NIKAS

Passenger-side door lock mechanism has packed it in. Dash central lock button doesn't open it, neither does the handle from inside or the key from driver side. Is there some clever way to unlock this so that door panel can come off for mechanism replacement? Part two of this question is: has anyone removed door panel from inside (door closed) and not broken one of the 9 retaining clips?

DBJoe996

Have you tried pulling the inside handle twice in a row? That should work....I think.

Chuck W.

Sit in the car and lock it with the fab; pull the interior handle. Unlock the car with the fob and pull the handle. Lock the car with the fob and pull the handle. Repeat several times. It worked for me.... and I have no idea why.

onewhippedpuppy

My guess is that something is broken internal to the lock/latch mechanism. Chuck's approach might work if it is still intermittent. Otherwise who cares about the plastic snaps on the door panel? They are something like $0.20 each, just buy enough to do the entire panel. Usually half of them break anyway from age when you remove your door panel, even under good circumstances.

Chiamac

Truth! Or even if they don't break old ones just don't seem to hold as well anyway.

bal

I took a look at my door panel when the door was closed today. I think you should be able to remove it without breakage. You'll need an assortment of plastic trim tools to get under the panel but it looks like it can be done. If you haven't already seen it, I recently posted step by step pictures of door panel removal. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-...a-Porsche-996/

As OWP says, it sounds like the door latch. Getting it off might be a problem because if it is stuck in the locked position I'm not sure how you're going to remove it, but you'll need to assess that once you can see what is going on. You will need to remove the outside door handle, which can only be done from inside the door. Reassembly requires three hands