# Trouble replacing the door panel..



## irwinscool (Sep 15, 2011)

Earlier tonight I tried taking off the door panel, passenger side, off of my Nissan Altima 1996. I Managed to take off the 3 screws at the bottom and this plug looking plastic piece. I removed the panel to where it was loose and could move a bit. The problem was that under the handle there is a little square removable piece of plastic. Removing this reveals a nut/bolt that I could not take off. I then decided to abandon the whole operation. The jist of it is that the 3rd screw on the bottom will not stay neither will the plastic looking thing. Now in the place where the window comes out there is too much space and the panel will not stay still. 
Help?


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## belacane (Nov 9, 2011)

Hopefully you've already figured out your answer given the date, but here's my notes on the topic. I just did this procedure today, and it took me a lot of fiddling to get the panel back on correctly. I hope that someone in the future might find what I found out helpful.

You don't need to take off the piece of plastic under the door latch/handle to get the panel off. There should be the three screws at the bottom, the screw in the little depression where you pull the door closed, and the plastic plug thing, and that's it. You'll also need to take off the molding around the door latch and around the window control panel (if you have electric windows). That's all that needs removing.

There are also three little plastic 'plugs' on the inside of the panel (you can't access them unless you take the panel off) that if they are not seated in their little holes in the door itself, they will make the panel stick out or fit funny when you try to put it back on. It seemed like an unnecessary hassle to me, so I ended up just taking them off. Once I did that, the panel fit right onto the door without any problems, and stayed tight.

Rolling down the window all the way made fitting the panel back on a lot easier as well. (It took me way too long to figure that out =P)

Your screw might not be working because the panel is not lined up correctly, or the threads are completely stripped. 


I also hope I don't get in trouble for reviving a slightly older thread... =\


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## jaysonbarn (Jan 4, 2011)

I got the exact same problem, but not on recall purpose. What can I do about this ??

Lifted Trucks || Classic Motorcycles || Polaris Atvs


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