I've not seen one anywhere but hadn't looked previously as I've taken quite a few apart and know how to do it. So I've just done a Google search and found a Youtube video entitled, P38 door latch repair and test from, you guessed it, Rezremaps. What that shows is how he tests the switches and motors and not how he takes it apart and changes the switches when he finds they don't work. Testing as he does is OK up to a point but usually when they start to fail they are intermittent so may appear fine until you fit them only to find the fault has come back. So not a repair at all.
This video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0PEU_6J7QE shows how to take the latch apart but it is a passenger latch so only has 2 rather than 3 microswitches and rather than the fault being the standard one of a worn out keyswitch caused by using the key in the door rather than the remote, he had a problem with the CDL switch so he was able to resolder the wire (although quite how a wire encased in epoxy can break I've no idea, I suspect the heat just caused it to start to work temporarily but it is likely that it will fail again after a while).
Although Marty isn't advertising door latches at the moment (in fact, since he managed to break his own website, he isn't advertising anything at the moment) and has also returned to live in New Zealand, he's still about. Last time I spoke to him about latches (and gave him a couple of faulty ones) he said his biggest problem was getting ones to refurbish. He would sell them on exchange basis but found that many people, despite having paid a surcharge, never bothered to send him their old ones. He was working on a 3D printed carrier that would hold 3 off the shelf microswitches and supply that with a link to the correct switches needed and a how to guide on replacing them yourself in the same way as when he supplies a zebra strip for the HEVAC screen repair. Whether he is in a position to supply these or the file so anyone with a 3D printer can produce them, I've no idea but I haven't had a chat with him recently so will give him a call and find out.
As it's been too cold to play outside I've actually had a session on the bench in the warm today. First I replaced bulbs in some dash switch lamps, replaced the feedback pots in a couple of blend motors, then I fixed the flash switch in an indicator/light switch stalk so you can flash the lights when they are on without switching to main beam and then turned my attention to a pair of door latches. Both of these had been taken off cars where the keyswitch didn't operate on a key turn to unlock resulting in the immobiliser kicking in and it not being possible to enter the EKA with the key (as it uses a combination of the CDL and keyswitches being operated in a certain sequence). Before starting I tested them both as in the first video above and both worked perfectly. I've noticed in the past that sometimes the keyswitch will work in warm weather but not in the cold and I've put that down to a combination of wear and a tiny amount of thermal expansion which takes up the wear so they will work when warm. As both of these have been laying on the bench in the house for months, they are nice and warm, so to confirm the theory, they are now outside in the cold and I'll test them again in another couple of days but I'm pretty sure they will fail then. Then I will need to decide which one of the two I fit the replacement microswitch cluster into.....
Peterborough, Cambs
- '93 Range Rover Classic 4.2 LSE, sold
- '97 Range Rover 4.0SE, in Oxford Blue with a sort of grey/blue leather interior sold as two is plenty.....
- '96 4.6HSE Ascot - now sold
- '98 4.0SE in Rioja Red
'98 Ex-Greater Manchester Police motorway patrol car, Range Rover P38 4.0, in Chawton white - the everyday car
All running perfectly on LPG
- Proud to be a member of the YCHJCYA2PDTHFH club.