The used door lock actuator arrived Friday. Now I need to take the door panel off to put it in. Only screw cover I see is for the inside door opening lever plastic trim piece. Is the rest simply held onto the door with plastic clips or am I missing some screws or bolts looking at it. Its a rear door btw.

 

There is a screw under the door handle (the one you use to pull the door closed) It is hard to see, but it is a very long phillips head screw. Besides this screw and the one in the top chrome door opener lever, the rest are held on by clips.

 

I do not know about the rear doors but the front passenger has a really strong stuborn metal clip about midway up towards the right side. The best way to remove this one is to look into the door panel from the bottom once it is loose and you will see two phillips screws which can be removed. You may also be able to lift this one up and out of the car once all other clips and screws are loose. Have fun! You get a lot more respect for the car when you see how well the panel is attached, atleast compared to american cars.

 

Assuming the 03 is the same as my 00, there are 3 phillips screws - one at bottom front just in front and below the speaker, one at bottom rear and one under a plastic plug inside the door latch handle depression. Then pop out from the friction clips and lift up.

 

Thanks for the help! Hope to get to it tonight if it doesn't rain.

 

I guess your door panels are different than mine (99 XJR). Just have 1 screw at the door release lever trim, and one really long one under the door arm rest/door pull.

 

Removed it today, 1 in the door lever, 1 in the handle and 2 on the underside. Replaced the actuator and it works great. Too about 2 hours all in all. New motor is a 3 wire, old was a 2 wire but the factory wiring harness had 3 dins so not sure what the 3rd wire is for but oh well, it just weighs a bit more now.