Hi, is it possible to change the rear door handles on a 2001 P38 ? I took off one of the door cards this afternoon but I can't see any way off taking off the handles. I saw a mention on the "Landyzone" that there is a metal frame that is riveted to the door frame that has to be drilled off and removed before the handle can be accessed.

When I looked inside the door frame the handle fittings seem to be right inside a folded section of the door, and I can't see any way of getting inside this piece of the door frame.

Any advice would be welcomed as I have new handles for the two rear doors, and the front passenger door. The drivers door is a separate issue as it appears that there is no real means of changing the handle and keeping the keys original. I have bought two replacement key fobs in the last two years, and the last thing I want is to find that they are now useless as I would have to fit a new barrel etc.

I am hoping that, even though the handle isn't pulling home fully, the handle will keep working with the key fob until I have to get rid of the motor [thank you Government !!!].

Pierre3.

I want to check on something that I read about entering EKA codes using the key fob. I was under the impression that, when entering the EKA code, you put the key into the lock and then just turned the key to the locked position however number of times the first number is shown as. in other words, put in the key and immediately turn the key, for example, three times to the locked position, before repeating the operation in the unlocked position. So, if the EKA number is 2462, you would turn the key to te locked position twice, then to the unlocked position four times, then back to the locked position six times, and finally to the unlocked position twice. Then remove the key.

However, I have read a couple of posts elsewhere which says that before you actually start the process of entering the EKA code you have to turn the key 4 times to the locked position to tell the BeCM that you are about to enter the EKA code. Only after this operation of 4 turns to the locked position do you start to enter te EKA code.

Can anyone confirm that this is the correct method of EKA entry ? I have used the codes a few times and I have never "pre-entered" 4 turns to the locked position for the EKA code to work, I just went straight ahead and entered the four numbers using the "lock" and "unlock" sequence, and that seemed to work fine. This was when the key fob wouldn't remotely work because the buttons were duff.

I had better just check, as well, that it is the EKA code that I mean ? The four number code that works when the electronic fob doesn't work, isn't that the EKA code ?

Pierre3.

I am trying to find out how to tell which rear external door handles is which from the part number. Also, which way up does the plastic hook, on the back of the handles, go ?

When the handle is fitted does the plastic hook pull upwards ?

I am trying to figure out which handle I need to send back to Rimmer Bros as they have sent me two rear handles but one has a plastic hook fitted and the other has nothing fitted.

Pierre3.

Hi, I would like to check out something fairly urgently, if someone can help.

I bought two new rear door handles from Rimmer Bros and they arrived without problem, and fairly cheap at £53 each.

The problem is - one side handle has a plastic hook connected to the back of the handle, but the other handles has nothing. Rimmer Bros tell me that the handles are correct and what I ordered, but I can't see why one handle would have a plastic hook, fixed with a metal pin, and the other handle has nothing at all. I believe that there is something wrong here, and that they should both be the same, one for the left and one for the right.

Rimmer Bros came back and said "Take off the door panels and check the existing fittings". This is kind of stupid as the car is currently parked outside and in daily use.

Could someone perhaps confirm whether the two handles should have the same connection when removed from the vehicle ?

I am attaching a couple of pictures for review.
Oh, sorry, I can't add pictures as there is no option here to upload images, so hopefully someone will know what the back of the rear door handles look like.

Pierre3.

In relation to the original post by Orangebean, about the fitting of the new door handle springs, I would like to ask - is it difficult removing the door inner panel, both front and back ?

I have been slowly tidying up my P38 and I decided, rather than repainting the door handles, to buy new ones, with the exception of the driver's door handle. With the hassle of trying to change the door lock and things on the driver's side door
I have decided to fit the repair kit and repaint this handle. Hopefully I will be able to get it to match the colour and texture of the new handles.

However, I have never tried to get the inner door panels off so I would like to see whether there are any things in particular to watch out for.

I have got spare metal spring clips for the back of the door handle, which some people say breaks, or stretches, when it is levered apart, but is the any other bits that won't refit without damage ?

I am trying to figure out, from diagrams, whether there are some small plastic clips that hold rods to the door handles but I can't find any definitive pictures, video's, or diagrams before I start taking out the handles. I want to try to avoid having a situation where I find that I break a plastic clip and then I can't put the handles back into the door, and I can't lock the vehicle, and also then find that the offending item[s] are no longer available.

Any advice or assistance would be appreciated.

Pierre3.

I thought that it may be helpful to anyone having the same issue that I had, namely a leaking rear tailgate or a leak somewhere. I was getting a lot of rain water getting into the spare wheel well, and I couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

I took all the trim, carpets and fittings out of the boot area and left them out for a couple of months, checking after each time it rained to see if any rain had got back in. Each time it rained there was some water still getting in. I carefully cleaned off everything that I could get at in the spare wheel well floor and body work. I used a hair dryer to make sure that the hollow panels were dry, and then I took out things like the tailgate flap and stuffed Vaseline into the screwholes.

I checked and cleaned the sunroof tubes, and made sure that the pipes through the rear arches were not blocked. I also readjusted the body edge, as per the service advice, and took off most off the tailgate seal and reseated it using Vaseline under the seal. The seal appeared to have deformed at the two lower corners but otherwise looked in good condition.

