Disco Door springs How-to...

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
Troy81 said:
Bump I had the same I put it back together and the button fell through so I checked another door if its the same as mine the rod goes outside the metal but inside the plastic and the in from the front with the clip thing infront don't look right but when the cards back on its fine
Click to expand...

Thanks, i'll have another play at some stage.
 
NIce thread guys and gals, for an absolute *&$% job to do.

I ended up removing LHS front door, my back wont do 5 hours crouching anymore !!!!!!, this is a good idea when you drop stuff its easy to retrieve.

Door heavier than i thought and laying down protected window glass and i only had to lift window frame enough to remove latch.

20 mins to change latch someone said ?
not on the front, i am well over 5 hours so far.

Already done tailgate latch, thought i was enept dropping rod end clip over 20 times, glad to see others had some issues :)

My question is i have trouble fitting the actual spring into latch, and am pretty sure i stretch it a bit each time, this had a detrimental effect on tailgate and i had to fiddle with everything to get it to work, ended up fitting another external spring i bought as latch would pop up so hard it bounced and went down a bit. OK now after many hours of fiddling.

Perhaps the most frustrating mechanical task i have ever layed my hand to.
Shame on you Landrover, non mechanical types would not have a hope !!!:boink:
 
I've just embarked on doing all 5 doors. First one took me the best part of a day but the second only took two hours.

While you have the door cards off its worth taking out the window regulator assembly and giving it a good grease!

Anyway, little tip which saved me hours of time when fitting the new springs...

If the round hole is covered by a non moving plate of steel above it, take a grinder or dremel to it and carefully grind away just enough steel to get to the spring hole unhindered. this will save you hours of time and frustration!

Secondly, if you're still struggling. Using a pair of needle nosed pliers, carefully bend one end of the spring hook to make it a little bit wider thus making it easier to get in the round hole.

Finall, if you dont already have one, invest in a set of hooks like this -

Scraper and Pick / Hook set by US Pro Tools AT478 | eBay

Useful for so many LR jobs but particularly useful for faffing around inside the doors!
 
Without doubt one of the most fiddly, irksome, p.i.t.a. jobs I've ever attempted on the disco. Four hours for a front passenger door for someone with very limited mechanical aptitude and having to work on the front drive with all tools in the back shed. Especially fiddly bits of the job were getting the electrical connector for the door mirror apart and fed through the gap in the door frame, getting the window frame back in so the bolt holes aligned and (surprisingly) getting the inside door pull / arm rest thingy back on. I've still not managed to sort that last one, tricky getting the angled holes to line up with the socket.

And the worst bit? Getting finally to the spring and finding there was nothing wrong with it. Having got that far I did replace it - a vile slippery fiddle in itself.

Symptoms on my door were that everything worked fine except that the outside door handle wouldn't open it. Had to keep leaning over and opening it from inside. I didn't try fiddling with the key in the lock so don't know if it would have opened to a combination of using the key and the handle. Oddly the problem seems to have been fixed by taking everything apart and reassembling. Another land rover weirdness. I won't be doing any of the other doors before I have to.

M.
 
I've now finished all 5. It is worth replacing the springs even if they have not yet snapped, if the car is of that age then the springs can be worn enough to not operate correctly.

The two back doors were the easiest to get the mechanism out, but the hardest to get the springs in. - took a grinder to those to make things easier.

The front doors were comparably easy to change the spring. faffing with the mirror and window frame was no biggie for me. but the number of linkages to deal with just to get the latch out was quite a shock.

Biggest hurdle of them all was the boot door. There I was thinking that would be the easy one! No chance! So many linkages in such a small space!! Trick for this one, just like the two front doors is to remove the white round plastic pin which then facilitates removal of the plastic square which it retains, along with anything else attached to it. Doing so creates a lot more space to get the latch out.

I actually made the job a million times harder by taking out each window regulator, took appart the motor as well, greased the f**k out of all of it and then reassembled. Right pain in the arse of a job but all the windows and doors all work lovely.

Still not got the door cards back on though as I'm now trying to add remote locking, fix the rear wiper and diagnose an intermittent fault on one of the door lock solonoids and fit some replacement speakers as some of the originals are missing most of the paper in the cones!

When I finish all that, along with a million other little fixes I might even get my life back!
 
I fitted a new spring to my back door last night an the issue im now having is that the door wont open unless i push the piece of metal that the spring is connected to, its only a little bit but it then opens the door. Anyone have any idea what this could be?
Thanks
 
Did my rear door while we were in France - only to find that on top of the spring being snapped I think my actuator is 'lazy'

The intermediate fix - a piece of that black stretchy elastic material you get on foldy window sunshades to keep 'em folded. Cable tied wit tiny ties to the arm that the actuator linkage hooks into and then wrapped around the bolt slightly above it, with the bolt tightened onto it.

