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Door panel removal DIY. Warning! image heavy

217K views 97 replies 69 participants last post by  sacandagadave 
#1 · (Edited)
Door panel and lock removal DIY. Warning! image heavy

This is done on my '05 with power windows and locks. I'm pretty sure they're all set up this way but the SC might be different.



Remove the 2 screw covers and the speaker grille.





Remove the 6 phillips screws. One under the armrest, two on the door handle and three on the speaker.







cont...
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Push forward on the door handle to release, disconnect the door handle linkage and the power connector. Yes I'm wearing gloves... it's freaking cold today. You see how much I go through for you guys.







Remove the two trim pieces (top front and rear). The front one is removed by pulling at the top and lifting off.



The rear one is, sometimes, not so easy. It is supposed to be pried off from the bottom corner but it uses a metal snap-in that can be pretty tight. Once that clip is loose it lifts off to the front.





If it's too tight and you're worried about scratching/breaking it there is another method in the beginning of my Door lock problem thread.

At this point it should look like this.



All around the outside of the panel are plastic snaps that hold the panel onto the door, mine has eight. You could use a door panel tool but they're not that tight, just grab the panel and pull towards you. Once they are loose lift up on the panel to remove.



cont...
 
#3 · (Edited)
With the door panel loose, AFTER YOU ROLL UP THE WINDOW!, unplug the power connectors.



Sometimes those clips will stay in the door. If they did, remove them and put them back on the panel





At this point it should look like this.



If you're removing your panel for some other reason, have fun, knock your self out. If you're doing it to fix your lock the rest is for you.

Remove the plug that's holding the sheet of plastic stuff and peel it off enough to work inside.



Remove the tape covering this hole.



Through that very hole you should be able to see the top of the c-clip that keeps the lock in place. With a mirror you can see the bottom.



 
#4 · (Edited)
Now comes the fun part. Somebody somewhere probably makes a tool for this but I sure as hell don't have one. I used a long flat tip screw driver to push down from the top to give me room to hook it from the bottom and pull down. It's tricky cause you can't see what you're doing but it is possible. Once the c-clip goes flying you'll probably need a magnet on a stick to find it at the bottom of the door.





Disconnect the door lock linkage and push the lock from the outside-in.







GOTO door lock problem & come back when you're done.

To make life easier on yourself you'll want to put the c-clip back in before you install the lock. Remove the two 10mm bolts that hold the door handle and whatever that metal bracket is called.



The door handle should now be loose and you can put the c-clip back in.





cont...
 
#5 ·
Replace the handle, metal thingie and bolt it down. It is now ready for the lock to be snapped back in. After it's fixed of course.





As you can see this was done on the drivers side, in order to do this on the passenger side follow these simple instructions.

1. Save all pictures to your computer
2. Open them in your photo editing program, such as photoshop.
3. Flip images horizontally.
4. Save images and refer back here for text.
:wink:

Good luck
Pierre
 
#8 ·
Very nice DIY. The door panels are not that bad. It's getting them back on that's a real pain (with any car). Just the part sliding the piece into the window slot... other than that, nice and easy. Keep in mind for 03-06 owners who are removing the rear door panels that you have to get a 14mm socket wrench to remove the bolt holding on the seatbelt before you try to remove the lower door panel. It comes off fairly easy, but its long - 3-4" if I remember correctly.
 
#11 ·
c-clip removal

For the life of me, I couldn't get this off with the method described. Eventually, I MacGuyvered a solution - I used a sturdy piece of string with a loop on one end, hooked it over one of the C ends using a piece of wire, and pulled. It worked like a charm, and the c-clip was attached to the string, so didn't go flying.

Pete
 
#13 ·
For the life of me, I couldn't get this off with the method described. Eventually, I MacGuyvered a solution - I used a sturdy piece of string with a loop on one end, hooked it over one of the C ends using a piece of wire, and pulled. It worked like a charm, and the c-clip was attached to the string, so didn't go flying.

Pete
That's brilliant!
 
#14 ·
Awesome work! I'm too tired to coherently comment right now but I'll give it a closer look tomorrow.

BTW do you have a set of these for the suicide doors? :D



 
#15 ·
I did this last year to paint the little covers where the window button is (ok, and to get the quarter out that fell into my door and sounded like a mchine gun).
 
#16 ·
I completed this operation this past weekend. Great directions here, but taking the door handle and lock cylinder out was not necessary.

Thanks for the pics! One thing though, my sheet metal is SILVER!!!!!! Woohoo! They are slicker through the air!
 
#17 ·
Thanks bro very good the specification of everythings
 
#22 ·
Did the swap today, piece of cake.

Thanks for the info. I put my macbook on my ram mount and followed along. Be careful on those three screws holding the unit in place. Use a large phillips. They strip out easily. Also, put the inside latch linkage in first.

** To reset the auto window feature, roll down, then up and hold the button for 10 secs.
:lol:
 
#23 · (Edited)
door lock replacement

thanks a lot for the nice instruction (panel removal and door lock replacement)
however i almost gave up when i came to the c-clamp removel. sounds almost impossible without the right tool and i do not know how you got this done in the cold colorado winter.
anyway i was ready to give up and go to the dealer until i realized that there is NO NEED to remove the door lock at all.
just remove all the links and continue as suggested by sliding the part out to the bottom (after removing and bending away the window rail).

btw mine was a honda elelement EX 2003 and door lock failed (115k miles).
honda dealer in california quoted
part: $70
labor: $220

i ordered the part from kragen $28+tax and spend 2.5 hours to do it

i put everything together and no parts and screws are leftover

thanks again for the instructions

Erhard
 
#24 ·
Two hundred twenty labor to pull a door panel! Good grief! Well... that is why I did the post, cause it's really not that hard. Were you able to keep the one key for all?

You're quite welcome,
Pierre
 
#26 ·
C-Clip not doing its job any more

Thanks for this post - I followed your instructions and everything worked great! I slipped a looped wire over the C-Clip to pull it out. However, just the other day I used a key to unlock the door. By using the key, the lock pushed forward into the door, so I guess the C-Clip doesn't work to hold the lock in place any more. Has anyone else had this problem or come up with a solution? I originally had put the C-Clip back just like in the pictures of this thread.
 
#27 ·
...By using the key, the lock pushed forward into the door...
First I've heard of that. Have you gone back and checked your work and made sure that the lock "snaps" in place? It's possible that the c-clip got bent enough so it doesn't hold as well.

cheers
Pierre
 
#28 · (Edited)
Many thanks for this post!

I just finished replacing my front door speakers and dash tweeters. Your post and photos Really helped me a ton!

I needed to remove the door cover to be able to fish the tweeter wires through the rubber flex tube between the door and dash.

The only problems I had were breaking two clip connectors on the panels, one on each door. I'm not sure how I could have prevented that. but there are seven remaining connecters intact. So, I'm not going to worry much about it. I also broke of a screw cover under one panel door handle.

I didn't realize that it was hinged, so I pulled it off. Again not worried since it isn't very obvious.

Others getting ready to remove the panels might also want to be careful not to get the super thick grease on their fingers from reaching too far under the panel when pulling them off. The grease is used to hold the white plastic cover to the metal door structure.
 
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