twr7cx
16th May 2019, 09:17 AM
As I struggled to find information about it when I was doing mine, I thought I would pop this up to help others in the future (and remind myself if/when I have to redo it) that have to replace the door lock actuator on their D4 (and likely D3 as well) on the front passenger side door which has the external keyed door lock (for emergency access when flat battery etc.). This external keyed door lock ads a significant complication which results in additional work.
Before doing this door I had already replaced both my rear doors lock actuators following PowerfulUK's YouTube how to video:
YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Tkimzb9LEA&app=desktop)
The first took about an hour and a half to do and the second about an hour. Fundamentally the video will give you the basic concept of ow to do the job and there is many similarities. As such I'll only point out the additional differences and complications below.
First difference - no Land Rover badge on D4 door trim:
Disco 3's have a Land Rover badge on their front door trims around where your elbow would sit. Behind this is a screw required to be removed to remove the door trim. D4's don't have this, instead their extra screw is in the door trim on the side that would go into the door jam, there's a cap there you pop off to access it.
First complication - separating the window from the winder mechanism:
Check out D4 - Front door window glass disconnect from winder mechanism (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/l319-discovery-3-and-4-a/270947-d4-front-door-window-glass-disconnect-winder-mechanism.html)
As shown in the video the window glass is held in place by the white clip. The first difference is the rear doors only have one clip and the front doors have two. This is shown in pictures at Disco3's Replacing door latch / window regulator - Now with guide (https://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/replacing-door-latch-window-regulator-now-with-guide-33743.html) < DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - Replacing door latch / window regulator - Now with guide (https://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/replacing-door-latch-window-regulator-now-with-guide-33743.html) >:
https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/i.hubnuts.uk/xpb/7a/7a54a507a099be328ebe23556353a30b115c3edd4cbb704182 2992a27767b966.jpg
7a54a507a099be328ebe23556353a30b115c3edd4cbb704182 2992a27767b966.jpg (https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/i.hubnuts.uk/xpb/7a/7a54a507a099be328ebe23556353a30b115c3edd4cbb704182 2992a27767b966.jpg)
The second clip is accessed by fitting your arm into the door through the speaker hole - (depending on your arm size) you will end up with you entire forearm including your elbow inside the door to reach it. To do this though you need to have the window glass down to pretty much exactly 5"/125mm window opening - on my first attempt I had a 160mm opening and could not fit my arm into the door. If you have to adjust the window opening then you need to retrieve the door trim, reconnect the power window switch and the two black box (some sort of door ECU?) connections onto the door trim, power on the car to accessories and make the adjustment - so much easier to just set it right before removing the door trim in the first place...
I found that with the window glass pretaped in advance, doing this I could disconnect the two white clips one after the other with one arm while lightly pulling the glass upwards with the other and so did not need a second person to help.
Leave the front window guide alone and the window winder mechanism inside the door:
While the Disco3 Forum guide < DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - Replacing door latch / window regulator - Now with guide (https://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/replacing-door-latch-window-regulator-now-with-guide-33743.html) > is fairly good - there was no need to remove the front window guide or window winder mechanism from the door as they've directed. The front guide doesn't need to be touched at all and the window winder mechanism can be left inside the door and pushed out of the way similar to how the rear is treated in the video.
Major complication - additional cable connection from the external keyed lock to the door lock actuator mechanism:
Unlike the other three doors which has only two cable connections to the door lock actuator mechanism (one for the external door handle and one for the internal door handle and lock) the passenger side front has a third for the keyed door lock.
As such don't bother disconnecting the external door handle cable off the door lock actuator as shown on the video (using a small screwdriver through the door latch hole to flick off the four fingers) - leave it in place as you'll end up pulling the door lock actuator out along with the internal door parts of the external door handle mechanism. I found the second cable for the keyed door lock to be inaccessible through the small door holes to disconnect hence why the handle has to come out with it as it can then be transferred to the new unit quickly and easily once all is removed.
So instead turn your attention to removing the external door handle and keyed lock. The Disco3 guide thread < https://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/replacing-door-latch-window-regulator-now-with-guide-33743-45.html > offers the following on this:
a) Remove the sticker covering a hole on the interior door skin and use a torx extension to remove the bolt securing the handle.
b) Remove the external door lock cover (the one you use to unlock the door if the battery is flat or central locking not working).
c) Remove the grommet located at handle level above the door latch to expose a torx bolt.
d) Remove the torx bolt and remove the lock barrel.
e) Unhook the door handle. To do this, slide the handle towards the rear of the car and then unhook.
f) When the handle is removed, remove the rubber protection to expose a small oblong plastic locking pin. Remove this and you will be able to release the handle housing by sliding it towards the front of the car. You will then be able to remove the entire latch and handle assembly.
