Hi folks,

I'm a long time reader and I don't post here often, I do however read through the posts but my knowledge with these cars is still limited. However, I do require some assitance please.
As the title says I have a 2001 P38 Range Rover whose drivers door latch is stuck in the locked position. I have removed the door trim as far as I can (I think) to get very limited access to the latch. Now there are two leavers on the lock that I have tried moving, 1 is facing the interior of the car & the other is facing to the outside of the car. Moving these has not helped in being able to unlock the door. If I need to butcher the trim then so be it but I really need the door opening & closing properly. Plus I've found someone on ebay who is selling both the door trim & the latch which I am happy to buy if need be but I can't afford right now the £200+ required for a brand new door latch right now.
So my questions is this. How can I completely remove the trim whilst the door is shut and also even if I did manage to remove the door trim what am I missing with regards to the latch itself?

I really need the car sorted because I need to tow my caravan this weekend to a storage site and as it stands right now I'll need to immitate the Dukes of hazard. Which would be a horrible thing for everyone else to see, especially if I had to wear Daisy Dukes................

Help me Ranger Roverkenobi's, you're my only hope.

Thanks in advance.

Craig

Oh btw I'm in Scotland near Lanark.

P.S. how do I post a picture? I tried and it said something about a hyperlink.

First Craig it would have been best to post in the 'Electrickery' section, but that's the least of your problems.

Sounds like your 'Superlock' is permanently engaged, probably the servo/solenoid for this has failed or the electrical circuit to it has malfunctioned...

If so the 'butchery' necessary involves first winding the window fully down and breaking open the top of the (plastic) lock module...
A two-foot 1/4" sharpened rod works well.. Hints; You can see it all better at night, and protect the glass !

davew wrote:

First Craig it would have been best to post in the 'Electrickery' section, but that's the least of your problems.

Sounds like your 'Superlock' is permanently engaged, probably the servo/solenoid for this has failed or the electrical circuit to it has malfunctioned...

If so the 'butchery' necessary involves first winding the window fully down and breaking open the top of the (plastic) lock module...
A two-foot 1/4" sharpened rod works well.. Hints; You can see it all better at night, and protect the glass !

Thanks David. To be honest that's where I thought I had posted this. Apologies for that.
I just watched a video that shows the internals of the latch and all I can think of is the teeth have been worn off or broken off somehow or other.
I was thinking the last ditch effort was similar to what you have said but removing the glass first if I could get in there somehow. I just don't trust myself when it comes to the glass plus it would give a bit more room.
There was someone else saying the rear door has to be removed to allow access in to cut the striker. I don't have the facilities at hand to do that sadly.

No problem Craig, but you can't get the glass out without opening the door first.....

Yes, removing the rear door and cutting etc is another way, but as access is (still) restricted you may do more damage if
not careful.. I recall some have removed the card with the door closed (by removing the seat first).

Have a look when it's dark (!) if you are going the bash the top of the lock off wrap some foam round the rod/implement
to protect the glass... as well as bits of plastic there is a lever and a spring inside the lock. Once the lock is smashed like
this it is also U/S for locking the door too of course. When this happened to me it then 'just' involved entering the car via
another door and clambering about inside.....

Anyone still have the original Brabyn info. where this process is explained ?

Thanks Dave

If you look above, in the handy downloads section, Juke (in one of the last posts) posts a link to John Braybens info. I don’t think all of it is there but a lot is

Unfortunately that link no longer works, however, how to get brutal with a door latch is here https://web.archive.org/web/20180521032803/http://www.rangerovers.net/repairdetails/doors/doorlocks.html

If your latch has the 6+1 connections, 2 plugs, a 6 way and a 1 way on flying leads, an MGTF drivers door latch is the same except the visible plastic bit is white and not black and the 1 way plug has an additional grey wire in it that the P38 doesn't use. How about https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MGTF-1-6-115-DRIVER-DOOR-LOCK-LATCH-KEY-LOCKING-New-Genuine-FQJ000080PMA/112279424895, half the price of a P38 one.

Sometimes when you give the latch a knock, they come out of super lock, one of the best things I found to get through the window gap was a fire poker, it’s slim enough, but also sturdy enough to take the motorised part out if necessary,, if it does unlock itself, my suggestion would be to cut the wire for super lock ( pink if I recall correctly) , but if you get to that stage we can confirm that then

Thank you so much everyone. I'll be takling this over the weekend. I think I'll be putting on my things to do list all of the other door latches just to make sure they all operate correctly for many years to come.

Regards

Craig

Well after finally getting the right gear together to get the drivers door open we are in! Happy days......................until we accidentally broke a clip for the cable from the inner door handle to the latch (found in link https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/113178756747?epid=1613798072&hash=item1a59fac68b:g:9lMAAOSw3gJZLWis). Does anyone happen to know where I can get one from that isn't so expensive?

Your local Land Rover dealer......
https://parts.jaguarlandroverclassic.com/fvf10002l-clip.html

Gilbertd wrote:

Your local Land Rover dealer......
https://parts.jaguarlandroverclassic.com/fvf10002l-clip.html

Thanks Gilbert. I always forget the main dealers.

For anyone else the method I used was gaining access through removing the door trim enough to enabvle access, removing the weather strip (along the top of the door trim). Then I bought a flat head screwdriver with a blade stem that is 45cm long. Smashed the top of the lock which released the spring (which didn't go flying off anywhere). From there it's a simple cased of removing the latch from the door (no it isn't).
To removed the latch you need to remove the 3 rods that are attached to it. 1 of them comes off very easily by removing the green piece of plastic that holds it in place. Then there's the lock that goes to the key barrel. I found the best way to remove that was to remove it from the barrel itself then bring that rod and the lock button rod out with the latch. The cable to the inner door handle is really simple to remove and replace wihthout issue (unless you break the plastic that secures it in place like I did, oops).
Happy days.

I couldn't have done it without the help of you guys here, so thank you.