I've had a couple PM's about doing a write-up on the door panel removal, so here goes. My pictures didn't really come out as well as I would have liked, and I didn't take near enough of them, but I think I have enough to explain this clearly. All the pictures below are of the driver's side of a 3-door.
Tools needed:
Some sort of prying tool (screwdriver, butter knife, panel tool)
Torx T30 bit or driver
If you are using torx bits on a ratchet you'll need at least a 3 inch extension
You also might want to pick up some spare clips for the door panel (more on that later)
Step 1:
First thing you need to do is remove the small panel that sits just below the armrest. It is the piece that is removed in this picture:
The red arrow indicates where you should start to pry the piece upwards, it starts to pop up pretty easily and you shouldn't have to use much pressure. Work your way around the piece carefully pulling towards you and slightly upward. Once you reach the rear you should be able to slide it forward. Be careful not to pull the rear section straight out, as it is looped in behind the main panel and you might break something. Once you have it removed, set it aside.
Step 2:
Now its time to remove the three torx screws holding the panel in place. All three are the same size, T30. The are located in this picture by the green arrows.
Make sure not to misplace any of the screws
Step 3:
Now that the screws are removed the panel is help in place by 7 clips on the underside of the panel. This picture of the back of the door panel should help you locate them. remember this is the reverse side of the drivers door.
I had the most luck by starting with lower rear corner (bottom right in this pic) then sliding my hands under the panel and slowly moving towards the front of the car while slightly pulling towards my body. Try not to lift or pull down on the panel, but pull as straight outward as possible. Once you have unclipped to the three along the bottom move up along sides remembering to pull straight out.
Step 4:
Once you have released all the clips you can pull up on the door panel it should slide free of the door. At this point it would be wise to set a towel or something soft on the ground to rest the door panel on while you unclip the door lock wires and such from the panel. I didnt get a picture of how it looked before I unclipped the wires but I can tell you that there are 4 or 5 harnesses all located around the window controls and the door latch mechanism highlighted in this picture:
the latch mechanism simply unclip from the panel by pulling on it, and all the wires unclip in a fairly straight forward manner. make sure not to forget about the little blinking red light thingy on the top of the drivers side panel.
Then we get to the whole reason I started this mini-project; the door speaker. As you can see from this pic, replacing it is going to be quite a bitch. the speaker and mounting ring are one solid unit that is riveted to the inner door panel.
Time for re-installation. Its basically the same steps in reverse with a couple of minor differences. the first is that you need to make sure that the 7 little plastic rivets are are not still in the locked position, you can tell the difference by looking at these two pics I blatantly stole from someone else's write-up. The first is of the clip in a locked position (not what you want), the second is the unlocked position which is what you are shooting for.
Apparently these things have a tendency to break or get stuck in the door, I guess I was lucky. Either way its probably best to pick up a couple spares form the dealership or whatever.
After that, the easiest way to get the panel back on is to remove the felt window strip from the panel by pulling it down away from the door panel. It slides off pretty easy. Going back to the picture from step 3 you can see it as the dark strip at the top. here it re-installed on the door:
Once you've got that done, its a pretty simple. the main thing is to make sure that doors lock and unlock properly after re-attaching the latch cable. It seemed pretty idiot-proof to me, but you never know.
Like I said, this is my first write-up so be patient with me please.
Justin
Tools needed:
Some sort of prying tool (screwdriver, butter knife, panel tool)
Torx T30 bit or driver
If you are using torx bits on a ratchet you'll need at least a 3 inch extension
You also might want to pick up some spare clips for the door panel (more on that later)
Step 1:
First thing you need to do is remove the small panel that sits just below the armrest. It is the piece that is removed in this picture:
The red arrow indicates where you should start to pry the piece upwards, it starts to pop up pretty easily and you shouldn't have to use much pressure. Work your way around the piece carefully pulling towards you and slightly upward. Once you reach the rear you should be able to slide it forward. Be careful not to pull the rear section straight out, as it is looped in behind the main panel and you might break something. Once you have it removed, set it aside.
Step 2:
Now its time to remove the three torx screws holding the panel in place. All three are the same size, T30. The are located in this picture by the green arrows.
Make sure not to misplace any of the screws
Step 3:
Now that the screws are removed the panel is help in place by 7 clips on the underside of the panel. This picture of the back of the door panel should help you locate them. remember this is the reverse side of the drivers door.
I had the most luck by starting with lower rear corner (bottom right in this pic) then sliding my hands under the panel and slowly moving towards the front of the car while slightly pulling towards my body. Try not to lift or pull down on the panel, but pull as straight outward as possible. Once you have unclipped to the three along the bottom move up along sides remembering to pull straight out.
Step 4:
Once you have released all the clips you can pull up on the door panel it should slide free of the door. At this point it would be wise to set a towel or something soft on the ground to rest the door panel on while you unclip the door lock wires and such from the panel. I didnt get a picture of how it looked before I unclipped the wires but I can tell you that there are 4 or 5 harnesses all located around the window controls and the door latch mechanism highlighted in this picture:
the latch mechanism simply unclip from the panel by pulling on it, and all the wires unclip in a fairly straight forward manner. make sure not to forget about the little blinking red light thingy on the top of the drivers side panel.
Then we get to the whole reason I started this mini-project; the door speaker. As you can see from this pic, replacing it is going to be quite a bitch. the speaker and mounting ring are one solid unit that is riveted to the inner door panel.
Time for re-installation. Its basically the same steps in reverse with a couple of minor differences. the first is that you need to make sure that the 7 little plastic rivets are are not still in the locked position, you can tell the difference by looking at these two pics I blatantly stole from someone else's write-up. The first is of the clip in a locked position (not what you want), the second is the unlocked position which is what you are shooting for.
Apparently these things have a tendency to break or get stuck in the door, I guess I was lucky. Either way its probably best to pick up a couple spares form the dealership or whatever.
After that, the easiest way to get the panel back on is to remove the felt window strip from the panel by pulling it down away from the door panel. It slides off pretty easy. Going back to the picture from step 3 you can see it as the dark strip at the top. here it re-installed on the door:
Once you've got that done, its a pretty simple. the main thing is to make sure that doors lock and unlock properly after re-attaching the latch cable. It seemed pretty idiot-proof to me, but you never know.
Like I said, this is my first write-up so be patient with me please.
Justin
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