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How to Replace Door Latch Assembly 1988-2002 GMC Sierra 1500

Created on: 2020-05-26

Watch this video to learn how to install a new door latch assembly on your 1988-2002 GMC Sierra.

Tools needed

  • Hammer

    Socket Extensions

    Trim Tool Set

    Safety Glasses

    Pocket Screwdriver

    Pick

    Cutoff Wheel

    Socket Driver

    Phillips Head Screwdriver

    Center Punch

    Drill

    10mm Socket

    Painter's Tape

Now, before we start this job, it's important to make sure that you have your window in the up position, it's going to make it much easier overall. So, to start getting the door panel off of here, we're gonna need to remove some stuff. You're gonna have a couple of little plugs here, and those are covering some Phillips head screws. So, I like to just pop those out with my flathead screwdriver. Now, we're gonna use our trim tool, and we're gonna remove this outer plastic piece here. To do that, there's gonna be a little clip hidden inside there, there, and over here. So, I'm just gonna start right along here. Continuing with our plastic trim tool, we're gonna lift up on this plastic piece here, starting from the rear. There we are. Let's disconnect all this wiring. Switch right here. Just pull that right out of there.

The next thing you're gonna wanna do is remove this area right here. Yours is probably gonna have a nice lens cover over it, ours is broken. You just kind of come right down along the corner here, then you should be able to pop it off. Now, we're gonna disconnect the wire. Pull up on that. Separate the two. Now, we're just gonna use a little forky tool to remove this push clip right here. Now, we'll move along up to here. Now, we're gonna remove this piece right here, it should pretty much just lift straight up and out. There we are. Now, let's continue with our trim tool. We're gonna come right down along the bottom of the door panel and try to break it free. Wiring down in here. Okay. Let's straight up on it and remove the panel.

So, the next thing you would wanna do is slide this. There's a little area right here that looks as though it should have a screw. Ours does not, but if there is one, just remove that. And then once you do, you should be able to slide this and then draw it away. Right behind here, you're gonna see the rods that run right along here and connect over there. We're gonna disconnect them from the backside of this. Let's pull this out to where we can see. I can see this rod. It's gonna come down with my nice small screwdriver, and just try to separate these two parts. There we are. Do the same to the other one, of course.

Next, it's gonna be time to remove the speaker. There should be a screw here and there. Ours are missing, but remove those two screws. And then right here, there's a little tab, push on this and then you should be able to pull the speaker away from the panel itself. Now, we're gonna disconnect the wiring that goes to it right there. Let's tape up this window. The next thing we're gonna do is start carefully pulling this plastic back. And this is so that we can get to all the wiring because we wanna make sure that we can disconnect it and have it nice and safe after we take off this panel. There we go. That looks pretty decent. So, now we're gonna remove this plate right here. You're gonna notice that there's a whole bunch of these mounting bolts right there. They come all the way around. All of them are the same and exception of the one right here. We're gonna carefully try to move this around to see if it breaks free. You wanna keep in mind that the window regulator is mounted to this plate, and the window regulator also is attached to the glass up here. It has a couple of little rollers that are gonna go into a track. So, if we were to pull this down, we could, of course, pull a tug on the window which might pull it down. The window is glass, so obviously, you wanna wear eye protection. Safety is the number one concern.

The next thing we need to do is remove the rivets that are holding the window regulator to this panel. You can do that with something like this, with a drill and a nice drill bit, or you can do it with something like this with a nice cut-off wheel. Obviously, if you use a cut-off wheel, you might nick this area around here a couple of times, in which case you would just paint over it and it's not that big of a deal. That looks pretty good. I'll punch the rest of that out. Hammer and punch. Go right for the center there. Okay. Those popped out. We have one more here. Here we are. The window regulator can move around. If you look right through here on the panel, you're gonna see where the rods are secured to the panel itself. You should be able to push those away. There's one right over here as well. Awesome. Just remove the bolt. So, now you have the rod that comes through this right here. We're just gonna pull that right down. Okay. This is looking good. Now, we're just gonna let this dangle. Obviously, you wanna make sure you don't put any weight on any of the wires. We don't want to give this any tugs. We're gonna grab onto the window regulator. Just slide it towards the front and then we should be able to pull it down, assuming I can get it out of there. So, now we just need to disconnect the wiring for it. Squeeze right there and draw it off.

