I should have guessed I'd be having problems with the driver's side windshield pillar trim when I'd hear a strange rattling noise intermittently at 65 mph and higher that couldn't be explained by the roof rack, coupled with the occasional wet floor after a heavy rain. A couple days ago the source for both problems became clear when the top of the trim disengaged completely from the vehicle's body and started flapping around, revealing that the top fastener (AKA "clip") was stripped (and no longer holding) and the mount for the one below that was broken. Obviously it's time to do the pillar trim reconditioning described in Technical Bulletin LA-501-006 (new clips and permanently sealing the holes that can let water in) on both the broken driver's side and the still-OK-but-as-long-as-I'm-there-I-might-as-well-tidy-it-up passenger side.

I'm not going to have any problems popping the remaining fasteners on the driver's side trim with my trim tool when I'm ready to seal the holes in the pillar body and install fresh clips, but the passenger side worries me. My trim tool is the standard cheap-o version with the screwdriver-like handle (see https://www.harborfreight.com/panelt...ece-63639.html ) and it works well when I'm trying to separate flexible covers from the body (you stick the business end of the tool vinyl, wiggle it around until you find a clip, and pop it off before sliding over to the next one) or when removing fasteners that you can see. But the A-pillar exterior trim is hard plastic with no obvious give that would allow a tool to be slipped between the trim and the body. Tryin to force the tool under the trim seems like a first class ticket to a broken piece of expensive plastic (an A-pillar exterior piece isn't crazy expensive, but it's $80 I'd rather spend on something else).

I looked at the shop manual under 501-08 Exterior Trim and Ornamentation to find the section on "A-Pillar Moulding LH", but all it says for the R&R is to "Open the bonnet," "Remove the A-pillar moulding". and then "Release and discard the 5 clips." Nothing about how to access those clips without mucking everything up. Given my 2006 HSE is almost 20 years old and stills in the sun all day, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the trin shattered into a thousand pieces the first time I got the tool within 10 yards of the plastic.

So how do people get this sucker off the LR3's body without making things worse???

Nick in Palm Springs

 

Just grab it and pull it off, no special process apart from not being ham fisted while doing it.

 

Okeydokey. Just wanted to make sure there weren't any hidden screws or latches. Thanks!

Nick in Palm Springs