How to Replace Door Latch Cable 2006-10 Ford Explorer
Created on: 2017-05-25
How to remove, install, or replace a broken, snapped, rusted, or jammed door latch cable on 06 Ford Explorer
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step 1 :Removing the Door Panel
- Pry off the side trim piece next to the window switch panel with a trim tool
- Pry up the window switch panel with a flat blade screwdriver
- Disconnect the wiring harnesses
- Pry off the trim piece from the pull handle
- Remove the two 7mm bolts in the switch
- Remove the two 7mm bolts in the door pull
- Remove the two 7mm bolts on the bottom of the door panel
- Pry off the mirror switch with a flat blade screwdriver
- Disconnect the mirror switch wiring harness
- Pull the door panel up and off
- Disconnect the door lock cable with a flat blade screwdriver
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step 2 :Removing the Door Lock Cylinder
- Remove the 6mm bolt and slide the guard forward
- Release the door latch rod from the yellow clip
- Remove the 11mm nut from the lock cylinder
- Pull the lock cylinder out and off the rod
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step 3 :Removing the Door Lock Actuator
- Remove the two 8mm bolts from the window track
- Remove the window track
- Remove the three T27 bolts from the actuator
- Unlatch the lock rod
- Slide the actuator down and out
- Pry the wiring harness out and disconnect it
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step 4 :Removing the Door Latch Cable
- Disconnect the two leads
- Remove the cable from the clip
- Pull the guard off
- Pull firmly out on the bracket
- Slide the cable down and out
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step 5 :Installing the Door Latch Cable
- Install the replacement cable into place
- Slide the lever and secure it
- Press the guard on
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step 6 :Installing the Door Lock Actuator
- Connect the black sensor to the lock mechanism harness
- Connect the gray sensor to the lock actuator harness
- Insert the actuator into the door
- Start the three T27 bolts to the actuator
- Connect the sensors
- Tighten the T27 bolts
- Insert the track into the door with the flared end on top
- Start the 8mm bolts
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step 7 :Reinstalling the Door Lock Cylinder
- Connect the cylinder to the door lock rod
- Press the cylinder into place
- Tighten the 11mm nut to the cylinder
- Clip in the lock rod and latch rod
- Tighten the 6mm bolt to the guard
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step 8 :Reinstalling the Door Panel
- Connect the door lock cable to the door handle
- Lift the door panel into place
- Push in the door panel clips
- Lightly tighten the two 7mm bolts on the bottom of the door panel
- Tighten the two 7mm bolts in the switch
- Tighten the two 7mm bolts in the door pull
- Connect the mirror switch wiring harness
- Push the mirror switch into place
- Connect the wiring harnesses to the window switch panel
- Push the window switch panel into place
- Push on the trim piece next to the window switch panel
- Push on the door pull trim piece
Tools needed
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Socket Extensions
Flat Blade Screwdriver
T27 Torx Driver
Phillips Head Screwdriver
5mm Socket
6mm Socket
8mm Socket
7mm Socket
11mm Socket
Pick
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We're going to remove this trim panel first with plastic trim tools from 1aauto.com, which is the best way to do it without harming your interior finish. Pull out on this panel. Once you get it out, it kind of comes off this way. Same thing here with your switch panel. Then disconnect the switches: Green tab here. Then this blue tab here. This one came right out. Just a little tab on the side. Disconnect it. Now you want to get this off. It should pull out. There are six seven-millimeter bolts: one, two, three, four, and then down on the bottom five and six. We'll remove those. Again, using your plastic trim tool, get in underneath of the mirror switch. The clips are on the side. Just get it under there. Twist, and it pulls up and out. You kind of have to rotate it up like that and out, and press the tab and disconnect. Make sure you have all your bolts out, and the whole panel comes out and off.
