A few days ago some one tried to break into my truck while my family and I were visiting the USS Lexington in Texas. They used some sort of flat tool (screw-driver?) and tried prying off the passenger door handle. However, they didn’t get the handle off and didn’t make entry.

Now the door does not open from the outside. It’s like the handle is disengaged. Has anyone replaced the inside mechanism for a door handle? Any advice on removing the door panel?

Thanks for any help!

And if you haven’t visited a Navy air craft carrier, you’re missing out on some real fun!!!

 

IIRC there are three screws along the bottom of the door panel that need to come out then the is the large screw at the door handle. Once these are out you need to push up on the door panel to get it loose. The door panel retainers are like hooks that slide into recesses in the metal to hold the panel in place.

The handle/latch mechanism has somewhere between 3 and 5 small round rods running to it that activate the different parts such as the door handle, manual lock, electric lock. These each have their own plastic clip to hold it in place and each is a different size. I had to replace the latch/lock mechanism on the driver's door but the passenger should be similar.

HTH.

 

Thanks for the help.

I'll try to get to work on it this Friday. I hope the parts are not to much!

 

http://www.jimmijammer.com/

 

I had the same thing happen (I don't think anyone tried to break in...the linkage just came loose). There is a small clip just below the handle inside the door panel that came disconnected. It took me 5 minutes to fix.

 

Also, if the handle is loose you may have to push the sheet metal back in where the handle meets the door. The sheet metal is pretty thin. I had a friend have his handle flop around after giving it a good yank when it was locked. If the handle bezel is snug to the door you are good to go, if there is a gap, take the handle off and bend the metal back in towards the interior. This is all under the bezel.

 

UPDATE:

About a month ago, I pulled the door panel off and discovered the outside door handle was only disengaged from the lever that opens the door. I just snapped it back, and now it works fine!