This sounds complicated but it was quite easy and it enables you to easily remove all cables and reattach to the new unit.
This didn't fully make sense to me so I also referred to the Land Rover repair manual for the LR3 / Disco 3 that is available online for viewing at < https://workshop-manuals.com/landrover/lr3/501-14_handles_locks_latches_and_entry_systems/door_lock_cylinder/ > and has pictures.
To assist I'll try to describe it in my own words:
1. Remove the keyed door lock cover cap - to do this on my D4 I insert the keyblade from below and twist/lever for it to pop off.
2. With the door open, look on the door jam side for a small rubber grommet (around 10mm size) that is level with the door handle. Remove this.
3. Unwind the screw (I think it is a Torx T25 size) that is revealed through this hole once the rubber grommet is out the way. Do not completely undo it (otherwise you'll be like me with your wife and her small hands fishing in the door to retrieve it). You only need to turn it out enough until the lock barrel is free to be removed.
4. Remove the lock barrel if you haven't already.
5. On the inside of the door there is a small (around 10cent coin sized) black sticker level with the door handle, peel that back to reveal another Torx T25 screw that you access through the hole. Completely undo it, catch it and put it aside until reassembly.
6. Head to the outside of the door. Using an open hand style palm strike to push the door handle lever part from front to rear. A quick snap movement seems to dislodge it.
7. Open the door handle and the rear side should come out of the door, keep opening it to past around 45* or so and the front section should now also jiggle out.
8. There's two rubber gaskets/seals. Carefully pry these out on each of their four corners.
9. The front one will reveal a oval-ish shaped plug (I think it might have had the Land Rover logo moulded in the top). Pull this out - might require long nose pliers if stiff.
10. You should now be able to see how to push the internal part of the external door handle towards the front of the vehicle to dislodge it.
11. Head back to the inside of the door and you can now remove the door lock actuator out of the door complete with the internal part of the external door handle still connected via the two cables.
12. Put on a bench and swap over to the door lock actuator.
13. Refit in reverse.
Good luck. It took me quiet some time my first time doing the front door figuring this out but I could easily do it again in half of the time.
For some thoughts/conversation on repairing faulty actuators and replacement genuine units vs the cheapies see D3 Rear Door Lock Broken (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/l319-discovery-3-and-4-a/270950-d3-rear-door-lock-broken.html)
Before doing this door I had already replaced both my rear doors lock actuators following PowerfulUK's YouTube how to video:
YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Tkimzb9LEA&app=desktop)
The first took about an hour and a half to do and the second about an hour. Fundamentally the video will give you the basic concept of ow to do the job and there is many similarities. As such I'll only point out the additional differences and complications below.
First difference - no Land Rover badge on D4 door trim:
Disco 3's have a Land Rover badge on their front door trims around where your elbow would sit. Behind this is a screw required to be removed to remove the door trim. D4's don't have this, instead their extra screw is in the door trim on the side that would go into the door jam, there's a cap there you pop off to access it.
First complication - separating the window from the winder mechanism:
Check out D4 - Front door window glass disconnect from winder mechanism (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/l319-discovery-3-and-4-a/270947-d4-front-door-window-glass-disconnect-winder-mechanism.html)
As shown in the video the window glass is held in place by the white clip. The first difference is the rear doors only have one clip and the front doors have two. This is shown in pictures at Disco3's Replacing door latch / window regulator - Now with guide (https://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/replacing-door-latch-window-regulator-now-with-guide-33743.html) < DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - Replacing door latch / window regulator - Now with guide (https://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/replacing-door-latch-window-regulator-now-with-guide-33743.html) >:
https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/i.hubnuts.uk/xpb/7a/7a54a507a099be328ebe23556353a30b115c3edd4cbb704182 2992a27767b966.jpg
7a54a507a099be328ebe23556353a30b115c3edd4cbb704182 2992a27767b966.jpg (https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/i.hubnuts.uk/xpb/7a/7a54a507a099be328ebe23556353a30b115c3edd4cbb704182 2992a27767b966.jpg)
The second clip is accessed by fitting your arm into the door through the speaker hole - (depending on your arm size) you will end up with you entire forearm including your elbow inside the door to reach it. To do this though you need to have the window glass down to pretty much exactly 5"/125mm window opening - on my first attempt I had a 160mm opening and could not fit my arm into the door. If you have to adjust the window opening then you need to retrieve the door trim, reconnect the power window switch and the two black box (some sort of door ECU?) connections onto the door trim, power on the car to accessories and make the adjustment - so much easier to just set it right before removing the door trim in the first place...
