Here is a step by step process for pulling the FRONT door panels.

Tools needed:

SMALL flat-bladed screwdriver

#2 Phillips, medium-long

Panel popper tool and electrical tape

Step 1: Pull mirror sail by hand:

 

Step 2: Pull the trim panel behind the door handle. CAREFUL! It's easy to scratch, and esy to see after.



Then pull the rubber sheet in the armrest grab-handle:

 

Step 3: Pull the Phillips screws behind the trim panel:


... and the rubber sheet:

 

Step 4: PASSENGER DOOR ONLY!

Pull the trim insert from the pass grab handle.

DO NOT DO IT THIS WAY! This left a mark I can still see (haven't softened it out with the heat gun yet). There is a slot for prying at the forward edge... my bad.



Pull the bottom straight out or you break the tab at the bottom (see below):

This reveals two screws, one at the top and another deep inside the round hole at the base of the opening.

 

Step 5:

Window Switch panel removal.

NOTE: Most cars don't require this. The first TSX I disassembled I got away without having to do this. The second one (mine) I had the pass switch come apart when I tried to reach up between the door panel and the door to unplug the harness! With contacts, the mux PCB with the microprocessor and the relays, and the case all spilling onto the floor. TAKE THE SWITCH OUT FIRST!

Passenger Side: Pry at the front edge. There is a slot here to pry in.





Then pry up the rear:



Driver Side: Pry up at the aft edge, I think there is a slot there to pry in:


Then GENTLY pry around the perimeter of the switch. I went very slowly to avoid marks, and I succeeded.



Here is the D switch coming out - note the two plugs F and R:



And here is how much slack you have after:

 

Step 6: Use the panel popper to pop the door panel off.

Wrap the panel popper in electrical tape to prevent scratches in the paint.



Here is your first target - the white Xmas tree just aft of the speaker grille. If you simply pull hard on the panel without popping this Xmas tree, you can break the welds that fasten the pocket to the panel.



My early-production TSX had bad welds from the factory, s there was very little plastic in the weld area. Once I fixed these with a butane soldering torch, all my pass door rattles went away!

 

Step 7: After you pop out the fasteners (along the bottom - there are like 4-5) lift the door panel straight up and over the lock rod.

Hold onto the panel with one hand. Reach over the top of the panel with the other hand to unplug the lock switch, and to snap the white half-collar off of the door handle cable so you can remove the door handle cable from the handle.

Sorry there are no pics of this part - I ran out of hands!

Now make sure all the Xmas trees came off with the panel - if any stayed in the door, pop them out now and re-insert them into their slots on the door panel.

"Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly" : )

Next, the speaker spacers.

 

Oh, I almost forgot... you also have to half-turn the side marker light bulbs so they come out of the door panel light sockets. If you are going to work on the car a while, you can either pull the dome light fuse (which will require re-entry of the radio code!) or remove the bulb from the socket afterwards.

 

Outstanding. Great explination and pics. Thanks.

 

Please, more details about the pocket welds & how/where to fix. I believe I have that rattle problem (mine seems to be coming from behind the front passenger door handle). BTW, great write-up. Thanks!

 

tks.

In this photo there are three plastic welds visible. I have already re-welded them.



The pocket is the rectangular bump under my hand. There is a single tab to the left, between the rectangular protrusion and the speaker grille, right at the edge of the speaker grille. Then there are two more visible along the bottom between the bottom of the door panel and the bottom of the rectangular section.

The pocket has square tabs with round holes in the center. The door panel has round pin-shaped protrusions that stick through the holes in the tabs. Then the pins and tabs are melted together - or, "plastic welded".

The forward tab, at the edge of the speaker, was broken before I pulled on the panel. I know this because of how the panel flexed when I pulled on it, and because when I pulled the panel off, there was not enough plastic molded into the pin side to make a good weld. In fact, every time I remove this door panel, I have to re-weld that point - it just isn't sturdy enough to withstand panel removal. But it does withstand assembly.

I heard one of the two bottom welds break when I was pulling the panel off. I think one of the others might have been bad already, but I could have broken both of them. They both look like they have enough material, but once the front weld is broke, pulling on the panel WITHOUT pulling on the pocket simply pulls them apart and they are going to break.

I did NOT use a standard propane torch - I think you would melt a hole in the door panel.

I used a Weller portable butane-powered soldering torch with a fitting to create a small direct flame instead of heating an iron - it comes in the kit. I was so cautious to avoid melting the door panel from behind, my welds were crappy the first two times, and finally I made the good welds you see in the photos. You can see the melted look on each tab and pin.

Hope that helps!

 

maybe this belongs in the FAQ?

 

I do not have a butane torch - would PlaticWeld or Super glue work to fasten the pocket back to the panel?

 

Depends on what yours look like. If you have a good join, I'd say yes. But if you had a smooth join it's probably not broken.

Here's one for $35: http://www.solder-tools.com/shop/mai...28f204c6c.html

 

i didn't see this post before taking my door panal apart and my window switch spilled its guts too...

I've got the pcb with blue socket, black casing, and white contact switch of some kind (with copper contacts, almost spring loaded on it)...

help

-vasu

 

nevermind, I got it back together

 

Dude, I'm sorry that your switch came apart. I hope it all works ok now.

After your 349 posts, you never had time to read the sticky thread on pulling the door panels? Gotta read more and type less, dude...

 

I'm going to sticky this very useful thread.

 

I thought this was gonna stickify?

 

Can you also add which vehicle in the thread title.

Awesome write-up.

 

Very helpful
is it basically the same process for the rear doors as well? One of these days I want to add some Dyanamat or Cascade to my doors. Does also that help the doors to feel more solid when you close them?

 

The sticky for the door in this thread ONLY addresses the REAR TSX doors, which is NOT what its title says, so I did this one for the front doors. I have not gone into the R doors, so I don't know, but it looks accurate and complete...

Yeah, I've been told that our TSX doors sound and feel different than stock, and it is definitely quieter on the freeway. I just did the patchwork deal - no huge sheets on the inside.

 

Just wanted to add that 2006+ TSXs have an extra wire harness for the memory seat that gets unplugged when you are at the step of removing the door lock.

 

I was able to easily remove the driver's side panel this afternoon to replace my lock actuator because of this thread. Thanks!

 

Same with me... i replaced mine successfully last weekend. Thanks for the instructions!

 

Thanks for the thread. Replaced the actuator today!

2005 TSX Carbon Grey 6 speed

 

My doorlock on my 2005 with 121K just crapped the bed.....

Some pictures are not showing up in this thread....damn.

Is there a way to get them to display?

Thanks.

 

Yes I am trying to change the actuator and need to take the panel off...would anyone or maybe elduderino can repost the missing pics?

 

Here's the missing pictures

 

aww, good. was wondering where those were. thanks.

 

For those of you that have done this, did you have any problems getting the larger plug (the plug on the left) off the D switch? Mines is absurdly difficult to unplug. Any recommendations on how to unplug?

 

Patience and wiggle like crazy..!

Recommendations = don't hold or pull by the wires at all!

 

I should have brought my laptop outside, I didn't pop out the "christmas trees" properly and broke the plasti-weld, luckily I have a pretty good epoxy glue that will be just as good if not better.

Good write up none the less, would have been better if I actually read it word for word, lol.

 

any tricks to popin the christmas trees with out breaking the plastic-weld?

 

Cool. Thanks man for these tips.

 

I know... old thread. However, none of these images are showing up now. If anyone still has them, care to upload?

Thanks,
~MP