Interior door panel plastic snaps (Vibe 2009)

[alex_nrv]

Hi!I am about to replace the interior window trim (with the felt) because it has been damaged and when I roll down the window, the rubber trim follows down instead of letting the glass slide on it. But the first time I opened the door panel, I didn't know the right way to unsnap the panel... so obviously I broke some of them. Some are still reuseable but some are too badly broken.These are white snaps that you sit on the metal interior of the door, and then you snaps the plastic panel on.I asked the dealer about those parts, but they don't even have those in stock and they worth more than 4$ a piece... so I was wondering if anybody here would know if any online supplier might have those for cheaper?Thanks a lotP.S.: I live in Canada.

[star_deceiver]

Take one of the clips to your local auto parts store. They should have something in a bag that looks almost identical that will do the trick and probably only cost a few bucks for a dozen.

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by star_deceiver »Take one of the clips to your local auto parts store. They should have something in a bag that looks almost identical that will do the trick and probably only cost a few bucks for a dozen.Yep. I know Auto Zone has an entire display with all sorts of different plastic retainers for less then $5.00.

[alex_nrv]

I'll try that. I'm just pessimist as I bet they won't bother much about my plastic clip and just tell me: "that's DEALER, man".Easier to say this than to actually search for it.

[tpollauf]

The clips aren't bad at all to replace, it's the "cracked slot" that they are housed in that could become the problem. Never had the door panel off YET (post a pic for us if you can showing the back side of the panel) but most clips either slide into a grooved plastic slot or similar attachment AND those can crack. Let us know how the repairs go

[alex_nrv]

I had th eparts ordered at GM, waiting for them from the US. I will try to remember to take pictures (not used to do this!) so you can see. I already know that the slots where those clips go are metal... they are directly metal grooves/slots in the frame of the door, so I doubt they wiould break! I might be wrong since I didn't fully removed the panel yet, I just pryed one corner.

[alex_nrv]

YaY!! So I received the parts yesterday and the weather was "okay" (no rain) so I had the opportunity to open my door panel and fix the problems I had and take pictures as I opened the door.Here it is:If you need to, don't forget to lower the glass first! (I learned...)01- First, you need to carefully (you don't want to break any pins!) pry off the doorlock and power window module, starting from the bottom (thin part) and then unplug it:02- Pry off the cover behind the lever that opens the door:03- Remove this screw:04- Now remove this screw (the one alone in the back):05- ... and don't forget this hidden one!06- Now, this part you want to do it VERY carefully if you don't want to break any plastic studs/clips... First, pry off the top of the door panel, near the glass. It will unsnap from the rubber/felt trim. Then, pry off the edge all around the panel at each anchor points, but do this in a STRAIGHT pull. Do not pull only one side of the anchor point. If you don't pry the panel straight towards you, it will put all the force on one side of the clip and you will break its head (like in photo #09). If you apply the needed strength and pull the right way, the clips will unpop from the door frame. The clips will stay A+ if properly unsnapped. The first two clips, I didn't had a clue on how they were attached, but understanding their physics makes them reusable.(No image)07- Here is a look of the interior of the door panel:08- Here's a closer look at the plastic slot where the plastic clips go. You were right tpollauf, the cracked slots are on the door panel, not the door frame itself!09- Here's a look at one of my broken plastic clip, from my first removal:10- Here's a view of the door frame interior:11- There are the two steel cables; one that locks the door (white) and one that opens the door (green):12- This is the back view of the interior door handle. There are 2 grooves where the cables attach. The top groove is to open the door (green wire) and the bottom one is to lock the door (white wire):13- Here, I removed the rubber/felt trim that I had to replace. It's only sitting in the window opening, on the top of the door frame. This is the part where the top of the door panel snaps onto:14- This is WHY I replaced the felt trim... when I was lowering the power window, the trim would fold in as the glass would go down because felt was missing, exposing rubber to the glass... resulting in the rubber sticking to the glass and folding in... (and making it hard for the motor to lower the window).Now... here are two pictures of what the clips look like:It's an easy job. It took me about 30 minutes to take pictures, open the door and explore how to do it well in order to NOT break anything!... and to remount the door panel. Now everything's fixed and working! The rubber/felt trim's price is 61.83$ + tx (in Canada). It was ordered from the U.S. and took about 3 days to receive.Hope this will give some infos and references to some people!

[tpollauf]

Quote, originally posted by alex_nrv » You were right tpollauf, the cracked slots are on the door panelJust as I suspected Identical to the clips/slots on the hatchback trim pieces which I cracked one while removing the trim for my 3rd brake light mod Outstanding tutorial for any of us planning on ever removing the door panel(s). My driver's side speaker is sounding like crap (time to upgrade to something better?) and when I get around to creating my outside mirror mods (LED turn, park & brake indication) then I'll need to open these doors up. Thanks for the awesome pics and hints

[alex_nrv]

You're welcome. It's been a pleasure

[alex_nrv]

I went to a Canadian Tire this week end and without even looking for them, I found generic GM plastic clips for door panels! There was a full 2-panel display of plastic clips. They look VERY similar. I haven't tried them on yet, but I'm pretty optimistic they will fit. I can add the part # from Canadian Tire when I'll be sure they fit!

[alex_nrv]

Finally, I tried on the snaps I got from CT and though they look almost the same, they are too loose when snapped to the door frame, so it's not a great fit. I don't think they had anything else similar. So I'll just live with 2 broken snaps (which doesn't affect at all how the door panel holds).