How do I remove this?

[Murph]

Currently trying to remove the lock mechanism from my drivers door. My shop manual says I need to remove the remote control rod from the main locking mechanism. However there is this little plastic clip/retainer thing that fits over the end of the rod and inside the "tab" of the locking mechanism. How do you take the rod out? I've tried squeezing this thing, I've tried just using force and it wont come out! Any ideas?

Btw....I really don't want to break it.

[Ed]

If you can get a flat tipped screw driver in there you can pry it out. I've done it a couple of times like that and never broken the plastic clip.

[Murph]

Pry the clip at the same time as the rod?

[billcapp]

Hold a flat screwdriver blade against the flat of the plastic clip while prying in the opposite direction with another screwdriver against the rod.

[texasz]

Be careful with the plastic, it is old and they do break. Trust me.

That plastic thing is threaded so you can also turn it so that it moves up then you are just left with pulling the metal rod out, this may give you a little more room to work with and also move the plastic part out of harms way.

This is a tough job as there is not much room in there to work and it's hard to get your hands in there. Best of luck.

[Murph]

Ahh...threaded eh... that should help.

IT's all back together atm....just I'll give that a whirl next time I have it appart. Thanks for all the advice guys.

[beandip]

by the way great picture.:classic:

[Murph]

Is that sarcasm, or are you serious?

[EScanlon]

I think there has been some confussion within this discussion as to which of the plastic connectors each person is referring to.

In the picture, the one to the right, which has a rod with a 90° bend in it, that's the one I think you are referring to. It's been a while, but you can do the screwdriver pry method mentioned above, or if I recall correctly, you can turn the rod 90° in the opposite direction of which it actuates and slip the "ears" of the rod end through the plastic retainer.

The one that everyone is referring to as being threaded is the one in the "middle" of your picture. You'll note that it has a Hex Head and a smooth shaft. That's the one that is used to adjust the amount of travel that the outside door handle has before it opens the door latch mechanism.

The last one, which no one has mentioned, is the one to the far left, which is the one attached to the door lock mechanism. You've already removed that one, so you know how, but for the sake of this post, you rotate the rod body clip to the side so that you can pull the bent rod end from the hole in the lock swing arm. If you'll recall that one also had to be aligned a special way before the rod end would escape.

Enrique

[beandip]

I was serious , good picture , clear and shows everything well. I just removed the locks on both of my doors , and they dident require me to pry anything. They just needed to be rotated around untill the linkage just slipped off. The reason I dident post this before is because I have taken all the stuff out and with the glass and outer frame out I couldent remember what the acess is with the glass still in place. So many pictures that are posted are from an odd angle or of something up close and it is hard to tell what it is in the picture. You did good. Gary:classic:

[Murph]

Hehe....thanks beandip. It's somewhat luck of the draw with our digi cam, but for once it actually focused on what I wanted it to.

I think there has been some confussion within this discussion as to which of the plastic connectors each person is referring to.

In the picture, the one to the right, which has a rod with a 90° bend in it, that's the one I think you are referring to. It's been a while, but you can do the screwdriver pry method mentioned above, or if I recall correctly, you can turn the rod 90° in the opposite direction of which it actuates and slip the "ears" of the rod end through the plastic retainer.

The one that everyone is referring to as being threaded is the one in the "middle" of your picture. You'll note that it has a Hex Head and a smooth shaft. That's the one that is used to adjust the amount of travel that the outside door handle has before it opens the door latch mechanism.

The last one, which no one has mentioned, is the one to the far left, which is the one attached to the door lock mechanism. You've already removed that one, so you know how, but for the sake of this post, you rotate the rod body clip to the side so that you can pull the bent rod end from the hole in the lock swing arm. If you'll recall that one also had to be aligned a special way before the rod end would escape.

Enrique: Yeps...that's the one I meant.

I've tried rotating it, but still it wont budge. That's quite possible because it's sort of mutilated now after all my attempts.

Anyhow, finally yesterday evening I completely sorted my door/lock problems. There were a few problems, firstly the striker was way out of alignment. Now my door closes easily. Also it seem whether the locking mechanism wants to move freely or not is a fuction of the position of the door handle adjusting nut (middle of my pic). Lastly, that was all working, but I couldn't lock the door with the key, only unlock it. I ended up fabricating a slightly longer rod that goes between the key barrel and the locking mechanism. Now it just locks and unlocks. The notch in the tab/arm on the end of the key barrel is pretty worn, so it allows a lot of slop in either direction before actually moving the rod.

Mind you I made about 5 of these bloody rods before I got just the right length.

Thanks for all the help everyone. Muchly appreciated.