Hi, I thought that I had solved a problem with the drivers' side door latch blowing up and locking me out of the car. I did the LR emergency manoeuvre and bashed the latch with a steel rod, thereby allowing into the vehicle. I then got a new door latch from my usual LR dealer - but, as has been pointed out, the "f***-up" of the electrical connector plugs came into play.

The door latch that arrived has - yes, you guessed it - two connector plugs. But my latch has only one. F, f, f*** !!!!

So, I am wondering whether I can take the original plug off my broken lock and then take the two plugs off the new lock and reconnect them into the old single plug, to reconnect to the wiring loom.

The first picture is the new, two plug arrangement; the second picture is the original plug off the banjoed door latch; and the third picture is the plug connector on the end of the door wiring loom.

The correct door latch is FQJ103260 but this is NLA and LR tell me that they have no prospects of new stock arriving. So this leaves the second hand market with the prospect of the door lock failing again, whenever it feels like it. The latch that I currently have is FQJ103220 but it is for the previous model of P38. The part number FQJ103260 seems to have been fitted to very late P38's and when I asked LR they said that that part number shouldn't have fitted to my vehicle, based on the chassis number. BUT - it is !!

If it is possible to rewire the plugs then it will avoid having to [a] buy second hand; and [b] rescue the cost of buying the two plug latch.

Any suggestions would be most welcome. A last comment - I have seen a new passenger side door latch for a LHD P38 with the correct plug, and all the mechanical lock connections in the correct position. But would this door latch work in the drivers' side door on a RHD vehicle ?

Pierre3.

That's an earlier latch for 94-99, your one was fitted from 2000 model year onwards. However, all is not lost. If you look, the wire colours on the latch are the same and they are connected inside the same, so you can chop the plug off yours and the plugs off the replacement and solder and heat shrink the wires. LHD passenger latch won't work as it won't have the keyswitch microswitch inside, only door ajar and CDL.

Hi Richard. Thanks for getting back to me, if that is the correct terminology !!

I had a strong suspicion that the US passenger side probably wouldn't work, mainly because there isn't a key entry on the passenger side door handle. The most annoying thing about this is how I missed the fact that the door latch, that I bought, had two plugs !!! I was really annoyed with myself because I have fitted the new latch and tested the mechanical operation of it. It was only when I went to connect the plug as the last thing to do, before refitting the door panel, that I suddenly found that I was looking at two plugs !! Even next doors dog had his ears covered when he heard my language.

So, can I just check - the two plug latch is the early one ?

What I was considering was to pop out the wires with their pins still connected, and hopefully those pins will sit properly in my original orange plug. If it doesn't work then I will look, perhaps, at using your suggestion but with bullet connectors. Just in case I ever need to disconnect the door latch again.

Anyway, thanks a lot for giving me the information to go forward with, and not having to get burned by buying another door latch !!!

Pierre3.

No, you can't take the pins out of the plugs as they are a different type of plug with different pins. No need to use bullet connectors to connect to the door loom, just swap the plugs over so you convert an early latch to a later one. Yes, the very early cars had a socket on the latch itself, then they went to the flying lead with two plugs before the later one that you have from 2000MY onwards with a single 8 way plug with only 7 pins used. In all cases the latches themselves were exactly the same.

yes, of course - I can chop off the two plugs from the new lock and solder and heat shrink the new cable to the old plug cables. I have the electrical switch enclosure, from the back of the old lock, with the plug on the lead. If I just cut it off, leaving a decent bit of length, then I can do the same to the new lock cable and solder them together, having a slightly longer cable from the lock, to plug onto the car door loom.

Sorry for missing the obvious, often one needs another head to solve a problem. Thanks for your kind assistance. Just out of interest, if I am soldering in the door how easy is it for the car to go on fire ????!!! Only joking.

Pierre3.

Pierre3 wrote:

Just out of interest, if I am soldering in the door how easy is it for the car to go on fire ????!!! Only joking.

Depends if you use a soldering iron or blowlamp.....

I am really pleased to say that, because of the reliable information from Richard [GilbertD], I have saved myself the hassle and, more importantly, the cost of having to buy another door latch, FQJ103260, to replace a new one that I received, FQJ103220.

I had fitted the two plug lock before realised that I needed a new single plug lock. I don't why I missed the obvious, that the new lock I was fitting had two plugs and not one, but, hey-ho, I did and I was the author of my own problem !!

Anyway, as Richard correctly says above, it turns out that the wiring colours in the plugs of FQJ103220 [two plugs], and FQJ193260 [single plug] are the very same. There are seven wires in each lock, and the answer to not being able to buy the later lock, FQJ103260, is to buy FQJ103220 and chop the plugs off both locks, then solder the single plug wires onto the two plug cable wires.

The one thing that one must remember is to keep the lock motor part of the lock, which you break off to open a locked door. The cable should be cut off at the lock end so as to give the most cable to connect to the two plug cable.

So, I am pleased to say that I have everything refitted and working perfectly. And many thanks, Richard.

Pierre3.

Glad to help. The virtually identical two plug latch is also used on the MG TF. I say virtually identical as the MG latch has an extra wire and pin in the smaller plug that isn't needed on the P38 so can be ignored and it will work perfectly. My Ascot has an MG latch in it after the original died and it was cheaper to get the MG latch than the P38 one.

Dear Pierre,
What did you do to get the door open? You mention " I did the LR emergency manoeuvre and bashed the latch with a steel rod, thereby allowing into the vehicle." I have a the same problem with the passenger side. I've prodded and pulled on all the things I can see through the window gap but no joy.

https://web.archive.org/web/20180521032803/http://www.rangerovers.net/repairdetails/doors/doorlocks.html

However, if the door won't open and the inside handle has gone all floppy so doesn't do anything, the horseshoe shaped bit of plastic that the interior handle cable attaches to has got stuck at one end of the travel (plastic on a steel pivot that rusts and causes it to jam). If it has, all you need do is poke around and move it and the door will then open normally without resorting to destroying the latch.

Dear Richard,
Thanks yet again. If only I'd been more patient or persistent with my searches I wouldn't have had to destroy my door card in an attempt to get bat the lock from the inside. Still I have a door that now opens and a replacement card on its way from e-bay, so soon the equilibrium will be restored.

Hi Paul, I apologise for not responding to your post earlier - I have only just read the various new posts.

I am pleased that you got your door lock open, the problem that I had was on the drivers' door with the key barrel. The first time I got locked out I was able to open the door by tapping the motor side of the lock with a long thin piece of stainless steel tubing, and the door opened immediately. It was because the lock rod connected to the back of the key barrel had fallen off. So the BeCM thought that the door was locked, all the time. When I tapped the lock motor the lock rod must have dropped down and sent an unlock signal to the BeCM.

The second time was a banjoed door latch, and I had to use the same piece of rod to actually knock the motor section off the back of the door latch, and then open the door with the key. So the door latch was totalled, I had no choice but to buy a new latch. But it has been OK since I replaced it.

As Richard mentioned, the inside pull handle can, and does, break. Again, it happened in my car, but in my case the end of the cable pulled off at the door latch end, so there was only the end of the wire still in place. I replaced it with a new cable.

Pierre3.