Door Lock Failure: Getting the Door
Open
(4.0/4.6/p38A)
Introduction
Failure Symptoms
Tools Required
Parts Required
Door Opening Procedure
Optional Aside: Trying to release latch w/o
destroying it
Door Latch Removal and Replacement
Door Lock Opening and
Rebuilding
by a Professional Locksmith
More Information
Introduction
Many owners have experienced a mechanical door lock failure in which
the vehicle acts as if it is in "superlocked" mode. The central
locking function still appears to work via the sill button, but the
door won't open from either the inside or the outside. In this case
the latch itself has failed and has to be replaced. This malfunction is
common enough
that a Technical Service Bulletin appeared on the subject in 2000.
Andrew
Parker encountered this
situation on his Range Rover recently and in addition to referring to
the Technical Service Bulletin he documented the operation with photos,
and kindly supplied his own details on the symptoms
and repair procedure, outlined below and supplemented by a few other
comments based on the shop and parts manuals.
Photo at top right shows latch assembly removed from vehicle).
Failure Symptoms
RHD or LHD Front
Passenger Side Door:
Door
fails to respond to either internal or
external door
opening handles. Lock button and remote
actuate but door will not open and is therefore stuck shut and
seemingly super
locked. The only way to open the door is
to purchase a new latch (but see optional aside
below whereby it MIGHT be possible to avoid this). Busting open the old latch housing to release
the super locking spring allows the
pawl to fall down. This allows the latch to open thus releasing its
grip on the
striker bar that is mounted to the door jam of the body.
Tools Required
Flashlight
Heavy hammer or sledge,
Screwdriver with a foot (30 cm) long flat blade (see picture at right),
Hacksaw,
Wedges,
Duct tape,
5-minute
Epoxy,
18“
of approximately .010” thick wire and Pliers to bend a small hook in
the end of it.
Replacement
Parts
Required:
You
will neeed one of the
following latch assemblies depending on which door latch has failed:
FQJ103240
right front door - left hand drive
FQJ103250 left front door - left hand drive
FQJ103220 right
front door - right hand drive
FQJ103230 left front door - right hand drive
In the US, Atlantic
British has the necessary parts for LHD vehicles
for $224.95.
Priority
1: Getting the Door Open
Andrew's instructions for this appear below. Alternative instructions
from Peter Sterling appear on this page.
1. Lower window half way down
and mask the
top back most edge of the window with duct tape to avoid accidental
damage to the glass.
2. Lower the window down all
the way. Access
can be improved by inserting wedges between the window
glass and the door seal or panel to push the glass inwards or outwards
a bit.
Aside: Optional Step -- Attempting to Release
Latch Without Destroying it.
At this point you can attempt to use the long screwdriver to operate
the latch itself to get the door open without destroying the latch.
This is probably futile as the latch should be replaced anyway to
prevent a recurrence, but might be worth a try. In this case wedge the
window glass inwards and peer down the outer side of it. You will see a
partial view of the idealized picture shown in the technical service
bulletin, reproduced below left with modifications.
 |
|
Photos of latch
adapted from technical service bulletin. left hand photo is idealized
view of latch still in position.
Right hand photo shows complete latch assembly removed from door.
Letters refer to text below.
Note on right hand photo the positions of the top two mounting
screwholes right and left of "D" arrowhead -- these are the holes for
the top two screws shown in the right hand photo at bottom of this
page.
|
You can push the white nylon internal
release (connected to the inside handle and marked by an "X" in the
modified photos from the service bulletin above, and clearly visible in
the photo at top of this page as the white nylon part closest to
thecamera) down to its stop and see if the door opens (maintaining
inward
pressure
on the door to ease the latch operation). It probably won't, but
you have one more chance if the problem is maladjustment of the release
rod attached to the external door handle. Accordingly, you can try
disconnecting the external release rod from the latch (at point marked
"A" in the modified tech bulletin picture at right) and try again. If
this works, you
have the door open and can step to Part 2, latch removal and
replacement. Otherwise, continue with the main procedure for latch
destruction and door opening below.
3. Remove the screws (#2
Phillips) from the
handle used to pull the door closed in the interior trim.
4. Remove the screw from the
trim panel
behind the interior door handle and remove screw and trim. Put all on
dash mat for safe keeping (see photo at right).
5. Tug interior trim panel
loose from the
doorframe where it nears the lock button end of the trim panel.
6. Fix the pried open position
of the trim
panel with wedges to keep it opened up, and try to wedge the glass
outwards towards the outside of the vehicle.
7. Use flashlight to locate
and view door
latch along the back edge of the door framework along the inside of the
window
glass (see picture below).
 |
View looking down inboard side
of
window slot
showing chamfered top of door latch (rear
of door is at right). Thin arrow shows forward end of hole through
latch
for mounting screw. (Also see tech bulletin photos above showing
positions of these screw holes)
Thick arrow shows spot to impact with screwdriver
to break plastic top and release spring underneath.
|
8. Locate
the top surface of
the latch and
identify the surface that is chamfered at approximately
45° (see thick arrow on photo above and point marked "H" on
modified tech bulleting photo). You can
see the holes for the three
screws used
to fix the latch to the doorframe (photo below right) coming through
it.One of those three screws is at the corner of
the flat top surface and the angled surface (thin arrow in photo
above).
9. Position
the edge of the
screwdriver here (at thick arrow point in view through window slot
above, which is point marked "H" in modified Technical Service Bulletin
picture above right) and drive it into
the plastic
with a sharp blow from the hammer. There
is a relatively long coil spring inside which will pop out from inside
the latch's
structure, once enough of the plastic is busted away.See the picture of
the tools below left to see what the spring
looks
like, and the modified TSB picture above (showing latch with plastic
top removed) to see how the spring is positioned inside the latch.
 |
 |
| Photo showing long spring (lower
right) after
removal from latch |
Photo from rear outside of door
showing the three screws holding the latch in place. Top right screw
goes through hole shown by thin arrow in photo above taken through
window slot.
|
10. Andrew found the spring
popped
up about
½ inch after it was uncovered. Then
use a length of wire with a small hook in the
end to hook the spring, pull it out of
the latch and remove it from the door cavity.
11. Identify on
the latch the
gold colored cadmium plated metal (see photo at top opf page). The
three mounting screws are threaded
through it. They fix the latch to the
door. You can see the threaded ends of
the screws just coming through the plate. This metal plate has a jog in
it that the screwdriver will rest
on
easily. Place the screwdriver there (point
marked "D" on modified technical service bulletin photo) and
with your knee and hip push the door inward to release any pressure on
the
latch and striker. Tap the screwdriver with the sledge hammer just
enough to
rattle the latch. The internal pawl
should drop down with gravity releasing the latch and the door should
open.
Removing the Latch and Installing a
New One
This
procedure is described on the separate Door
Latch Replacement page.
Door Lock Opening and Rebuilding by a
Professional Locksmith
Mike Coleman experienced a slightly different problem when his key
remote stopped working and he had to open the door with the key. He
discovered that the only key he had did not fit the lock! He hired a
professional locksmith who was able to open the lock to gain entry, and
also rebuild the lock so it worked with his key! This trick might well
be worth remembering for emergencies!
More Information
Alternative Door Opening Instructions
from Peter Sterling
Replacing the Latch