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.

Attached Thumbnails

   

Question:

When I removed my door panel a couple of broken black plastic pieces and two white plastic pieces fell to the ground. Also I found a little white plastic washer that also fell out.

I checked the back of my door panel a couple of times but couldn't find where the black plastic pieces had broken off. I did find a single black unbroken plastic piece that looked identical and it had a white plastic piece clipped to it. That white piece matched the two that were found unclipped.

Photos show the pieces plus the one still installed. Any of y'all have any idea where they came from? I don't have a clue where the little plastic washer goes either.

Attached Thumbnails

     

Attached picture shows where those clips go. Pictured panel is missing one. You could repair with a couple of self tapping screws with fender washers to distribute the load. There might be a service bulletin for the dealers on how to repair cause it was a very common problem if someone has access.

Not sure where the washer came from. Is it about the same size as the plastic spacer washer that is on the pin holding the door check to body?

Attached Thumbnails

 

Texas you did a good job on the lube up . And the check straps are a pest .Every year i get the car out, the doors go off like a 12 bore shot gun when you open them. Even fitted new ones and greased them up well before fitting back in place. So i took a look at these straps . To grease up ,the best way is to use a large vice knock down the end tab so the ball and the holder can be withdrawn from the channel , the balls do have a hole in them so i fill those with molly grease then fit them back in to the rail or holder bending the tab back in to place. . then fill the rail up with grease .One thing i have done is used a syringe with a small bore tube on the end, to get oil in there it works for some time before it returns again. Some of these check straps do come with a plastic cover over them and this keeps all water out .

1st, Rick76 and optimusprime thanks for commenting, it helps fill in some of the blank spaces in my knowledge on how to do things better.

From the comment on my two white clips and broken black plastic retainers, I'm thinking ( & might be wrong ) that when I pulled my door panel straight up to remove it, I pulled it too far up & with too much force. From Rick76's picture the two clips & retainers help hold the speaker cover in place. The door speaker assembly protrudes into that speaker cover and the impact of the cover hitting the speaker assembly probably snapped off the retainers that help hold the speaker cover.

Guessing I should limit the upward motion to just enough to have the door panel retainer clips clear the metal they clip onto. This probably would have prevented them from snapping off. Sometime soon I'll tackle the passenger side door and try to limit the upward motion.

The comment on the little plastic washer made me check for images of the door check strap pin. ( I could have checked the passenger side, but it was raining ) I found most images showed the little plastic washer goes on the pin and directly beneath the check strap. Guess this makes sense cause it would prevent metal rubbing on metal. Thanks for the comment.

It does appear the check strap will need removing and greasing periodically to prevent it from causing trouble. Too bad they're not fitted with grease zerts somehow.

Yesterday I pulled the passenger front door panel, cleaned & lubed the window regulator and door check. I was hoping to not break the two black plastic retainers that have white plastic clips. Guess they were previously broken by a previous service person.

The door panel picture shows a washer and screw added by someone near the door lock cutout. I thought I would be the 1st person to pull the door panel but obviously mistaken.

I controlled the door panel upward movement by using a bottle jack and a cloth covered 1x4 to put lift on the bottom of the door panel. It worked easily and lifted the panel in small increments until the clips were high enough to clear the cutouts in the door. I had a problem with the top of the door panel coming loose from the lower window rubber piece. That rubber piece came off with the door panel.

Other pictures show the door check strap moved into the flat area between two of the indentations. Lots of green grease after cleaning and the little white washer in proper position on the door check pin. Took about 3 hours with a few iced tea breaks.

Attached Thumbnails

         

Although it makes sense for the plastic washer to be on the bottom of the door check strap, all that I have seen are on the top.