Now that we have a clear view, we can remove this 10-millimeter right here. And then if you were to look on the outer portion of the door, you're also gonna see another 10-millimeter. So, now I can move the handle around. And you can see this little metal clip right here, that's what's holding in this rod. If you come right down along here with your pocket screwdriver, there's a little tab. You just pull that out and away. You can bend it a little bit and then you should be able to lift up on this clip. There it is. And then once that's up the rod, you wanna come right out of there. Now that we have all that out of the way, we're gonna remove these screws so we can get this off of here. So, now we can move this around. I'm gonna see if I can get this up and out of here. Now, I'm just gonna draw up on that rod, pull this right up. Now that we've got that out of the way, we can grab onto this. We're gonna try to move these rods because we're gonna have to try to twist this to get it out from around there. Get this right out of there. So, we're just gonna do a quick comparison of our two latches here just to make sure we're dealing with the same objects, we have all the same parts, we have the areas where the rods are gonna go on, that's super important. And of course, the overall appearance looks the exact same.

Now that we know we have the right part, let's continue on to removing these rods. And we're gonna do them one at a time, and we're gonna put them exactly where we got them from on to the new one. To get these off, you just come right under here with your small screwdriver and lift up. Once that's bent and lifted, you should be able to come like this and move that whole piece, and that's gonna release the rod a little bit further here. That came right out. Like I said, I'm gonna do them one at a time. I'm just gonna slide this right in, give it a press and give it a tug. It's gonna move around, but it should not be able to fall out. If it falls out, you need to fix your clip. Let's do the same to the rest of the rods. Let's get this on the door. Okay. That looks great just like that for now. So, now we need to make sure that the red rod that's coming from the handle is gonna slide down into the slot on the latch. And you also wanna make sure that once we get that done, we can put this on there as well.

So, now if we move the handle around a little bit, we can line up the rod with the hole down in there. And then we're gonna carefully get this handle back in. That looks good. Let's take our little bolts. Start that one in there and then, of course, the one on the outside right there. Now that they're both started in, let's go ahead and snug them up. This is sitting perfectly. So, now let's just go ahead and start in these bolts for the latch, just a couple of threads and snug these up. So, now we're gonna get this rod back up onto there. Let's try and get this on there. Oh, yeah. That looks good. Give it a nice tug, make sure it doesn't fall right out. It's clipped in good. You can see that you have your two rollers that are facing in the same direction, and then you have one that is not. The two that are facing in the same direction are gonna be the two that go up inside the upper channel up here. So, what we're gonna do now is we're gonna put the first one through, and then we'll put the second one through, and we'll let the window regulator hang just like this.

The next thing we need to do is get these rods. These are gonna go in between the window regulator and the panel itself. Something else that I wanna show you before I put the panel up is this wheel right here is gonna go inside the track that's on the inside of this door panel right there. This little piton right here is gonna go inside of this piece right there, through the bottom. This is all gonna be inside the door panel, so it's gonna be hard to see. So, I'm trying to let you know ahead of time what's going on. This goes on the track, this goes in the piton there. We'll lift these up, get this thing so it's sitting where it's gonna need to go. I'm just resting the rods up here where, hopefully, they'll stay for a minute. Now, I'm gonna get everything else lined up. Get this back inside of its groove. Just make sure that the two wheels up on top are sitting inside the groove where they need to roll. That feels perfect. Roll them up here, pull those back up. I'm gonna put the one with the piton in now. Slide that right up and in there. The other rod is gonna ride right underneath that one. So, we'll just put them both so they're up here for now.

So, now that we have the window regulator and the rods lined up perfectly, we're just gonna take this. I'm gonna put one bolt in, lift up on the panel, make sure that these ears go over the panel that's on the door there. It should sit right in there. I'm gonna slide my window regulator around till I can find my rivet holes. I've got one there, there, there, and there. Perfect. The next thing we're gonna need is some of these right here, nice, beautiful rivets. These are quarter-inch, we're gonna need four of them. Slide that in and through there. I like to start them all in before I tighten any of them up, that way there I know that it lines up overall.

