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DOOR WAY To HELL - HELP!!!

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 1:34 pm
by B3DAWG
Hey Guys,

I've read numerous "I'm locked out of my 996 threads", but I thought I'd post for your expert thoughts on the matter. This is a weird one...

So I began the day going over to my parent's house to visit. While I'm there dad asked me to help with a "door problem" on his 2005 Ford F150. Apparently, the cable assemblies on the rear doors on the extended cab F150s are well known to fail making it impossible to open.

Sound familiar?

Well, when I got there, my father was ready to just replace the specific failure points by "rigging it" or go with an aftermarket assembly. After my horrible experience with knock-offs (e.g. window regulator), I insisted that he stay with an OEM genuine Motorcraft part if I was going to help him. He agreed. I'm glad he did, when I removed the part and examined it closely, it was heavily corroded and the plastic bits had turned to crumbling pieces of dried up crap. Reminded me of the many plastic Porsche parts. hahaha
Dad's Door.jpg
Here's a picture of the door and locking assembly before I removed it. If you look closely at the bottom left, you can see the broken cable hanging out of the door panel. Fortunately, the replacement Motorcraft part fit perfectly and worked like a charm... now dad is happy again. Yay for everyone around him! He gets frustrated so easy these days and when he can't get something to work, he's known to get violent with the offending object and tear things up worse. I counseled him to calm down and take a deep breath next time it happens. We'll see if it works.

When I arrived at my parent's house in the morning, it was a rather nice and cool 60F.

Here's my car as it looked when I got there.
dads door close up.jpg

When dad asked me to stay to help with the truck, I knew I'd better move it clearly way out of the way. Why? Because they're both in their 80s now and can't back a car to save their lives. haha I moved it on the front lawn which was out in the direct sunlight all day long. It got hot!

Here's the kicker...

After repairing my father's door, I went to get in my car, and the driver's side door would NOT open. The window would drop, but the door would not budge. You could hear the window mechanism, but that was it. I was able to open the passenger side door normally. But nothing I tried opened the door. Any ideas?

The car started fine and I drove home as normal. The car's temps were hitting 90F inside, but cooled down to a 77F temp on the way home. When I parked in the garage, the door opened normally.

Question - What the heck is going on? Is the locking mechanism fully electric actuated? Or is it electric/mechanical? Could it be the locking mechanism needs lubrication? Or, should I be prepared to replace the entire locking assembly?

Is there anything I can do to prevent this in the meantime before I purchase parts. Thanks!

Re: DOOR WAY To HELL - HELP!!!

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 1:52 pm
by 32wildbilly
b3freak wrote: Sat Apr 27, 2019 1:34 pm Hey Guys,

I've read numerous "I'm locked out of my 996 threads", but I thought I'd post for your expert thoughts on the matter. This is a weird one...

So I began the day going over to my parent's house to visit. While I'm there dad asked me to help with a "door problem" on his 2005 Ford F150. Apparently, the cable assemblies on the rear doors on the extended cab F150s are well known to fail making it impossible to open.

Sound familiar?

Well, when I got there, my father was ready to just replace the specific failure points by "rigging it" or go with an aftermarket assembly. After my horrible experience with knock-offs (e.g. window regulator), I insisted that he stay with an OEM genuine Motorcraft part if I was going to help him. He agreed. I'm glad he did, when I removed the part and examined it closely, it was heavily corroded and the plastic bits had turned to crumbling pieces of dried up crap. Reminded me of the many plastic Porsche parts. hahaha

Here's a picture of the door and locking assembly before I removed it. If you look closely at the bottom left, you can see the broken cable hanging out of the door panel. Fortunately, the replacement Motorcraft part fit perfectly and worked like a charm... now dad is happy again. Yay for everyone around him! He gets frustrated so easy these days and when he can't get something to work, he's known to get violent with the offending object and tear things up worse. I counseled him to calm down and take a deep breath next time it happens. We'll see if it works.

When I arrived at my parent's house in the morning, it was a rather nice and cool 60F.

Here's my car as it looked when I got there.

When dad asked me to stay to help with the truck, I knew I'd better move it clearly way out of the way. Why? Because they're both in their 80s now and can back a car to save their lives. haha I moved it on the front lawn which was out in the direct sunlight all day long. It got hot!

Here's the kicker...