This then just gives enough retraction to allow the button to pop up and down properly - its quick temperamental still, so is going to be changed to a small spring while I source a cheap actuator!

Any tips on the actuator - seem to remember reading somewhere about someone mentioning stuff from maplins??
 
Yeah you can buy universal actuators but I have tried many types and failed.

The OEM land rover ones are many times more powerful than normal cheapo ones.

Cheap ones are about a tenner each, I have some high power ones fitted that cost about £20 each but OEM ones are about £100 each or something!!

I have had to settle for central unlocking in my car because the motors are only strong enough to operate the complex system of levers and rods in one direction.

Was speaking to a auto electrician and he said I need locking SOLENOIDS not locking motors, as the magnetic solenoids are much more powerful.

Hth :)
 
I did my drivers door last night in the dark with a torch, very fiddly and took about 2 hours. I only had one door working so I had to do something drastic before none of them worked! Going to attempt passenger front door tonight.
 
forkliftfred said:
I did my drivers door last night in the dark with a torch, very fiddly and took about 2 hours. I only had one door working so I had to do something drastic before none of them worked! Going to attempt passenger front door tonight.
Click to expand...


Congratulations fred,

Me and Stutab tacled the n/s front and rear doors on Saturday, what a pig of a job. Many thanks to those who went before on this thread.

Stutab did the front while I did the rear, I found I could not get the lock mechanism out of the back door but I could manouvre if enough to get in and replace the swine of a spring.

As for the font, again not too bad but when we had put it all back together Stu found one of the snaplock thingies spare !! We cant for the life of us see which rod is missing one though and all appears to work correctly. So it shall stay in the cubby box for the next time.
 
Well chaps - I salute those who have successfully replaced the spring.

I started doing mine at 09:30 Sunday morning and by 18:00 still hadn't got the latch out - never mind replace the ****ing spring !

I refitted the door handle and part of the latch so I could lock up for the night only to realise now I can't open the flaming door at all!

I'm hoping that as the door card is still off I can reach enough of it to release it to open.

What's the secret (if any) of getting the latch out in the first place - everything is disconnected and moving freely as far as I can see, but the door doesn't seem wide enough somehow to slide the bloody thing out :mad:

BTW - anyone know where to get some of those little plastic clips that hold the rods in place - I seem to have broken one or two.
 
Last edited:
Just been fitting springs to the drivers side doors, the rear was a doddle to do, well except for the actual fitting of the spring that is, that was a real pain in the a$%e, but finally sorted, refitted and working a treat.

My problem is the front door! What a pain to sort out... even with the window frame raised it was a really hassle to remove the latch, and again a nightmare to fit the spring, but that bit and the rebuild has gone well, but I am left with a problem. To open the front drivers door I need to pull the handle about 4 times, any idea what causes this, it does open eventually, and the central locking now works (it did not before), but I really could do with working out what causes the handle to not work until the 4th pull!

Also does anyone know where I can buy the following from:

2014-04-08-00060.jpg


I have a broken one of the white bush bit in one of the latches.

Also I need a few of these:

2014-04-08-00066.jpg


I lost one and think that by the time I finish this job I may need a few more..

Any help would be much appreciated....

So fitting two springs took me 4 hours! not looking forward to the other side....
 
Last edited:
CharlesY said:
Penetrating oil like WD40 or GT85 from Machine Mart.

Cut a big U out of the underside of the plastic cover of the door-handle, and this will let your thumb in to push the metal handle forward to make the latch work.

Remember to turn the LandRover oval badge upside down, as that is a secret sign you are in LandyZone.

CharlesY
Click to expand...

or remove the landrover badge and you can push the metal handle towards the boot to unstick it ,saves cutting the "big U"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Pillar
Disco 3 (LR3) Discovery 3 / 4 Rear Door Actuator Replacement [When door won't open].
Replies
2
Views
2K
Pillar
Pillar
J
SOLVED - FL1 Driver's door lock barrel/cylinder replacement.
Replies
2
Views
861
John_l_k
J
jimmacD
P38 door handle repair.
Replies
0
Views
660
jimmacD
jimmacD
D
Disco 2 passenger how to open door stuck shut
Replies
7
Views
1K
davethebuilder
D
I
Both door cables disconnected... how to open lock?
Replies
1
Views
1K
Nodge68
Nodge68
Back
Top