Recently spent a long day removing my driver's side door panel so I could lube the window regulator, door latch, and door check strap mechanism.

I reviewed several videos and write-ups on how to do this and they were very helpful. One problem area was the interior door handle mounting and trim piece. A couple of the write-ups mentioned a 'catch' that had to be released before the handle trim piece could be easily removed. It took a while to find out I was pushing it the wrong direction. Turns out it is a thin plastic strip that has to be pushed towards the front of the panel to release it. This takes a very thin flat tool inserted about the mid point of the right interior side of the handle trim piece. I've attached a couple of photos that hopefully show enough detail.

After removing the speaker assembly and the plastic liner with felt I cleaned the window regulator slides and gear teeth. I used a liberal amount of Molykote 33 for the slide lubrication and a sticky synthetic grease on the gear teeth and side area. I used the 33 because it is what I had plus it's specs are fairly good. The synthetic grease was the 'Green Grease' that is supposedly waterproof and sticky. I searched for what the 'best' greases were but couldn't find any consistent reliable opinions.

The door check removal and install was fairly simple and as described by a few others. Luckily I had the door in the middle catch position and not fully open. This made cleaning and lubing fairly easy. I sprayed it with brake cleaner and wiped it down til all the old grease was gone. I put a liberal amount on the top and bottom interior grooves and then used a large pair of channel locks to squeeze the check strip into the fully open position. This exposed the middle position and allowed cleaning and greasing of that middle area. I used the green grease for this also.

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