I have a 2003 Honda Accord, 4 door, 4 cyl, manual xmission. When I open the driver's side door, I hear a cracking sound. The same thing when I shut the door. I noticed that in addition to the two hinges, there's a rod (for lack of a better name), one end of which is attached to the door jamb. The other end passes through a hole in the side of the door. Comparing the driver's side to the passenger side, I noticed that the passenger's side rod is completely covered in black plastic but on the driver's side, this plastic seems to be broken. The first pic I'm attaching was taken from the driver's seat aimed at the door gap, half way between the top and the bottom hinge.

I thought I'd take a look inside to uncover what's happening. I removed the door trim, but I still don't have access. See second picture. How can I get access to the inside so that I can view the hidden part of the rod, and if defective, possibly replace it? In any case, I tried to put the trim back, but I noticed that the inside handle cable (encased in white plastic with a groove around it) keeps popping out of the metal "jaw" (located on the normally hidden side of the trim) that's supposed to retain it. See third pic. Now I can't open the door from the inside. What am I doing wrong here?

 

It's called the door detent and causes the door to stand open at a fixed position to ease exit from vehicle (w/o door falling closed!).

Access to remove the assembly is from inside as you suspected. You need to remove the door insulation/moisture barrier to gain access. Window likely will need to be fully raised.

If you want a shop manual, you can purchase an emanual from automanualsource.com for $22. I found a diagram, but no detailed description of replacement, but it might be there buried in another procedure.

good luck

 

It's called the door "checker" which is number 16 and 19 in this illustration. Make sure you get the right one, driver's side is the left side.
FRONT DOOR PANELS 2003 HONDA ACCORD Parts 4DR LX KA5MT - Genuine OEM HONDA Parts

 

Here is a link on replacement of the door checker/detent rod:
Door Checker Replacement - Drive Accord Honda Forums

This other link also has some other info. regarding door panel removal.
http://www.dormanproducts.com/digita...741-306_IS.PDF

Rotate the black plastic clip off the inner handle cable first, then reattach cable bushing into the bracket. When you get the panel closer to the door frame, then rotate the black plastic clip back on the cable. See the attached pic.

 

Thanks for so many people responding with very useful info. The pictures are a big help too. I had actually gotten almost to the last step, but didn't realize that all I had to do was remove the insulation/moisture barrier. Also, I noted redbull's suggestion on reattaching the inner handle cable. I'm just waiting for some free time.

 

I got some time yesterday to revisit these issues. I removed the right hand side of the door insulation, and sure enough I now have access to the hidden side of the detent rod. Now that I know I can do it, I will go out and buy a replacement part.

redbull-1, I continue to have an issue with the inside door handle. I tried your suggestion on attaching the cable bushing to the bracket first and then the attach the black plastic clip to the cable. It is not that the white plastic bushing is hard to slip into the bracket, but rather the exact opposite, it comes out too easily and won't stay in. What is the remedy here? In the meantime, I have to follow the annoying procedure of lowering my window, sticking my hand out to open the door using the outside handle, and then raising the window again to exit the car.

 

Try adding a thin strip of rubber or something to see if it will help keep the bushing in there.

 

I ordered the replacement checker/detent rod and was able to replace it. Concerning the inside door handle, I discovered that the bushing was not pushed all the way in. After I exerted force to push it in all the way, it stayed. Miraculously, I was able to put all the trim back where it belonged. Now the door as well as the inside handle are operating normally. Thanks to the group for all your help.

 

Thanks for reporting back that things were resolved.

 

Not sure if you've fixed this or not but the detent rod is only half the issue. The noise you're hearing is the detent rod catching then releasing on the metal guide for the window. If you take the door panel completely off and open and close the door you can see it as it happens. You don't need a new detent rod. You just need to remove the existing detent rod and grind it down until it clears the window guide. You'll probably have to bend the window guide back into place a bit too. This will fix the issue permanently.


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