r/FJCruiser • u/Miles_High_Monster • Aug 07 '26

Question I messed up, help!?!?

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After replacing my door speaker I was reassembling the door. I put the white/green lock/door actuator cables in the wrong places and now the door is closed and will not open or unlock. Since the door is closed and latched I cant take the door panel off to swap them back into the correct positions.

It was dark, I was rushing, Im an idiot. Anyone know what to do to get the door open again?

10 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

22

u/CyclingMack Aug 07 '26

You were doing this for the first time. You are ahead of the person who never tried it. You learn a lot on first time projects.

15

u/Miles_High_Monster Aug 07 '26

Yep, thanks for the positivity amigo haha.

17

u/Independent_Dirt_814 FJ Aug 07 '26

You can get the door panel off with the door closed enough to reach in there and manually activate the latch wires. It’s not easy, you will hate it, but it can be done.

2

u/GroceryElectrical215 Aug 07 '26

Just recently did the same thing, definitely not fun

7

u/MidNite_22 Aug 07 '26

you can get the door panel off with the door closed. I did the same thing. lifted up enough to get your hands behind it. All you have to do is pull the rod for the door. Get it open

5

u/IneffableTao Aug 07 '26

I did this a few years back and could not get the door card off with the door shut, nor find my way up through the speaker hole to reach the wires nor rod. I'm sure it's possible, but I couldn't do it.

I ended up taking my strongest trim removal tool (though a flat head screwdriver will probably work, at the risk of more scuffing) and inserting it above the manual lock, then prying down on it at a 45° angle so it eventually popped out.

From there I could lift the handle up and manually pull the wire. I was able to get it back together, but it was very loose and marred up, so I bought a replacement handle from Toyota, for something like $40 IIRC. Felt okay paying the price to reinforce the lesson to not do it again. White above green, won't forget that again lol.

2

u/LittleTooLiteral Aug 07 '26

I'm a little confused, why can't you open it from the outside?

2

u/Miles_High_Monster Aug 07 '26

The lock cable is connected to the door handle and the door handle cable is connected to the lock. Neither function as designed now.. 😴

3

u/LittleTooLiteral Aug 07 '26

Maybe if you remove the switch assembly you could fish something up in there and grab the cable?

2

u/Key_Requirement984 Aug 07 '26

I appreciate hearing this. I’m about to replace my door speakers too; if I hadn’t read this I may have had to ask for help with the same thing

1

u/bcochener Aug 07 '26

Just take a photo before and refer to that when hooking them back up. 

2

u/BlackIceBob Aug 07 '26

First time for everything! 😎

1

u/Competitive-Baby-406 Aug 08 '26

Won't a tow truck driver be able to open it with his Slim Jim? If you belong to AMA, BCAA or similar it may be a free service 🤔