring to a bracket on the channel then remove the 11 mm bolt attaching the channel to the door near the bottom of the door. Then you can just grab the channel and pull straight down.
Next - Take a look inside the door at the latch area. This is what you will see.
Basically the fix is undoing the yellow clip attached to the lock rod and moving it to a higher point on the rod to remove the play. Notice how the clip is attached near the middle of the threaded portion of the rod.
You will need some type of pick or small prying tool in order to unlatch the clip. Here is what I used -
Then pry forward on the clip to unlatch it -
Unlatched -
Now pull the rod out of the clip -
Now move the clip to the highest point of the threaded portion of the lock rod and relatch it -
Test the lock a few times to make sure it works correctly, you will have to temporarily replace the door panel and electrical connectors to do this. If everything works fine then slap it all back together, you're done!
Unfortunately this does NOT correct the flappy door handle but I can live with that as long as I can open my door lol.
Anyway I hope this helps if you're having this problem!!!
