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Door linkage clips and other door opening questions


scotts90ranger

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I am in desperate need of the clips for the doors (mainly the rear gate) as at a mere 17 years old they are dead... My 2000 explorer has 206K on the clock and the rear gate doesn't open unless you move the latch by hand from the inside and the passenger rear door is stuck closed (won't open from the inside or outside) and every other door doesn't open until the very top of its travel...

So, any tips? I needed a couple other things on Amazon so I ordered two of THESE and three of THESE since they say they are fairly universal and look like what is broken...

Any input would be appreciated as it would be nice to open the doors reliably :)

Any tips on getting the rear door that is stuck closed open? I imagine it's going to be a PITA no matter what but I'm sure I can't be the only one that's ran into this before, considering I saw another explorer for sale where only the front doors would open and only from the inside... Maybe should have picked that up for the $350 they were asking but I don't need more projects...
 


alwaysFlOoReD

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I've had luck going to the local auto parts and looking for the brand name "HELP". Usually they have a section devoted to the less well known parts.
 

HardRooster

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Those kits are universal enough, the different colors indicate different sizes and styles so make sure you open up the panels and check before you spend the money, as you may need two of the same kit to get the one clip you need out of it. Also, you may find you need door panel clips, you may break a couple getting the panels off to access the door clips. Use a proper clip removal tool to avoid this problem. I have THIS set along with THIS set, but I'm a body man so it's worth it to me to have these tools. For you, you may just want to find something like THIS instead. That's the one I use the most anyway.

As for getting the rear door open, get yourself a metal coat hangar and a small flash light. Roll the window down and look between the window felt gap. (You can pull the window felt out if you need to, you'll have a lot more room, but it can be a PITA to get out and back in, so I'd try to avoid it unless you have experience doing it) Look around in there and you'll see the latch mechanism, (not the door handle) you can hook it with the bent coat hanger and get the door open. (Doesn't have to be a coat hanger, can be anything you're mind can imagine to hook the latch)
 
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AzLizard

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Been getting them at O'Reilly auto parts.
 

scotts90ranger

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Ok, cool, most of the kits that I was looking at on Amazon said Dorman/HELP! so I figured they would be the same... From looking in the doors I remember seeing yellow and white clips so I think these should work.

Thanks, hadn't thought of going through the window opening...

Now if I can find the title so I can get this thing on the road, the clips should be here Wednesday
 

scotts90ranger

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Vehicle Year
1990, 1997
Make / Model
Ford
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2.3 (4 Cylinder)
Engine Size
2.3 Turbo
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
6
Tire Size
35"
Thanks, it's coming together some... there's been some "high quality" mechanicing done on this thing... the rear window popper is broken, it stopped working so they pushed hard enough to break the plastic housing at the top nut, the rotating pin that turns to unlock won't go to the right place to push the latch. This is keeping the linkage for the rear gate latch from doing it's similar rotate the pin thing for the latch as well... Of course you can't see what you're doing or what is going on in the latch so it's hard to work on...

I think I'm going to have to unhook all the linkages, get both mechanisms from a junkyard and just spend a couple hours staring at it, I can kinda see how it's supposed to work but can't get my hands in there or get it to work how it's supposed to...

The window felt on the rear door is out already, haven't gotten to that door yet, put like 900 miles on it in just over a week...
 

scotts90ranger

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Ford
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2.3 (4 Cylinder)
Engine Size
2.3 Turbo
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Manual
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
6
Tire Size
35"
I have the rear hatch working now, half off sale at the junkyard and grabbed the whole latch mechanism and a bunch of other random stuff for $42.

Turned out one of the two springs in the door latch was missing and someone had pushed hard enough on the window button to drag on everything... To avoid rekeying I took half the "new" window latch and half the old window latch and put it together. I drilled out the two brass bushings that were swaging the two halves together but luckily they had enough drag to hold it together long enough to put in place... I need to screw with the linkages a bit as the key doesn't unlock the door but it's lockable and functional now.

Got the passenger door lock working, someone really abused the linkage, still doesn't work right and now the drivers lock is catching and won't lock...

Still haven't gotten to the rear passenger door, someday...
 

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