Urgent question: how to re-install the liftgate trim panel

[sleepyhead]

Hi all,

I was brave enough to remove the liftgate trim panel (the interior plastic cover on the lift gate) with great ease, in order to inspect/repair switches on the liftgate as I know for sure the annoying door open alarm on the dash comes from the liftgate after I performed the "ding" test with engine running.

It ended up that I can not put the panel back to position because there are 16 clips to lock the panel back on the gate. The very weird thing is that some clips can only be locked by sliding upward, some downward, some downward, some to the left, some to the right. The panel is of plastic, but is not as plastic as dough. I can not imagine how one can slide the same piece of panel in four directions simutaneously. Please, whoever has figured out the trick, share your experience with me. Many many thanks,

Sleepyhead

[ponchonutty]

WHat? Never heard what you are saying. What kind of car?

[akkhandelwal]

you are right. I faced the same situation when I took the panel out. I dont know how they install it in the factory, but I basically hammered it in with a rubber hammer.

I had the same problem of door ajar light. Finally I sprayed wd40 on all the doors which solved the problem.

[sleepyhead]

Hi guys, thanks so much for the response. I was talking about Ford Windstar. I assume the designer made it this way to prevent do-it-yourselfers to fix the door ajar by disabling the sensor from the circut behind the panel. Yesterday was a great sunny sunny Sunday here and I had to drive the van with only three clips back to position, the only three I managed with my bare hand and luckily it did not make any noise on bumpy roads. My door ajar light is still on and I am planning to continue my adventure to fix the door switch sensor and "hammer" the clips back to position on the upcoming weekend. Because I sprayed PB, an equivalent stuff to WD40, and that did not help, my initial plan was to investigate from inside. which requires the removal of liftgate trim panel. It turned out the only way to "dissect" out the door switch complex is to unscrew the three hex-star screws from outside. I may need to visit an autozone store to borrow their special screwdriver.

sleepyhead

[sahib]

I guess I'm not certain as to what you're dealing with. If it is like the older stuff, late '80s early '90s, you need to pull the plastic retainers from the door and stick them into the slots on the panel. They make a tool, sort of a two tined fork, for pulling these but you can use a weed digging tool or something similar. Sometimes they are ruined when extracted so you may need to go to Autozone or like store and purchase new. When they are in place just align panel and retainers with holes and use fist or rubber mallet to put back in place. Like I said, I'm not sure this is what you're dealing with but sounds like it or similar. Good luck.

[swick]

Here is what you do - pull the plastic clips out of the door frame. The are simply ridged to secure in. Once you pull them all out - slide them into the corresponding holders on the panel. Then line up the panel with the holes on the door fram - starting from the bottom and simply thump them into place. Takes about 30 seconds to put it in - 10 minutes to get all those plastic tabs out of the door. Just remember when you get to the top to put the lock thingy through the hole. It's easier to manage if the door is locked (but open - of course). I had to do this to remove the door sensors so my dome light wouldn't stay on.