TD5 D2 bodywork - Door locks and handles

Needed to remove the door handles during the recent respray work on both offside doors.

I was a bit hesitant to do this as I knew it meant fiddling around with the control rods and disturbing their 'status quo'.

I recalled that the 'original' Disco that I had, a 300tdi, was afflicted by the problem of broken door lock springs and also the front nearside mechanism just went out of adjustment one day.. but,  replacement springs were readily available for pennies and an easy fix.

The 'new and improved' Disco 2 has a completely different door lock mechanism based on electronic modules and redesigned handles (certainly not from the BL/Marina parts bin anymore). When these locks go 'wrong' its a new module costing £70 plus...

The Rear Door Handle. 

Before even begining to remove the handle, a lot of work goes into removing the internal door card and speaker trim and then dealing with that sticky gungy vapour barrier.

Getting my guidance from Rave, it seemed that all I had to do was disconnect one control rod, undo one bolt and remove the handle assembly.. what could possibly go wrong  !?

The rear door control rod.

Door handle 's' connection 

                   Door Actuator connection. 

First obstacle was the restricted space inside the door frame. There is no direct line of sight to the internal control rod connections. Rave recommends to undo the rod from the little plastic green connector mounted onto the lever plate attached to the lock actuator.

There are horror stories on the Web about these green plastic connectors crumbling away and causing the lock to 'fail'... and yep... the green plastic connectors are not available separately so it becomes new (£70) module time..!

A nice clear view inside the rear door looking at the door handle and lock actuator. The green plastic connector is the only joint to undo in here...

Two technical views from the Web (showing the nearside rear door)

I figured that the green connector was a tight interference fit around the rod and any leverage placed on it got transferred to the lever plate with potentially worse results.

In the end I fashioned a hook on the end of some thick coat hanger wire and with a short sharp pull as near to the green connector as I could the rod just pinged free from both connections and flew into the lower door cavity!

I really thought that the green connector had snapped or been damaged but it seemed ok

Two views of the green connector minus the control rod but showing it's 'clamshell' construction. It's easy to see how these protrusions can be snapped off and the rod fall out....

All was well till it came to reconnect the rod. Once again I'm working blind and somehow the green plug decides to fall out of the lever plate into the door cavity.  I must have dislodged it when jerking the control rod free. Luckily I had gained experience of fishing things from the depths of the door cavity when I retrieved the control rod earlier.

Getting the green connector back onto the lever plate was fun. I had to use a bent piece of wire and get access from the outside of the door through the handle aperture. Happily it just popped back in.

I did not reconnect the control rod till the outside panel was 'mopped' a few days after its painting. This meant that the handle did not operate the lock but access was easily achieved by use of the internal handle. 

I figured the less I disturbed that green connector the better. When the handle was finally refitted for good, the rod was clicked back into place in the green connector.

Door Handle Repaint.

While the handle was removed I took the opportunity to give it a spray of 'Pro-Cote' matt black. The trim plates were more faded then the handle was, but it all looks good now. 

It's a good test for the 'Pro-Cote' longevity. This is the paint I intend to apply to all the external black plastic trim..

FRONT DOOR HANDLE . 

Once the door-card and vapor barrier are dealt with, it becomes a question of removing the control rod and the single mounting bolt. There is a lot more access available then with the rear doors. 

Rave recommends the control rod is released from its lower mounting which is the rectangular white plastic adjuster mounted on the door actuator. It's clear to see that the control rod has a threaded end that sits enclosed in this connector and actually is the method for adjusting the operation of the door handle. I was very reluctant to disturb this setting and a lot of the online research told of the awkwardness of undoing this connection.

Two views from the Web showing the lower white plastic control rod connector. The threaded portion of the control rod is the means of adjusting the 'throw' of the handle /lock combination and I am weary of disturbing it.

I looked instead at the door handle end of the control rod and realised it was easier to undo the connection from there. The rod is held in place by what I call a 90° clip. To undo it, I simply turned it 90° to un-clip it from the long straight rod. The curved end of the rod then simply pulled out of the handle.

The drivers door handle has a second control rod for operation of the door lock by the key barrel. It is permanently but flexibly attached to the handle and it's other end resembles a giant cross-head screwdriver that locates in a suitable socket on the lock body. Easy enough to remove but a bit fiddly to locate properly upon refitting the handle.

Two close up views of the drivers door handle

showing the attachment points and the attached key cylinder control rod.