So good news / bad news; I finally settled on an '03 VDP and brought it home a couple of days ago. That is the good news....like so many other folks, a couple of days and the gremlins start to surface. Ok, so both driver side doors failed to open, the front would only open from the inside, the rear only from the outside. Searched the forum and found plenty of useful info on pulling the door panels, thanks for that. I got the front door fixed, just a matter of tweaking the rod, works flawlessly. The rear is a different story. The cable is till connected, but it doesn't pull the latch mechanism far enough to disengage the latch. Also, it seems that is has a lot of slop in the slot closest to the mechanism, (furthest from the inside handle). So is it just a stretched cable, (estimate at least 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch play), or is there something else going on? The slot on the latch side doesn't seem to be under any tension when the door handle is at rest. I am trying to avoid removing the other side and comparing notes, as the PO most have lost or broken most of the plastic clips, and at about 3 bucks a piece I'm trying to keep from buying more than I have to. Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long winded explanation.

 

I had a problem where the remote could not be programmed. Needed a new computer module which was in the rear trunk. Now programmed but everything worked except for the drivers door. Th latch mechanism clicked but did not engage the button and did not open. We put in another used latch mechanism and finally everything works. A used computer module and a used latch mechanism was not cheap. But all is working now.

 

Ok so I thought I would give everyone an update on what I had to do to fix this. After staring at the latch mechanism for a bit, (using a mirror), I figured out that it was simply a case of the cable being stretched. Being a cheap SOB, rather than buying a cable & latch assy., I bought a pair of 3/16 nylon bushings from Lowes, (59 cents). I cut 1 of the bushings to take up the slack between the cable end, (latch side), and the part of the latch that is pulled by the cable. I cut a small slot lengthwise, (and at an angle so the cable would never line up with the slot on its own), on the bushing narrower than the cable so that I had to force it over the cable, and it wouldn't fall off. I used a small piece of duct tape to provide a little extra insurance. As a note, I had to remove the front handle assy. to be able to get a clear shot at the cable end. I know this is probably clear as mud, but if you ever have to do it, it should become pretty clear when you look at it. Hopefully this helps someone in the future.