. ZC1 has a great idea (touch up paint)! Or you could be (even more of) a gentleman and open the car door for her? .
The button appears to come from a lead called TRG+ in the passenger antenna module, and go through connector IL1 pin 7 at the block under the RHS kick panel near the door hinge. Should be a blue connector, and your car should have a red wire on either side of it in the hole indicated by this pic. Mine as a non-SKS '04 has no wire there, but hopefully this can suffice as a guide. The lead continues from there to the body ECU to a pin labeled TSW2 [touch switch #2, presumably, since the other buttons go to similar TSWx inputs]. You could try pulling that pin and then see if the button works anymore. . The plastic covers for the door edge and kick panel just pull right off, no worries. You'll need to raise the white retainer bar on the connector a little way, and then use a very small tool to release the pin itself. . Failing that, it may be easier to reprogram the wife... avoiding any assumptions on what size tool is required for that job, though. . _H*
A huge thank you to everyone for all of the wonderful suggestions. (Some more practical than others. )I'm sure this whole issue will pass with time. It is mostly a matter of getting used to doing things a different way. I am convinced that the biggest issue is the contrast of the button with the handle. It just "seems" like you should put your thumb on it and push. I had much the same problem for a few days after I bought the car. It just "seemed" natural. I believe reducing the contrast will reduce the tendency to want to push the button until she gets used to just pulling the handle. Since I already have the red electrical tape, I'll start there. Here it is before and after the tape. The color is a lot closer despite the photo. Must be the way the light reflects off the tape vs the paint. Hey, got nothing to loose. Bob
Chrysler seemed to be fond of the thumb-button to open -- I always thought my thumbs were going to end up permanently bent from pressing the stiff latches on my parents' cars. The PT Cruiser still has the pushbuttons.
