I was attempting to remove the door latch mechanism to repair the weak locking motor in my 2000 Excursion, and I got stuck on one of the linkages. I spent 45 minutes trying to figure out how to undo it with out breaking it before I gave up yesterday. The bottom horizontal linkage that goes to the visible lock latch (ie that which moves up and down in front of the window) was easy. The one that has me stumped is the vertical linkage on top that doesn't seem to have any obvious function. There is a plastic green sleeve on the bottom of it that holds on to a threaded connector rod, and I believe that this is what must be removed to release this linkage. But I couldn't figure out how to release it for the life of me.

 

http://www.jimmijammer.com/Ford%20Su...ial103002.html

see if that helps you out...

 

Hmmm .... So it is the handle pull rod that was giving me difficulty. I assumed that I could remove the assembly without removing the handle from the other side of the door. I think that is an incorrect assumption. Thanks for the link. Those are very detailed pictures for door panel removal.

 

ya you don't need to take off the door handle or anything. what it is i think you are describing is the rod that goes to the key lock on the out side. and at the bottom of that rod where it attaches to the door lock assembly the rod is threaded, right.

if that is the rod you are talking about. then the plastic piece that the threaded rod goes onto bends in half. the plastic piece has two tabs on each side of it. if you feel them bend them up a little and then the one side of the plastic piece will fold back and the threaded rod will just fall out. it took me awhile to figure that out but once i did i can get the door actuators out in about 5 min now.

 

i actually found a pic for you. if you look at the top of that thing you can see that white piece. that is what i am talking about. you see how half of it just unfolds. the rod goes in between that, so just figure out how that comes apart and you should be good.

 

That is exactly correct Jeron. That was the only linkage I struggled with. I was afraid I was going to break it before it would open. I will go back and try again. Thanks for the pic and the tip!

 

no problem man and ya it is kinda hard at first. i pried it open with a small screw driver the first time until i figured out how it worked. once you know you can pop it off with your finger pretty easily.

 

This helped me ton's when doing mine.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...&albumid=12198

 

Thanks Nick. That was incredibly detailed. Would have saved me a lot of time if I had seen that prior to starting that project! Live and learn. Gotta love FTE.