This is the point at which I can image that people start to pull their hair out, and look, as I did, for anything at all that could be a problem - back bumper fixings, rear wiper, rear wiper washer pipe, etc, etc.

I sat and thought about what could be happening, and out of frustration I decided to put my hand in my pocket and buy a new seal - £120 or so with delivery.

And hey, the most obvious answer turns out to be the solution. I used a windscreen non-setting black mastic to put a fine film of seal under the tailgate seal and refitted the new item.I have had the vehicle sitting out in very heavy rain for the last two months and [fingers still crossed] not a drop of rain water.

I think that we all do the obvious and look for a leak somewhere and decide that it must be somewhere unobvious !! In fairness I could have saved a couple of months of sponging up the rain water every time it rained, but I also think that I was reluctant to spent £££'s without being certain.

But I think that my advice now would be - if the leak is not the sunroof then really, really consider just fitting a new tailgate seal.

One thing that I haven't sorted out is water getting in when I drive through a lot of big puddles in heavy rain. I have no problem in heavy rain on a good road surface, but if I drive through a lot of large puddles on the side of the road then water gets in somewhere. I may just get the rear underside undersealed, and see if that sorts it out. At the moment, I just avoid big puddles !!!

Pierre3.

Hi, I would like to ask the experienced heads who know about the door handles on the P38 a question that doesn't come up on the really good thread posted by Orangebean.

Is it possible to modify a drivers' side front outer door handle from a LHD car to suit a RHD car ?

I am considering buying new handles as mine are quite worn in colour, and the two front handles are quite clunky and not fully closing. I was thinking about taking them out and repainting them with Rust-Oleum Hard Hat gloss black, and fitting repair kits to fix the handle return issue.

However, I thought that it may be quicker and easier to just buy new handles and fit them instead. I know that the passenger door handles, and the passenger front door handles, are all available but the drivers' side handle is no longer available new.

But - I have been offered a new, LHD car drivers' side door handle. So, I wonder whether it is possible to take off the left hand drive fittings and fit the old fitting, with a repair kit, STC3064 and the key barrel, and refit to the car thereby giving me a new door handle.

Pierre3.

I am getting water into the wheel well, and I was checking this evening, after heavy rain, and the water seems to be getting in somewhere around the drivers side rear light fitting, but I can't be sure at the moment. I think that I need to get the hosepipe out and get Madam to run water over the rear door and window while I get into the boot/wheel well area. I have all the carpet and panel out of the boot area and checked the sunroof drain tubes, but they seem to be clear.

The rain water doesn't appear to be coming from the area where the rubber drain tube goes through into the wheel well, either. There isn't any sign of water running across the floor panel directly below the drivers side back window, where the RF receiver is positioned. That whole area is as dry as a bone.

I have cleaned everything out and more or less polished the area in the wheel well in the hope of seeing a water track. I have also bent the bottom edge of the bodywork, under the rear seal, as per the RAVE instructions, and put a load of petroleum jelly under the rear seal. So far it hasn't fixed the leak. I think that the previous owner had the problem because the wheel well has been painted with black paint, a bit like an underseal product. It looks like the rear seal has been replaced already because the seal has very precise cut-outs where the RAVE instruction says to cut the seal to let out the water. I would imagine that my seal is a dealer supplied item.

I could see a small water track down inside a cavity right below the rear light and a bit under where the rear power plug is, but it is difficult to tell whether the water is getting into the cavity [this cavity is the panel that runs from side to side under the rear seal lip], and also I can't see where it could exit to get into the wheel well.

When I looked at this this evening there seemed to be a damp track down the joint where the floor of the wheel well meets the side wall of the drivers side wheel well, right at the very back where the floor panel rises up the meet the panel behind the bumper panel.

A tiresome problem, and the vehicle does sound hollow and a bit rattly with all the rear carpet and panels removed.

Pierre3..

I wonder if someone might suggest the best place to check for a water leak into the spare wheel well, in my P38.

I notice that, when the vehicle is parked in the drive, when there is heavy rain rain water gets into the the spare wheel well. After two days of occasional heavy rain there is a couple of tablespoons worth of rain water on the right hand [drivers UK] side of the wheel well. I can see an indication that the water may be running into the wheel well somewhere on the rear of the side wall of the wheel well. I think that the drain tube goes down the rear corner panel beside the rear tail gate window, but would that explain how rain water could get into the wheel well, if it blocked.

I have had a look at the sunroof seal, and it is alright, and the plastic surround under the glass is dry. I am sure that the front drain tubes are clear [speculation !!] but I must look for a nylon cable fish, in my garage, which I have used before to clear sunroof drain tubes on other cars, and poke it down the rear drain tubes.

Just out of interest, how do I get to the rear drain tubes ? If I run the sunroof right back will I be able to see the tubes ?

I know that there will be a lot of other suggestions that will be scary - rear door seals, hinge bolts letting water in, rear light seals leaking. However, somewhere there may be the correct answer if it is not the drain tubes. Any suggestions will be appreciated and I know that the problem could be any one of half a dozen things but I would hope that it might just be the most obvious one.

Pierre3.