sergttom

Thanks for the info. I'll try ebay.

sergttom

I guess this would be worth a try, thanks.

sergttom

Whatever you find would be most helpful.

sergttom

I'm in Orange County. My car has the tan colored interior.

sergttom

Will cutting the wood part of the panel expose the cables? It's been a couple of years since I replaced the motor on the front passenger door, so I only have a vague recollection of access to the cables.

sergttom

I've never engaged the child safety locks, so I don't think that this is part of the problem.

JonGS3

There's a couple tan ones for sale for around $100 https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...panel&_sacat=0

I might pick one up since I haven't been able to find one locally.

lexo98

iTrader: (2)

I just popped of my door panel to take a quick look. With that door closed your not going to get it off without destroying it. I would use a Dremel and cut around the wood panel to get to the cables. If that doesn’t work your gonna have to rip that panel apart. It’s gonna take me a minute but I gotta see if I have another right rear door panel somewhere

TW99GS300

This should give you an idea of the structure of the rear door lock / latch and door handle.

AgedGS

What lexo said. I spent a ridiculous about of time trying to remove the back tint in mine over the past couple of days, and haven't gotten any pictures of the door panel, but I did see that when the door is shut, the place where that back screw is located is "pinched" in between the door & the body, so I'd agree that the whole panel can't come off without destroying it. The cables might be partially accessible by taking the wood panel off, but it doesn't look like you'll be able to get them off the back of the interior door handle with the panel in place.

JonGS3

So I finally got mine open. All you have to do is tear away the leather cover under the wood panel. Then behind that is cardboard material that the leather is stapled to. I tore the cardboard out and was then able to access the cables to get the door open.

The only problem is I screwed up and ordered what I thought was a tan panel which turned out to be grey. I suppose it will do for now until I can get a tan panel.

TW99GS300

If breaking the panel, probably easier to do it at the handle area so the cord is within easy reach.

lexo98

iTrader: (2)

So then why weren't the door handles working?

JonGS3

Good question.

When I pulled the actuator out I noticed that the lock cable housing wasn't properly seated in the actuator body I think it was stuck in the lock position. The manual lock was really stiff and didn't move much so my guess is that having access to the entire cable allowed me to pull it just enough to unlock the door.

I also noticed the actuator must have some kind of roll over "sensor" inside it. When I was testing it before I installed it the 2nd time, I noticed that it would work when held at the right angle but if I leaned it to the side or flipped it over, the electric lock/unlock button would not activate it unless I held it at the same angle as when it's in the door. I think I must have triggered this when I installed it the first time as I couldn't unlock the door manually or with the button. Upon re-installation, I had to hold it just right as I wiggled it into place.

I think these two screw ups when installing it at what led to it getting stuck locked shut.

LexusK

iTrader: (14)

Did you notice if it was possible to get to the cable through the wood? I want to minimize the amount of damage I'd be doing to the panel as a whole and figured going in behind the wood would be best. Can you still reach the cable from that area, or do you need to grab onto the metal end/ball of the cable in order to unlock the door?

Edit: Just saw the video a few posts up. Looks like you can. Just gotta cut through the wood and then that cardboard/cloth looking thing. Cable seems to be suspended right behind that.