Oh No!! The dreaded door latch spring.

[Underdog]

Just my luck, I have been blighted by the dreaded drivers door latch spring failure.

Oh yes indeedy, the damn latch bolt indicator lock pop-up thing is now not popping up quite high enough to release the latch.

I know this is a well documented Discovery fault and I have bought myself the required spring but the install instructions are vague to say the least.

Does anyone have a decent spring replacement guide as the one that came with the new spring is pants beyond belief??

I've checked all the forums and have drawn a bit of a blank but I need to do this sooner rather than later...........it's doing my swede in!!!

[Pinn76]

Hi Underdog,

Done mine a while back and I too was confused when i saw the instructions given. General procedure is as follows.

1- remove door card, taking care not to damage the clips

2- undo the bottom retaining bolts for the window runners

3- undo the top retaining bolts (one just above the door catch and the other on the front face)

4- remove the inner mirror trim to allow you access to the mirror wires and disconnect to allow the top of door to be raised

5- I would advise to take digital photos of the lock mechanism to assist rebuild

6- lift top of door, with window about half way up, until you have access behind mechanism

7- remove the linkages including an awkward 7mm I believe on the mechanism end of the inner leaver

7- remove the catch from the door

From here you should be able to see where the broken spring is.

Rebuild is the reverse of removal. Using the photos as reference as required.

Hope this is clearer for you and not put you off too much http://forums.lr4x4.com/public/style_emoticons/default/blink.gif.once you get stuck in then you will soon see it is not as bad as expected, I got mine down to 30mins per door.

Bri

[henrycrabbe]

Have you bought any of the plastic clips that hold the door trim on? If not, do so now. you WILL break about half of them when you take the trim off, no matter how careful you are.

Sequence is basically:

• Take door trim off
  
• Unbolt and slide the window frame up and nearly out of the door
  
• Disconnect and remove lock mechanism
  
• Fiddle around for 2 hours fitting replacement spring
  
• Spend another 2 hours trying to get the operating rods fitted back on to the lock mech
  
• Bolt it all together again
  

Tips:

Have some very pointy pliers to hand, they help a LOT!

Do it in a place where you can easily find the spring again - it WILL ping off several times before you get it right

When you put the lock back in the door, fit all the rods before you bolt the catch back in place

Good luck.

Steve.

[Underdog]

Cheers Steve, some good tips there.

I have already removed the door card and managed to only break one clip, which was quickly repaired with strong adhesive.

The problems I'm having are:

Finding a decent diagram showing where and to which points the rods go.

Which bolts to remove to release the window frame? (Also, is this done with the window up or down?)

I think that about covers it.

The whole job seems like trying to decorate the hall, stairs and landing through the letterbox TBH!!!

[MrKev]

The bolts for the window frame are from the outside of the door unit at the top, and from the inside of the door unit at the bottom.

Outside, hinge end, there's a torx type bolt. Door catch end it's a 10 or 13mm spanner if I recall correctly.

Inside, it's a 7 or 8mm spanner - 1/4" drive socket set with a selection of extension bars are useful here.

Window in the up position, as you'll need it to be up to continue with the decorating anyway...just take care.

[gripper]

theres also a 13mm bolt under the mirror on the inside of the door, the ones at the bottom of the channels are 10mm, torx on the outside hinge side possibly the same on the other depending on whether it's been replaced or not. don't forget to remove the cover over the mirror and disconnect the wiring if it has electric mirrors as that will hinder removal of the frame. have the window up so it's not in the way then lower it a bit when refitting so the frame goes down properly.