I found that with the window glass pretaped in advance, doing this I could disconnect the two white clips one after the other with one arm while lightly pulling the glass upwards with the other and so did not need a second person to help.
Leave the front window guide alone and the window winder mechanism inside the door:
While the Disco3 Forum guide < DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - Replacing door latch / window regulator - Now with guide (https://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/replacing-door-latch-window-regulator-now-with-guide-33743.html) > is fairly good - there was no need to remove the front window guide or window winder mechanism from the door as they've directed. The front guide doesn't need to be touched at all and the window winder mechanism can be left inside the door and pushed out of the way similar to how the rear is treated in the video.
Major complication - additional cable connection from the external keyed lock to the door lock actuator mechanism:
Unlike the other three doors which has only two cable connections to the door lock actuator mechanism (one for the external door handle and one for the internal door handle and lock) the passenger side front has a third for the keyed door lock.
As such don't bother disconnecting the external door handle cable off the door lock actuator as shown on the video (using a small screwdriver through the door latch hole to flick off the four fingers) - leave it in place as you'll end up pulling the door lock actuator out along with the internal door parts of the external door handle mechanism. I found the second cable for the keyed door lock to be inaccessible through the small door holes to disconnect hence why the handle has to come out with it as it can then be transferred to the new unit quickly and easily once all is removed.
So instead turn your attention to removing the external door handle and keyed lock. The Disco3 guide thread < https://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/replacing-door-latch-window-regulator-now-with-guide-33743-45.html > offers the following on this:
a) Remove the sticker covering a hole on the interior door skin and use a torx extension to remove the bolt securing the handle.
b) Remove the external door lock cover (the one you use to unlock the door if the battery is flat or central locking not working).
c) Remove the grommet located at handle level above the door latch to expose a torx bolt.
d) Remove the torx bolt and remove the lock barrel.
e) Unhook the door handle. To do this, slide the handle towards the rear of the car and then unhook.
f) When the handle is removed, remove the rubber protection to expose a small oblong plastic locking pin. Remove this and you will be able to release the handle housing by sliding it towards the front of the car. You will then be able to remove the entire latch and handle assembly.
This sounds complicated but it was quite easy and it enables you to easily remove all cables and reattach to the new unit.
This didn't fully make sense to me so I also referred to the Land Rover repair manual for the LR3 / Disco 3 that is available online for viewing at < https://workshop-manuals.com/landrover/lr3/501-14_handles_locks_latches_and_entry_systems/door_lock_cylinder/ > and has pictures.
To assist I'll try to describe it in my own words:
1. Remove the keyed door lock cover cap - to do this on my D4 I insert the keyblade from below and twist/lever for it to pop off.
2. With the door open, look on the door jam side for a small rubber grommet (around 10mm size) that is level with the door handle. Remove this.
3. Unwind the screw (I think it is a Torx T25 size) that is revealed through this hole once the rubber grommet is out the way. Do not completely undo it (otherwise you'll be like me with your wife and her small hands fishing in the door to retrieve it). You only need to turn it out enough until the lock barrel is free to be removed.
4. Remove the lock barrel if you haven't already.
5. On the inside of the door there is a small (around 10cent coin sized) black sticker level with the door handle, peel that back to reveal another Torx T25 screw that you access through the hole. Completely undo it, catch it and put it aside until reassembly.
6. Head to the outside of the door. Using an open hand style palm strike to push the door handle lever part from front to rear. A quick snap movement seems to dislodge it.
7. Open the door handle and the rear side should come out of the door, keep opening it to past around 45* or so and the front section should now also jiggle out.
8. There's two rubber gaskets/seals. Carefully pry these out on each of their four corners.
9. The front one will reveal a oval-ish shaped plug (I think it might have had the Land Rover logo moulded in the top). Pull this out - might require long nose pliers if stiff.
10. You should now be able to see how to push the internal part of the external door handle towards the front of the vehicle to dislodge it.
11. Head back to the inside of the door and you can now remove the door lock actuator out of the door complete with the internal part of the external door handle still connected via the two cables.
12. Put on a bench and swap over to the door lock actuator.
13. Refit in reverse.
Good luck. It took me quiet some time my first time doing the front door figuring this out but I could easily do it again in half of the time.
For some thoughts/conversation on repairing faulty actuators and replacement genuine units vs the cheapies see D3 Rear Door Lock Broken (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/l319-discovery-3-and-4-a/270950-d3-rear-door-lock-broken.html)