Now, before you rivet this in, it's important to double, triple, quadruple check to make sure you have everything on the inside of this door panel set up right. You need to have the rollers and the channel up along the top, you need to have the roller in the channel that runs along here, you need to have the rods sitting inside the little piton area on that unit that I showed you and coming up in this direction here so you can get to them. Once you've done that, you also wanna make sure that the wiring for the window regulator is plugged in. And then we can continue on by using this right here and putting in these rivets to hold the window regulator to the panel. Just make sure that rivets don't fall out. All right. That's a good sound. It means we're at the end of that rivet. At that point, you can, of course, trim off the excess. We'll do the same to all.

The next thing we're gonna do is cut off these little ends here. I like to use my cut-off tool. I'm just gonna come along the top here and put in a few of these bolts to try to hold this panel still for a minute, and then we're gonna test the window regulator ahead of time before we continue on any further, that way there if there's any problems, we can fix it now. Put the key the on position. I'm gonna try not to tear this tape because I might have to reuse it. I'm hoping that I won't, but we'll see. Beautiful. The window is going up and down the track perfectly straight. It's going down when I tell it to go down, it stops when I tell it to stop, and it goes up when I tell it to go up. This is perfect. Let's get the tape off of here and continue.

So, now let's check to make sure that these rods are working perfectly for the latch and, of course, for the handle. I'm gonna start with this inner one. I'm going to pull the rod that has the little piton that goes to the locking mechanism inside here, the electronic locking mechanism. I'm gonna pull that towards the front of the door. That's the unlock position. Now, I'm gonna grab that other rod, and I'm gonna push this up. This is simulating that the door is in the shut position. I'm gonna pull on that rod, and this should come down. That means that I can open the door now. Let's go ahead and shut that door. I'm gonna do it again. Give the rod a pull. Awesome. Okay. Flip it back up. Now, I'm gonna take that first rod with the piton for the locking mechanism. I'm gonna push it towards the latches. Let's pull on that same rod that's gonna work this mechanism here. Okay. That is not working. So, now what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna pull on this other rod, the locking rod. And now I'll pull on the latch rod again. That works great. Let's do the same over here. I'm gonna grab this outer handle. Right now I'm in the unlocked position. So, I'm gonna put pressure on this, pull on that, then release this. Door shut. I'm gonna lock it, push on this, pull on the outer handle. Okay. It's locked. I unlocked it. Awesome. This works perfectly. Let's continue.

So, now that we know that everything functions as it should, we can continue on by bolting in the plate here or the door panel. We're gonna use all of our little bolts and just go right along the outer area. I'm just gonna start them in and then I'll snug them all up once I get all the way around. Awesome. Just reach in here. We're gonna grab the wire for the speaker connected in. Make sure we don't have anything on the magnet here. If you were to look at the speaker, you're gonna see a little tab there, and then there should be one here. We're gonna come out an angle and slide them right into these little grooves here. It should slide in. Pretend that they're both in, press it, it should click right in. So, now you would just, of course, wanna get this back on here. For us, it's not gonna stick. You can get yourself some butyl tape and get it to all stick back on there. It's probably a great idea.

Now, it's gonna be time to install the inside door handle. If you were to look at the backside, you're gonna see an area right here for the door handle rod, and then an area right here for the lock rod. Grab those rods, I'm gonna line them up. You can start with whichever one works best for you. I'll go with the one that's farthest away because I'll have the most amount of flexing action. Make sure it clicks in and it does not fall out. If it falls out, you have an issue. Next, I'm gonna do the lock or the handle one. Obviously, it's very hard to get the right angle. Okay. I got it lined up. I'm just gonna squeeze it right in there, give it a nice tug and make sure it does not fall out. Now, we're just gonna take this unit, we're gonna press it up so it's up against the panel and it's sitting in the grooves, and then we'll slide it towards the latch.

