Thread: door lock spring replacement

Hi all
We had a problem with Lou's D1 not lifting the door lock button fully when being unlocked. This resulted the door re locking itself when the door handle was pulled.
After a bit or research Lou found out that a small spring breaks inside the latch mechnism. lou found replacement springs on e bay (uk) and they came with a instruction sheet on how to fit. This method is far cheaper than a local spares place that will only sell the complete unit.

will put pictures on the end but as a rough step by step guide here goes what to do.

1. remove door trim, pretty simple, unbolt grab handle, unscrew back plate cover for door open handle, then ease a corner of the door trim away from the door and unclip all the way round. the electric window switch has a plug on the inside so easy to leave in place on the door trim and disconnect the plug once the trim is removed.
2. the latch comes out pretty easy on the rear doors, (i found the back door hard but did not take it fully apart). Two big screws on the aft end of the door are removed and one bolt on the inside, dont drop the washer as it will drop into a small gap in the door and is a pig to get out, i did this twice just to confirm how hard it was.
unclip the actuating rods. There is three of them and they are simply clipped into place.
3. Remove latch, find broken spring and remove, i found a small screw driver and bent nose pliers were enough. Then fit the new spring bearing in mind that the springs are handed.
4. Replace and put back together. just watch the rubber trim at top of door panel does not get trapped when putting trim on.

took me probably hour on first door, thirty min on the second door. Now the locks work as they should. .

hope this helps save some one some money.

I too, have had "recent" spring problems with the back door lock on the Defender 110 Station wagon we've had since new in 1996.
Had actually done a number of things discussed on this Forum before I rejoined (got dropped by the 365 day rule!) such as drilling out the rivets etc- BTW you don't actually need to replace the rivets. Hold the casing firmly together and bolt it back onto the door. The mounting bolts will hold it together!)
Obviously we are discussing a number of different springs in these locks.







I've attempted to make a replacement flat toggle spring but my wire gauge is too small and it IS finicky.
Any thoughts on a supplier? I CAN buy a replacement door lock (new) near Sydney for $85++ but a spring MIGHT Be less expensive..

Least expensive fix: a hair elastic from two lining fixing screws above the lock and under the lever.


(I did a post about (inside) Vacuum pumps for the Tdi300 some years ago- you can read about it on ERR3539 Vacuum_Pump for LandRover Defender 300TDi if you are interested. I'm on our THIRD pump! and the last one (new but 6 years old) seized after 20km! Pulled apart and cleaned the shaft and it's running fine now.)