Hi guys, I would just like to wish everyone a Happy Christmas, and a Prosperous New Year. Thanks for all te advice given over the past 12 months. [I was going to download a Christmas card gif but it won't load here !!].

I do have a problem that has been annoying me for a while, when I open the drivers' side door the latch seems to be sticking in the open position, meaning that when I close the door it just bounces back open. I can get around it by giving the innner door release handle a hard pull to fully open and then letting it go so that it snaps back. Then the door closes and the latch keeps the door closed.

It has been doing this on and off for a couple of months but it is not yet terminal - but is this a sign that the latch is goosed ?

A couple of days ago the door lock threw a wobbler, which I have seen mentioned a good few times. I went to get out of the car only to find that all the doors were locked, but when I pulled up the drivers side lock button [in the door] all the buttons hopped up, the doors unlocked, except for the drivers' side door, and then immediately locked again.

I was able to get out the passenger side, and this morning, having followed advice from a RR guy in Wales, Iain McKee, I opened the drivers' side lock so that all the locks are open. Currently, the car now unlocks and relocks without a problem, but the latch is still an issue, in that it will still bounce back open when I go to close the door.

So, would I be right in saying that the door latch unit, with the micro-switches, is goosed and needs replacing ?

Pierre3.

No, you are on the right track but it isn't the microswitches or anything to do with them. There is a horseshoe shaped piece of plastic that the interior door handle cable is attached to and it is sticking. You can probably cure it with plenty of lube squirted at it and working it back and forth a few times. It'll need the door trim panel taking off but no need to take the latch out.

Had similar issue lately, when opening the drivers door from outside, the latch sticks open. Pulling the handle again (not in a very gentle manner) has been sufficient.

It's been a bit cold here so I blame moisture and lack of lubrication.

Hi, thanks guys.

I had done quite a lot of reading about the various problems caused by dodgy latch mechanisms and the associated parts so I wasn't quite sure what might be causing the issue. As it happens the door latch was replaced about a year ago because the micro-switches were locking the car, but, I will be honest, I can only assume that the guy that did the repair fitted a new latch. He is a well-regarded independent so I am hoping that he did fit a new latch at the time.

You never quite know though - I bought all new door handles two years ago, fitted them with no issues and I noticed the other day that the near side front handle isn't pulling back into the door properly. So I will have to pull it out again and fit a spring kit which I have. It's just annoying that a new handle from Jaguar Landrover has lasted less that two years.

As far as the drivers' side latch is concerned, I have to fit a new window regulator so opening up the door will be useful anyway.

Actually, just on that subject - after I released the drivers' door with a thin bar I have found that the window is now throwing up a message saying something along the lines of " Anti-trap not activated". I can't set the upper and lower limits for the one-press operation, whereas it was perfectly alright yesterday.

I wonder if this is just a coincidence with the window regulator throwing a wobbler ? The window has been a bit jerky when it first starts to roll up, but runs fairly smoothly once it is about one third of the way up.

Pierre3.

Pierre3 wrote:

A couple of days ago the door lock threw a wobbler, which I have seen mentioned a good few times. I went to get out of the car only to find that all the doors were locked, but when I pulled up the drivers side lock button [in the door] all the buttons hopped up, the doors unlocked, except for the drivers' side door, and then immediately locked again.

I was able to get out the passenger side, and this morning, having followed advice from a RR guy in Wales, Iain McKee, I opened the drivers' side lock so that all the locks are open. Currently, the car now unlocks and relocks without a problem, but the latch is still an issue, in that it will still bounce back open when I go to close the door.

So, would I be right in saying that the door latch unit, with the micro-switches, is goosed and needs replacing ?

Pierre3.

Back in March when this happened to me it turned out to be the Bowden cable running from the latch to the interior door handle that was sticking. The spring in the handle pushes the cable to reset the position of the latch & with the cable sticking it doesn't return to the correct position. It's a simple repair.

https://rangerovers.pub/topic/1620-what-have-you-done-to-your-range-rover-today?page=49#pid37133

If the latch is new, it is likely to be the cable that is sticking.

Thanks guys. I could see the Bowden cable when I was looking down the gap between the glass and the inner door skin, and it appeared to be moving OK. I did have to fit a new cable about 6 months ago, it was a genuine LR one so I am hoping that it is not that that is causing the problem. But I will take it off and check it for movement in case it is not running freely. I might run a bit of light oil down the sleeve to help it.

The other odd thing that I could do with a bit of advice on is the fact that after freeing the door lock I am getting a message about the window anti-trap not being set. What could be causing this ? I have a new regulator to fit, as the window is inclined to jerk a bit when it is almost down, and when it starts to rise. Is the anti-trap mechanism in the motor ?

Pierre3.

It isn't a mechanism, it is done by detecting the amount of current being drawn by the motor. It uses that to detect when it is at the top and bottom of the travel but if it has stiff spots between those points, it will see that as the window being trapped.

I decided to have a look at both the window regulator and the dodgy door handle, this afternoon. I have found that the regulator quadrant is able to move slightly on the rivets, and now it is slightly twisted. I am going to fit a new regulator quadrant which I bought about two months ago, so that should solve one issue.

The other issue, with the errant behaviour of the door locks, convinced me to take out the door latch. Looking at the unit I think that it is a new one that was fitted last year when I got locked out of the car. It is a bit odd that the latch seems to be a bit dodgy in regards to the locking, in that the plastic arm, which activates the locking, is in very good condition and operates to its full movement. But occassionally it will suddenly drop into a locked condition and all the doors lock.

I have sprayed the latch unit with an industrial very light penetrating, lubricating oil [not WD40] and all the parts move freely so I think that I need to refit it and see if the issue has cleared up.

As with any RR P38 repair I have run into a problem that I can't fix until the parts peoples, Rimmers, Jaguar Land Rover etc, are back at work. There is a link bar from the door handle to the latch mechanism, and as a lot of people have previously noted, this bar has a funny little pointy end which pushes into a kind of spring steel clip. This end has broken off so I can't refit the door handle.

I got the handle disconnected from this link bar without any huge drama but I noticed that it was slightly twisted when I had it out, I suspect from when the latch was replaced, and, of course, Murphys' Law demanded that it break off while I was "persuading" the latch unit back into the door !!! Bleeding typical !!

The only thing is that they are in stock in JaguarLandRoverClassic, at around £7.00 a piece. I just have to wait until they re-open for business, maybe next Tuesday.

Oh well, I don't need "Eddie" for the moment.

Pierre3.