Removing door panel

[kssciguy]

I did a search for 'door panel', but didn't see anyone discussing the removal procedure.My wife's 04 vibe has a problem with the window/lock switch panel. Basically, it has come apart, and I need to take the door panel off to fix it. I don't have much experience with plastic-clipped door panels, so I thought it prudent to ask before I go shoving an old panel removal tool in there and break something.It looks to me like I might need to remove the tweeter pod first. Her car came with the "moon and tunes" package (or a similar name), so these tweeters were factory.Have I missed a guide, or could someone walk me through the door panel removal and reinstall procedure? Is there a special tool to remove door panel clips?Thanks!

[tribalman]

i'm not sure on the moon and tunes, but with my 04 base it's super easy. on the front of doors there is a little black plastic triangle right near the window. that one you can just grip and pull it off. on the door there are 2 screws to remove. one is in the little handle the other is covered and is located a little above and behind the door release lever. once those are out i take a knife and carefully slide it between the plastic cover and the metal. i then pry it apart and move my way around the door until it comes loose. you can then lift the panel up and move it around a little. you have some movement but because of the controls you don't have too much. there are then 3 screws holding the controls in place. if you remove those the door should be free. to put back in just do in reverse. if you need me to i can take pictures and post them for you. if your problem is what i think it is, is the panel loose and partially popped up and able to move about? if yes, one of the clips got broken. i had this happen too. i tried to super glue it but it just broke again. i can't recall the price of a new one because it didn't matter that much for me to replace. plus costly IIRC.

[JohnC]

We need a "how to" section on this forum. Here is what you need, I hope.http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=24086

[Wolfman213]

We've got one right here, maybe you should contact either a moderator or the creator of the thread and see if they will put that on there.

[kssciguy]

Yes, that is pretty close to what I need. One part says:Carefully pry up at the top of the electric window/door lock control panel, pull the top of the assembly out about ½”, then pull the whole assembly up and out. There is a L-shaped piece at the bottom that prevents it from coming straight up and out.Does this mean you JUST pry up on the top (at the lock/window lock end) and it pops out? Or do you need to take the door panel off first, then remove the panel?The Moon & Tunes package includes speaker 'pods' where the triangular mirror mount covers normally go. I suppose I will need to pop those off first, probably by hand.From what you all posted, it sounds like maybe it would be best for me to order a new panel instead of trying to fix this one. Is that right?

[tribalman]

i assume this is the part that's the trouble : to remove the door panel you need to first remove 2 screws. one is here located just to the right of the lock(on the driver's side door). the other is located here inside the handle . also pull out the "cup" so it looks like this: now you can carefully remove the plastic part that i assume holds the tweeters .this is easily removed. i just grab like so and pull. if you cannot get a grip you can use a knife and insert it carefully and pry it off. Now to start on the big door panel. i usually start in the the bottom left corner. I insert a knife and then lift the knife's handle to carefully pry it apart. after you get all the plugs separated it the panel will look like this at this point you can just grab the sides and lift it up out of the channel that also has the window. you will have some room to maneuver the panel but not much because of the wires for the control panel. in order to remove the control panel you need to rotate the big plastic panel around so you have access to the 3 screws holding the control panel in place. i remove thse because i always have troubles with plugs like the one shown. i can't ever easily remove them. there will then be 1 clip holding the cover in place. it is located near the solo screw you removed just moments ago. as you can see here, the bottom clip on my cover is missing. this is just a piece of plastic and is easily broken to put it back together just do the reverse. put the panel in the window slot, line up the white plastic clips, hit the door to get them to insert into their proper holes. put the tweets back in place, put the screws back in. as long as i've got this out i'm going to check with a pontiac and toyota dealer and see how much they are going to charge for it and possibly replace mine. i'll let you know the costs.in all this took me 20 minutes to remove because i was trying to hold things, take a picture, and make sure the sun wasn't washing out the images. any questions post here or PM me.

[tribalman]

haven't heard back, did this help kssciguy? i went to the dealerships to get the price on the cover. at a pontiac one the guy couldn't find the part number in his computer program. at toyota they quoted me $20, but said it would probably be a different color. so i'm looking for other venues to get a vibe one.

[vibolista]

Maybe one of the Trix owners could tell us... I don't remember the first gen Trix interior bits being a different color than a Vibe. If you see a Matrix... take a look inside.

[kssciguy]

Yes, it has helped--I did not have to take the door panel off after all. With the images here as a guide, I popped the switch panel off at the clip and have begun repairs.If anyone figures out how to order the Vibe (silver colored) switch trim panel, please post it here! I'm going to try to fix this one well enough to make it work, but it would be nice to get a new one.The reason my wife's was in such bad shape is that the single screw attachment at the top of the switch panel was broken too--so the switches were hanging by just the two lower screws. I'm going to get that fixed and put it back in so at least the switches work.

[kssciguy]

One more question--when I took out the switch panel, there was a pair of wires that did not connect to anything that were wrapped into the wiring harness. I think they were both white, one of them was white with a dark tracer, and their stripped ends terminated in a soft, clear rubber/vinyl cap. Any idea what those could have been for?The car has power locks, windows, mirrors, and the good audio package. I can't imagine what other option would have been available that was left off...

[kssciguy]

Okay, I took the switch panel out without removing the door panel, since after looking at the mechanism in this thread it seemed I could do what I needed to do with the door panel in place. Worked fine.I decided to try to repair the switch panel since I had the stuff in my workshop. The damage: 1. The single screw post at the front/top of the switch panel was broken off at its base. 2. The main clip at the rear/back of the trim panel that holds the panel down was broken. 3. The locator tabs on the right side of the panel (closest to the driver) were all broken off. Looking at how the door is constructed and how the panel flexes when you push on the chrome/plastic bar, I am not surprised at this.I found most of the main clip just below the switch pod in the door and was able to get it out to use it as a model for the repair. It is a very weak design.First, the post. I used a two-part liquid epoxy to repair it. I left the screw post mounted to the switch pod, and epoxied it into place, clamping the post for a day before testing it out. It still seemed weak, so I added some epoxy to strengthen the repair, and I put a couple of rubber O-rings under the screw head so that the switch body can rock a little bit side-to-side without stressing the post. I had to put a little sliver of plastic into the screw hole to tighten it up and keep the screw from backing out of its new location.On the rear clip, it was too weak and too much was missing to try to repair with epoxy. I used a piece of scrap steel sheet to form a replacement that clamped down with the two existing screws. I used a tool called a "nibbler" to shape the steel plate; you could do this with a fine metal saw, but it is WAY easier with a nibbler. I shaped it so that the far edge of it (the tab) was in about the same location as the original plastic tab.When I installed it, the panel fit fine and is securely held down. It has a tiny amount (1/8" or so) of side-to-side movement at the bottom/back if you wiggle it, but otherwise it stays pretty firmly in place. The switches work fine, and while you can tell they have a tiny amount of give if you are looking for it (from the rubber O-ring modification), the switch action feels normal.