Mifrett

Last night, the interior door handle on one of my rear door suddenly stopped working. I pulled the panel off today, but the part I need to see is behind plastic that I'm not sure I can/should remove. Please help.

Thanks!

thoiboi

take a pic?

is it just the plastic sheeting? That's removable.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

the plastic sheet?

Mifrett

It is the plastic sheet.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

it's a moisture barrier, as long as you dont rip it upp too badly...

thoiboi

It's a moisture barrier,

You can remove it.

Mifrett

It is attached with caulk all around the outside. If I pull that apart, it won't stick again.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

in past cars, i've ripped out and never re-applied the moisture barrier.

if you want to repair it correctly, might have to re-caulk it/stick it back on, someway. get creative !

Mifrett

You can see that the bottom lever in this picture is pulling from the handle. So that end of it seems to be fine. But it has no resistance. So the problem is definitely behind the plastic sheeting, toward the outside of the door.

Mifrett

Okay, I cut the caulk so I could pull the plastic up. Unfortunately, the problem is behind the metal of the door. Do I start taking that apart, too? I am fairly adventurous and fearless, but now I am getting concerned. I haven't bought the repair manual for this car.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

I have a 2006 TL, but am just as adventurous as you!
keep going to find the problem!!
just dont forget where all the screws and bolts go

Mifrett

Well, I feel ridiculous now. I happened to notice a little switch on the lower part of the door (not behind the panel) with a little child lock symbol on it. I flipped it up and it turned the child lock off. What do you know? The handle works again! Ugh.

thoiboi

sorry we didn't catch that first before you started surgery on your car

Mifrett

Oh, well! Now I know how easily that panel comes off!

thoiboi

Mr Optimist, i like it

Tomtwtwtw

It's so easy to accidentally hit that switch when loading/unloading stuff through the doors. I have fallen victim to this myself (luckily someone was with me that knew what it was right away).