Pull your handles to pull the cable out, then grab hold of this little ball here to hold the cable out. Then pull the cable from the door lock and use a screwdriver or something to help you release the tabs here. You'll need to raise your window up and disconnect the switch again. And pull your shield back far enough to reveal this 6mm bolt and remove it. It allows you to slide this forward and pull. Actually, that'll be good enough right there. Use a pick or a flat-head screwdriver, release this yellow clip right out, and then pull the lock or the latch rod out. And then you'll need to remove this 11mm nut that holds the back of the door lock. And now pull the door lock out, and you can twist it off of its rod. Two 8 mm bolts hold the bottom window track in place. We're going to remove those. And reach in and take the track out.
Three T27 bolts hold the lock mechanism in place, so we'll remove those. Unlatch your lock rod, and as you're pulling the last one out, your mechanism can go down. Just a kind of question of getting the right angle, bringing it out. The leads are down at the bottom, the little tab here. And once you pull that down, come down here, take this clip out and disconnect this lead here as you push down on the tab. Disconnect and pull. Just kind of have to get the mechanism to cooperate with you. Pull it out. Disconnect your two leads: one there, that one there.
Remove the cable from the clip here. Just pull it apart, and pull the cable out. Set that aside, and then here there's just a little pin holding that in. If you pull firmly, that'll come off. To remove the cable, push firmly out on the bracket. Okay, now you have the cable loose. Bring that down and out.
To install your replacement cable, put it through, pull that lever and get the end of it locked in there. Then put it back in place. It can help to put it that way so you can push it down in. Then this, the pin goes back into here, you just put it on like that and lock it back into place. Reinstall the harness, the black connector goes to the sensor on the lock mechanism and the gray connector goes to the lock actuator. Make sure your lock actuator rod is in, your lock rod is in, and the harnesses are at the bottom. Feed your cable kind of through the door panel and feed it down in.
Make sure you feed your lock up through here. Make sure your lock rod stays upright. And bringing it up into place and start your three screws in. Before you tighten it up, just make sure you don't have any harnesses pinched in. You can move this harness out, reconnect it, and put it back in place. Make sure your harnesses are free, your lock rod is free, and this is free. And then you can tighten these up.
Track goes back in, this flared end's on the top, feed it down in place, and then you can see, then move it around and line up the clips. Start in your 8 mm bolts and tighten them up. Your lock's under back in place. Start the 11mm nut on. Make sure it goes into the door handle properly and tighten that up. Put your lock rod back in place, and make sure it goes up. Unlocks and locks. Unlock it and then put it into the clip. Make sure it locks and it's secure. And then open up this clip. Push up a little bit on the latch rod, put it in, and lock the clip in place. Put this block back in place. Make sure that your door lock cable is clipped in to the back side and top on, back latch and the bottom latch. Okay. Lock this back in place. Make sure all your harnesses kind of go in there, and put your 6 mm bolt back in place. And then you can put your water shield back up.
The door panel has a series of hooks that go into slots in the door, so you can kind of put into place. Make sure your harnesses go through. Put the cable into the door and pull it. Push it through. Make sure your harnesses come up through. Put your door lock button in. Line up all those hooks. Just going to make sure our door lock button goes into the hole. The hooks should all line up and allow the panel to be flush with the door. Make sure your mirror harness comes through as well. Both the front and the back are flush. Push it down into place, and then we can reinstall our six seven-millimeter bolts to hold it in place. For these two that go in at the door handle, we just put some grease on there. That's actually going to make it so they stay in our socket. Feed into place, and start them in. Just clean the grease off the socket and start the other ones in. These bottom ones… tighten them. Don't get them too tight because you'll end up stripping the plastic nuts they go into. Reconnect the green and blue harness leads. The small black one. Make sure you put it in there correctly. Push it down and lock it into place. This one kind of hooks on the top first, snaps in place. Then this one snaps right in place. Install the mirror switch. Reconnect it down in and make sure you clock it correctly. When it's in the middle position that should be straight up, and push it in.
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