SlimPickins
Escapee
Hey all. I purchased a 1998 Montero with 155k miles several months back and have been catching up on the previous owner's deferred maintenance.. One issue I've encountered is the toggling door lock actuator. When I hit 'unlock' on my key fob, all four doors unlock and then immediately return to the locked position. This means I've had to hit the 'unlock' button with my hand on the handle and open the door as quickly as possible before it automatically returns to the lock position. Apparently the issue is a worn rubber stop within the driver's door lock actuator. I know this is fairly common and that there are DIYs elsewhere but I figured I'd post my experience. With basic tools and about an hour, you can save yourself a few. I apologize for the rotated pics. I've agonized over this for a couple of hours but can't sort it out. Credit for the solve goes to 'jrmdir' on mitsubishiforum.com, I'm essentially just adding pics as I followed those instructions.
The first step is to remove the tweeter cover in upper right hand corner of the door. It pops off easily with steady prying around the corners.
Next I easily popped out the two plastic retainers on the right side of the door with a flat head screwdriver.
There are two Phillips head screws under the plastic caps on the armrest. The plastic caps pop out easily with a flat head.
Next is another smaller Phillips head behind the inner door handle. Once the screw is out, you can maneuver the plastic cover over the handle and remove it.
Now that it is free you can start popping the panel off. I found it easiest to start at the middle of the right edge and make my way down around the door, prying steadily to pop the plastic retaining pins out of the door. Once the panel is free around the edges, it'll still be secured to the top edge with a few metal clips. Pulling the panel out slightly and pushing upwards unhinged these clips, freeing the panel. This took a little more force than I had anticipated but be careful not to bend/break the metal clips at the top edge. Once this was free, there are a couple of electrical connections on the back side that need to be undone. One is the door lamp in the lower left hand corner and the other is the connector to the window controls in the center of the panel.
The panel can be put aside. This exposes a plastic film covering the insides of the door which is held in place by some glue around the edges. I peeled this up slowly from the lower left corner to preserve the plastic and the glue. This exposes the two 10mm bolts holding the actuator to the door. Remove.
Once the bolts are removed, you can manipulate the actuator to pop out the door lock rod and then undo the electrical connection.
This will yield the actuator which is held to its metal frame with two Phillips head screws. Once these are removed, the two halves of the cover can be separated with a small, thin flat head screwdriver. This takes a little time and patience but it will pop/pry apart if you move carefully around the edges.
Once open, you'll see a couple of gears. The larger one in the center has two metal rings around its hub that come off easily so be careful. One of my rings was actually stuck to the cover so keep a close eye. The second is a half-moon shaped gear that is stopped on each end of its arc by black rubber bumpers.
The first step is to remove the tweeter cover in upper right hand corner of the door. It pops off easily with steady prying around the corners.
Next I easily popped out the two plastic retainers on the right side of the door with a flat head screwdriver.
There are two Phillips head screws under the plastic caps on the armrest. The plastic caps pop out easily with a flat head.
Next is another smaller Phillips head behind the inner door handle. Once the screw is out, you can maneuver the plastic cover over the handle and remove it.
Now that it is free you can start popping the panel off. I found it easiest to start at the middle of the right edge and make my way down around the door, prying steadily to pop the plastic retaining pins out of the door. Once the panel is free around the edges, it'll still be secured to the top edge with a few metal clips. Pulling the panel out slightly and pushing upwards unhinged these clips, freeing the panel. This took a little more force than I had anticipated but be careful not to bend/break the metal clips at the top edge. Once this was free, there are a couple of electrical connections on the back side that need to be undone. One is the door lamp in the lower left hand corner and the other is the connector to the window controls in the center of the panel.
The panel can be put aside. This exposes a plastic film covering the insides of the door which is held in place by some glue around the edges. I peeled this up slowly from the lower left corner to preserve the plastic and the glue. This exposes the two 10mm bolts holding the actuator to the door. Remove.
Once the bolts are removed, you can manipulate the actuator to pop out the door lock rod and then undo the electrical connection.
This will yield the actuator which is held to its metal frame with two Phillips head screws. Once these are removed, the two halves of the cover can be separated with a small, thin flat head screwdriver. This takes a little time and patience but it will pop/pry apart if you move carefully around the edges.
Once open, you'll see a couple of gears. The larger one in the center has two metal rings around its hub that come off easily so be careful. One of my rings was actually stuck to the cover so keep a close eye. The second is a half-moon shaped gear that is stopped on each end of its arc by black rubber bumpers.
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