Howdy,
I just fixed my passenger side door on my 2002 ranger 4 door XLT. The door handle would only lift up and would not open the door even when the door was unlocked. I could open the door from the inside, but if the door fell back to closed position I could not open it from the outside.

Fix
I followed the procedure from one of the remove door panel videos online. It was a lot simpler than I thought it would be. When I finally got to look at the inside of the door I noticed that the bar (part 22134) connected to the door handle (part 22404) was swinging around and not connected to anything on the other end. I checked out the opposite door to see how it was supposed to be hooked up. The lower end is supposed to go through the plastic bracket (part 4) and a hole in the door latch mechanism (part 21812). It was a little tricky because the plastic bracket had to be slipped over the hole first and then the bar slipped through both the plastic bracket and the door latch. Once the bar was through both, the plastic bracket was swung around and pressed/snapped onto the bar to keep the whole thing in place. Once the bar was securely in place the door handle work fine.

(see illustration at fordparts.com at this link: Buy 2002 Ford Ranger Parts | FordParts.com) or search for Exterior Door Handle part 22404.

Cons
It is difficult to see what you are doing within the door space. Everything was done by feel. So it is imperative that you first check out the opposite door to see how the door Handle mechanism works and how the bar is connected to the latch.

Pluses
The whole process took about two hours because I did know what to expect. But while I was doing this task, I noticed that the door lock switch on the driver side had rusty spring locks. So I wire brushed them and sprayed them with rustoleum rust converter to protect them in the future. I was able to do the same for the door latch brackets on the floor for each of the two rear doors.

Now if I can only figure out how to turn on the white light part of the third tail light on the roof of the cab so I can see in the bed in the dark.
Have fun and keep on trucking.

 

My third brake light, white light turns on when I turn the dash light dimmer to full on. This turns on the dome light and the exterior bed light. Yours should do the same. Maybe the bulb is burned out.

 

x2. click the dimmer all the way up and see if they light up. Otherwise, the bulbs may be burnt out. If they're burnt out this would be a perfect opportunity to switch them out for LEDs. I have LEDs in my cargo lamps and i also have the cargo lamps tapped into my dome light and overhead console lights so when i open the door, the cargos also turn on and not only with the dimmer switch.


Random: I stopped at the Ayer rotary today to grab a quick bite to eat lol

 

IN FX4 & 99offroadrngr,
Thanks for the tip on the third tail light turn on. I will give it a try. Also I like the tip on the LEDs. I will be replacing as many as I can when they blow out.

Ayer rotary...is that Wendys, macdonalds or some other location that the Ayer Rotary Assoc. has set up? :)
Ranger-2002

 

Yeah my entire truck has LEDs now and I love em.

It was indeed Wendy's where I stopped yesterday