After repairing my father's door, I went to get in my car, and the driver's side door would NOT open. The window would drop, but the door would not budge. You could hear the window mechanism, but that was it. I was able to open the passenger side door normally. But nothing I tried opened the door. Any ideas?

The car started fine and I drove home as normal. The car's temps were hitting 90F inside, but cooled down to a 77F temp on the way home. When I parked in the garage, the door opened normally.

Question - What the heck is going on? Is the locking mechanism fully electric actuated? Or is it electric/mechanical? Could it be the locking mechanism needs lubrication? Or, should I be prepared to replace the engine locking assembly?

Is there anything I can do to prevent this in the meantime before I purchase parts. Thanks!
To my untrained eye the outside door handle appears to be fully mechanical .
804-20.jpg
804-20.jpg (104.42 KiB) Viewed 2916 times

Re: DOOR WAY To HELL - HELP!!!

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 1:56 pm
by B3DAWG
Thanks Bill... this is a big help. I'm going to study this. Seems like I remember Schnelly saying something about it being electric actuated. Maybe he was talking about the window mechanism?

Re: DOOR WAY To HELL - HELP!!!

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:04 pm
by FRUNKenstein
Ignition switch.

Once when mine went bad on my '99, it locked my frunk and only the frunk. Everything else was fine. Ignition switches cause lots of weird ass gremlins.

Re: DOOR WAY To HELL - HELP!!!

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:09 pm
by 32wildbilly
b3freak wrote: Sat Apr 27, 2019 1:56 pm Thanks Bill... this is a big help. I'm going to study this. Seems like I remember Schnelly saying something about it being electric actuated. Maybe he was talking about the window mechanism?
Looks to me like shaft #9 pulls connecting piece #12 which probably flips the latch. I would say maybe a wear or looseness deal with these two parts or in the latch release that the parts are trying to throw. What confuses me is why is it heat related?? I'm guessing here. Auto Atlanta has the best parts drawings. The lock mechanism looks to be a real confusing piece though.

Re: DOOR WAY To HELL - HELP!!!

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:11 pm
by 32wildbilly
FRUNKenstein wrote: Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:04 pm Ignition switch.

Once when mine went bad on my '99, it locked my frunk and only the frunk. Everything else was fine. Ignition switches cause lots of weird ass gremlins.
How could that be? I thought the 99's had a straight mechanical cable release???!!!

Re: DOOR WAY To HELL - HELP!!!

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:26 pm
by B3DAWG
32wildbilly wrote: Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:11 pm
FRUNKenstein wrote: Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:04 pm Ignition switch.

Once when mine went bad on my '99, it locked my frunk and only the frunk. Everything else was fine. Ignition switches cause lots of weird ass gremlins.
How could that be? I thought the 99's had a straight mechanical cable release???!!!
I went to Auto Atlanta and found what the door handle attaches to. (see #14)

I bet this is the culprit.
996_door-lock.jpeg
996_door-lock.jpeg (102.44 KiB) Viewed 2907 times

Re: DOOR WAY To HELL - HELP!!!

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:29 pm
by B3DAWG
32wildbilly wrote: Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:09 pm What confuses me is why is it heat related??

If a mechanism is lacking of lubrication and most of the moving parts are metal against metal... wouldn't heat cause them to expand and "lock up" (no pun intended)?

Re: DOOR WAY To HELL - HELP!!!

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:31 pm
by 32wildbilly
b3freak wrote: Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:26 pm
32wildbilly wrote: Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:11 pm

How could that be? I thought the 99's had a straight mechanical cable release???!!!
I went to Auto Atlanta and found what the door handle attaches to. (see #14)

I bet this is the culprit.

996_door-lock.jpeg
Yeah, #14 is the confusing lock mechanism I was referring to, but that would be what the #12 would pull on as you can clearly see the striker v-area in the drawing.

Re: DOOR WAY To HELL - HELP!!!

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:51 pm
by B3DAWG
32wildbilly wrote: Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:31 pm
b3freak wrote: Sat Apr 27, 2019 2:26 pm

I went to Auto Atlanta and found what the door handle attaches to. (see #14)

I bet this is the culprit.

996_door-lock.jpeg
Yeah, #14 is the confusing lock mechanism I was referring to, but that would be what the #12 would pull on as you can clearly see the striker v-area in the drawing.
Are you referring to your diagram or the one I just posted? The handle assembly is connected to lock assembly (#14) in my diagram. I think #14 in your image is a different part.