Well, no one had any ideas about how to get this inner panel out, so I kept driving it with this dinging going on until I couldnt stand it any longer. I had the idea to go to a local custom body shop, and the owner told me how to get the inner panel out. First, look for two rubber grommets near the top left and right side of the panels. Remove them, and then lower the window until you see the heads of screws in the openings. Loosen those screws, and the window separates from the track. He told me that the window should come out, but I found it was just as easy to slide the window to the top and use some duct tape to hold it up and out of the way.
Now you can get the panel to come out, but it is still held in place by a plastic piece on the left side. This becomes a problem, as that piece is bolted to the panel from the inside. It is flexible enough so that I was able to reach around and remove those bolts, but I sure wish I had the engineer who designed this setup there to do it for me.
That plastic piece stays in the door, and makes removing the latch hard to do, but it is flexible enough to move out of the way. It is easier if you have another person to help twist that piece up and out of the way.
I learned a couple of things,
1. Spraying your latch will do nothing, as the switch is inaccessible from the outside.
2. The latch assy will have to be replaced, so you should either order an assy. Ahead of time or make sure that your Ford dealer has one in stock before taking your door apart.
3. The Ford dealer says that they can reprogram the old switch, at a cost of 75. If you bring the latch to them. They say that works 80% of the time, but there is no guarantee.
4. You can find the latch on ebay for as low as 86., and supposedly if you get it from a ford dealer there is a 2 year warranty on the part.
5. Someone told me that just disconnecting the switch will solve the problem, but I tried that, and can report that the light stays on along with the dinging, and it causes other problems.