So, now for good measure, I'm just gonna throw a rivet right in here. You could try to put a nut and a bolt and reach your hand back through there if you have to. Okay. That's nice and tight. I'll just cut this off now. So, we're just gonna get this in here. It should have a nice little cover over it. So, now it's gonna be time to get the door panel back on. If you feel right down along here, you're gonna feel there's a ridge that's gonna sit right over along the top of this. And then, of course, you have all these little push tabs that are gonna go inside of all these holes after we've done that. Let's grab our wiring, get that all ready. I'm gonna click this in because now is the time to do it before I get this together. I've got my wires in my hand, I'm just gonna pull those through. Let's get this up onto here. Okay. Work to make sure your pieces all line up. There we are. Time to get the cover on here. Let's make sure our doors are unlocked. This should just slide right over. A couple of loving bonks. That feels good. Let's get this area back on.

Now, it's going to be time to get this reinstalled back into the door panel. We'll connect in our speaker wire. Super important. We've got our mirror wire, click it in, give it a tug. Get my wires situated here. I'm gonna turn this, slide it right in. This one slides right in. Everything is nice and secured. You wanna make sure the speaker wire is going through this slot and not over here. Otherwise, it could get a pinch coming across there. To install this, you're gonna notice you have a hookie do right here towards the front area. And then you have your clips right here, they're gonna latch right there. That being said, come in high and put in the front area first with the hookie do. And then right here, just give it a nice push. A couple of loving bonks. Perfect. We don't wanna forget about this. You've got your little clip here. And as you can tell, it slides down. You also have your hookie dos there, they're gonna ride along this ridge right there. Come up nice and high, push in, slide down. Give it a nice tug. Make sure it does not rattle around and it's not falling off. We need a little clip right here.

Now, it's time to get these two screws into the handle area here. Make sure it's nice and tight. Don't forget about your little covers. Put them in whichever hole you want. Nothing special. Now, it's gonna be time to test our work. So, you wanna make sure you have the key in the on position, the vehicle does not have to be running. Let's go ahead and try to put this window down, and then back up. Battery is a little low in this vehicle. Perfect. Passenger's side. Oh, yeah. Let's go ahead and test the mirror. Right side. Yeah. Awesome.

1992 - 1993  GMC  Jimmy
1988 - 1991  GMC  Jimmy
1991 - 1991  GMC  Syclone
1992 - 1993  GMC  Typhoon
1992 - 1999  GMC  Suburban K2500
1995 - 1999  GMC  Yukon
2000 - 2000  GMC  Yukon
1991 - 1993  Oldsmobile  Bravada
1999 - 2000  Cadillac  Escalade
1988 - 1995  Chevrolet  LLV (Postal Truck)
1988 - 2000  GMC  K3500 Truck
1992 - 1999  GMC  Suburban C1500
1992 - 1999  GMC  Suburban C2500
1992 - 1999  GMC  Suburban K1500
1988 - 1991  GMC  Jimmy S-15
1988 - 1999  GMC  C1500 Truck
1988 - 2000  GMC  C2500 Truck
1988 - 2001  GMC  C3500 Truck
1988 - 1999  GMC  K1500 Truck
1988 - 2000  GMC  K2500 Truck
1995 - 1999  Chevrolet  Tahoe
2000 - 2000  Chevrolet  Tahoe
1985 - 1992  GMC  Safari
1988 - 1990  GMC  S-15 Pickup
1991 - 1993  GMC  S-15 Sonoma
1988 - 2000  Chevrolet  K3500 Truck
1992 - 1999  Chevrolet  Suburban C1500
1992 - 1999  Chevrolet  Suburban C2500
1992 - 1999  Chevrolet  Suburban K1500
1992 - 1999  Chevrolet  Suburban K2500
1988 - 1993  Chevrolet  Blazer S10
1988 - 1999  Chevrolet  C1500 Truck
1988 - 2000  Chevrolet  C2500 Truck
1988 - 2002  Chevrolet  C3500 Truck
1988 - 1999  Chevrolet  K1500 Truck
1988 - 2000  Chevrolet  K2500 Truck
1985 - 1992  Chevrolet  Astro
1988 - 1993  Chevrolet  S10 Pickup
1988 - 1994  Chevrolet  Blazer

Kit image

Chevrolet GMC Cadillac Olds Front Driver & Passenger Side Door Latch Assembly 2 Piece Set TRQ BDA80220

Part Details:
  • 2 Piece Set
  • (1) Front Passenger Side Door Latch Assembly
  • (1) Front Driver Side Door Latch Assembly
$107.95

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