2003 Windstar Sliding doors wont open from the inside

Question

I just bought a 2003 windstar. Both sliding doors will not open with the inside handles. The child safety switches on the inside of the door are down, (disengaged), but the inside handles appear to be pulling on nothing.

I pulled the inside of the door off and I see that the inside handle pulls a metal cable that loops down and terminates at a rocker arm. This rocker arm moves when the inside handle is pulled, but is not connected to anything.

I notice that the outside handle works, and it moves a mechanism behind this useless rocker arm. could there be a piece that connected the two? I'm wondering if someone completely disabled the inside sliding door handles, and I'm looking to fix it and get a missing part if one exists.

Answer 1

The history of the vehicle is always a good place to start with when assessing a vehicle fault. Can you contact the previous owner to ask if the interior door handles were disconnected for a particular purpose. A second option would be to look up an online parts catalogue for your vehicle and study it for a missing/broken lock part. Both doors being inoperative at the same time will mean that they have either been disconnected, or you have a system fault. A phone call to your Ford dealer may reveal a common fault with your model of vehicle.