Help With Removing Front Door Trim Panel

[Phillip]

On another thread (door window squeaks when opening), I requested help about removing the front door trim panel, so that I can get to the metal tracks on which the door window rides, and then spray them with White Lithium Grease, to hopefully get rid of that squeaky noise.

George was kind enough to provide me with a pdf of instructions for removing the front door trim panel. Those instructions are step-by-step (7 steps).

Step 5 is the removal of the Speaker Cover on the door panel. The instructions are very terse, and say nothing more than that. My concern is that I can fit a screwdriver head between a side of the Speaker Cover and the part of the front door panel that it connects to (about 1/8" spacing), but I am worried about just prying it out, and then breaking something (like a latch or something).

Again, the instructions say nothing about how to pry the Speaker Cover open, and when I put a little pressure to remove the Speaker Cover, it does not come off, so I expect to have to put a good amount of pressure to remove it, and that is where I am worried about breaking the Speaker Cover, because I don't know how to specifically remove it from the door trim panel.

Thus, I am hoping that someone can help me in that regard, with some hints about Speaker Cover removal, as well as anything else that I have to be concerned about to remove a front door trim panel assembly (such as how easy is it to remove the door handle assembly once that screw within the cup assembly has been removed, and what tips can you provide me in that regard).

Heck, even step 1, removal of the Sail Panel, was a bit difficult, since there is a clamp attachment that the removal notes neglected to mention, and to get the Sail Panel back onto the door panel is not so easy.

As another idea, I just want to have enough room to spray some grease on the window track panels, and I was wondering if I just remove the 4 screws on the perimeter of the front door panel trim (2 on one side, and 2 on the bottom), and not remove the sail panel, the door handle cup assembly, and the speaker cover, would that allow me enough room to spray the grease onto the window rails (my guess is no, but I am just asking to make sure)?

Lastly, can I get by without disconnecting the battery?

Thanks.

Phillip

 

[George]

So Phillip, how did you make out??😕 Just curious.🙂

 

[Phillip]

Sorry if I did not post my answer before (I thought I did, but apparently not), I was too scared to take apart my front door panel, so I did nothing. The window screeching problem went away over the winter, but it has come back again.

I think that it may be covered under warranty, at least I hope so, and I will take it to the dealership next week to see what they can find. I bought my T-Bird in July, 2005, and I got a 6-year/48,000 mile warranty. Might as well use it before it expires.

 

[George]

Good luck Phillip.
It may be the cable or the mechanism that raises the window. Either way, I agree, let the dealker do it.
Please let us know hopw you make out😎

 

[Phillip]

Now I am going crazy! I was going to take my T-Bird to the dealership on Monday, but I could get the darn window to squeak, no matter how many times I opened and closed it. It rained the night before, so maybe the extra 'rain lubrication' did something -- I don't know.

On the next day, driving home, it squeaked like mad when I closed the window from a fully open position, and it even squeaked a bit when closing it from an open position. I was nowhere near a dealership, so I figured I would take it in the next day. Well, the next day "no squeak".

Then, this morning, again "no squeak".

I am really confused about this, but I guess that I have to wait until the squeak occurs, and then go right to the nearest Ford dealership to see if they can diagnose what is causing it to occur and hopefully fix it.